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The William D Blair Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The William D Blair Charitable Foundation

Its FY2019 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$51k
Granted FY2018
24
Grants FY2018
6
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

96% of The William D Blair Charitable Foundation’s FY2019 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2019 names 12 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year The William D Blair Charitable Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 17 organizations, $51k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

17
’17
17
’18
12
’19

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2019.

Philanthropy$898kEnvironment$105kInternational$15kReligion$14kHealth$11kEducation$7kHuman Services$7kArts & Culture$5kOther$0
02FY2018 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AUDUBON NATURALIST SOCIETY$7,000
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION$4,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY$3,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY - MAINE$3,000
VINALHAVEN LAND TRUST$3,000
EAST COOPER LAND TRUST$3,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY - MDDC$2,500
GRACE CHURCH CATHEDRAL$2,000
WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL$2,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$2,000
SO OTHERS MIGHT EAT$2,000
ISLANDS COMMUNITY MEDICAL SERVICES$2,000
CHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY$2,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA$2,000
Individual grant recipient$2,000
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 (FY17–19, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%VINALHAVEN ELDERCARE SERVICES: $1k → 11%VINALHAVEN ELDERCARE SERVICES: $1k → 11%VINALHAVEN ELDERCARE SERVICES: $500 → 11%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

ME
NY
MA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
SC
DC
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$155k · 22 repeat orgs$12k to everyone else

22 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2018, 0 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call). Read against FY2018, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
1

Total granted

$155k
$1k

Still filing today

64%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19
EducationEnvironmentInternationalHealthArts & CultureAnimalsOther
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

  • NF
    Nature Forward
    3× · 2017–2019 · $63k · revenue +48%
  • AC
    AMERICAN COUNCILS FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ACTR ACCELS INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $11k · revenue +43%
  • VL
    VINALHAVEN LAND TRUST INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $8k · revenue +106%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
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
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
2
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.

—
3
Fsc I&P

Fsc i&p promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. this mission aligns with the forest stewardship council (fsc), its network of offices, and other organizations.…

Philanthropy
4
Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School

We engage a diverse community of learners in a collaborative educational experience, preparing them for college success and a lifetime of meaningful engagement with the broader world.

—
5
Boston Architectural College

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

—
6
National Committee for Quality Assurance

Our mission: to improve the quality of health care.our vision: better health care. better choices. better health.

Health
7
The Aerospace Corporation

Our purpose is to assist the government and other customers in conception, design, acquisition and operations of space and other complex systems. Mission: Working to improve effectiveness for space operations and end-user communities,…

Science & Tech
8
University of Virginia Foundation

To provide administrative services to university of virginia (university) entities, university associated organizations, or other entities involved in activities which support the university. to engage in matters pertaining to real…

Education
9
American Foreign Service Association

American foreign service association (afsa) is both the principal advocate for the long-term institutional wellbeing of the professional career foreign service and responsible for safeguarding the interest of afsa members. (continued on…

—
10
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
11
Capitol Hill Day School

Capitol Hill Day School is a co-educational independent school serving students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. Capitol Hill Day School deeply engages a diverse community of students in connecting the classroom with the larger…

Education
12
District of Columbia International School

To inspire inquiring, engaged, knowledgeable and caring secondary students who are multilingual, culturally competent, and committed to proactively creating a socially just and sustainable world.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Islands Community Medical Services; the most unlike its peers is Charleston Symphony Orchestra. 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

22 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. 22 of the 32 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/22
Grantees still filing
17/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $449,120 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INCFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $449,120 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUNDNature Forward: $63,000 · EnvironmentVINALHAVEN LAND TRUST INC: $7,500 · EnvironmentTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $16,500 · OtherEAST COOPER LAND TRUST: $8,400 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY - MAINE: $7,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,400 · OtherUNION CHURCH: $4,000 · OtherPROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL FOUNDATION OF THE D OF C: $4,000 · OtherSOME INC: $4,000 · OtherGRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $3,400 · OtherGRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $3,000 · OtherCHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY: $5,400 · OtherBLAIR HOUSE FOUNDATION: $3,000 · Other+9 more: $14,900 · OtherAMERICAN COUNCILS FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ACTR ACCELS INC: $11,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 · InternationalISLANDS COMMUNITY MEDICAL SERVICES: $5,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $4,000 · HealthDistrict of Columbia School of Law Foundation: $2,500 · EducationIsland Institute: $2,500 · EducationThe Potomac School: $2,000 · EducationA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $2,000 · Education
Philanthropy$449,120Community Improvement$449,120Environment$70,500Other$79,500International$15,000Health$9,000Education$9,000

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 budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $449,120 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $449,120 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNature Forward: $63,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $16,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COUNCILS FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ACTR ACCELS INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVINALHAVEN LAND TRUST INC: $7,500 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetCHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY: $5,400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetISLANDS COMMUNITY MEDICAL SERVICES: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOME INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLAIR HOUSE FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetVinalhaven Eldercare Services: $2,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetIsland Institute: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD CENTER AND ADULT SERVICES INC DBA ASPIRE COUNSELING: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Potomac School: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHIGHER ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOne-Eighty Place: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPURNELL SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Greater Washington Co…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Washington Community FoundationDC12.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Washington Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 William D Blair Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The William D Blair Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 32%
  • Nature Forward: 32% of income from government
  • A Wider Circle Inc: 6% of 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
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.

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 32 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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