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The Trott Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Trott Family Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$34M
Granted FY2021
21
Grants FY2021
8
States reached
$25M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Philanthropy$30MEducation$18MRecreation & Sports$4.1MHealth$2.8MInternational$2.5MEnvironment$1.8MCrime & Legal$500kArts & Culture$449kOther$0
02FY2021 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k3 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $112k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $350k
  • $250k+7 grants · $34M
$50,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TROTT FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES INC$25,176,597
TROTT FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES INC$4,532,740
rootED Alliance Inc$1,250,000
Ohio State University$1,000,000
rootED Alliance Inc$800,000
SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF ST LOUIS$476,700
Center for Strategic International Studie$275,000
Cleveland Clinic Foundation$200,000
Stand Together Trust$50,000
Caron Treatment Centers$50,000
North Shore Country Day School$50,000
The Nets Foundation$25,000
Horatio Alger Association$25,000
University of Chicago$16,000
UNICEF$15,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY18–20, $101k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%TORY BURCH FOUNDATION: $50k → 17%ELLIS MARSALIS CENTER FOR MUSIC: $1k → 23%TORY BURCH FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%TORY BURCH FOUNDATION: $25k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
WI
NY
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
MD
AR
TN
DC
LA
GA
TX
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

47%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$29M · 31 repeat orgs$32M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2021, 19 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
29

Total granted

$29M
$2.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+15%

Still filing today

74%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 12% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21
HealthEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyInternationalEnvironmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • University of Chicago
    5× · 2017–2021 · $7.1M · revenue +56%
  • RA
    ROOTED ALLIANCE INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $5.8M · revenue +614% · 46% of their budget
  • CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
    2× · 2018–2020 · $1.8M · revenue +113%

Funded once

  • ST
    STOP THE ADDICTION FATALITY EPIDEMIC (SAFE) PROJECT USgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $500k · revenue +52% · 27% of their budget
  • SP
    SAFE PROJECT US
    one grant, 2019 · $500k
  • P
    PROJECTHANDUP
    one grant, 2019 · $275k · revenue -37%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
2
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
3
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
4
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
5
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
6
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
7
Berggruen Institute
Education
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
9
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
10
University of Chicago Medical Center

Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…

Health
11
The Richard H Driehaus Foundation
Philanthropy
12
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is After School Matters Inc; the most unlike its peers is Enchanted Backpack. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

48 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 48 of the 67 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
48/48
Grantees still filing
35/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TROTT FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES INC: $29,709,337 · PhilanthropyTROTT FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES INC+4 more: $55,675 · PhilanthropyUniversity of Chicago: $7,082,894 · EducationUniversity of ChicagoROOTED ALLIANCE INC: $5,800,000 · EducationROOTED ALLIANCE INCHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $3,804,854 · EducationHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUI…+5 more: $443,000 · EducationOhio State University: $4,007,600 · OtherOhio State Unive…THE SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF ST LOUIS: $1,010,839 · OtherTHE SCHOLARSHIP …The ONE Campaign: $1,000,000 · OtherThe ONE CampaignCleveland Clinic Foundation: $800,000 · OtherCleveland Clinic…SAFE PROJECT US: $500,000 · OtherSAFE PROJECT USUNICEF: $336,250 · Other+25 more: $1,354,488 · Other+25 moreRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $851,900 · HealthSTOP THE ADDICTION FATALITY EPIDEMIC (SAFE) PROJECT US: $500,000 · HealthTHE FOUNDATION FOR BARNES-JEWISH HOSPITAL: $152,500 · HealthTHE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC: $151,900 · HealthDKMS: $100,000 · Health+6 more: $51,000 · HealthCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,777,894 · Environment+1 more: $5,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $1,025,000 · International+1 more: $30,000 · InternationalSundance Institute: $100,000 · Arts & CultureWriters Theatre Inc: $80,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Children's Museum: $50,000 · Arts & CultureRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $31,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$29,765,012Education$17,130,748Other$9,009,177Health$1,807,300Environment$1,782,894International$1,055,000Arts & Culture$311,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTROTT FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES INC: $29,709,337 over 1y, 98% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $7,082,894 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetROOTED ALLIANCE INC: $5,800,000 over 4y, 46% of budgetHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $3,804,854 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,777,894 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $1,025,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetTHE SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF ST LOUIS: $1,010,839 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetThe ONE Campaign: $1,000,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $851,900 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTOP THE ADDICTION FATALITY EPIDEMIC (SAFE) PROJECT US: $500,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetPROJECTHANDUP: $275,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetVanderbilt University: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR BARNES-JEWISH HOSPITAL: $152,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $152,450 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC: $151,900 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $105,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetDKMS: $100,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTORY BURCH FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetSundance Institute: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $80,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetUNION R-XI SCHOOL DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $75,200 over 1y, 57% of budgetMILLENNIUM PARK FOUNDATION: $56,338 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetChicago Children's Museum: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPANDA CARES FOUNDATION INC: $33,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $31,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BROOKLYN NETS & NEW YORK LIBERTY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CLUB OF GREATER NEW YORK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetErikas Lighthouse A Beacon of Hope for Adolescent Depression: $22,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetURBAN GROWERS COLLECTIVE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCHICAGO CARES INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetENCHANTED BACKPACK: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSTART EARLY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE OZARKS INC: $10,675 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMUSIC INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRAGEDY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR SURVIVORS INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAyers Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Dance Health Fund: $5,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWINNETKA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetELLIS MARSALIS CENTER FOR MUSIC INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Trott Family Philanth…The Ayco Charitable F…The Chicago Community…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Gs Donor Advised Phil…John D and Alexandra …Patrick G and Shirley…Tisbest PhilanthropyDr Scholl FoundationJewish Federation of …John D and Catherine …Baird Foundation Inc
Trott Family Philanthropies IncIL20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Trott Family Philanthropies Inc · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · John D and Alexandra Nichols Family Foundation · Patrick G and Shirley W Ryan Foundation · Tisbest Philanthropy · Dr Scholl Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Baird Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Trott Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Trott Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Trott Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Trott Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 67 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Trott Family’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home