Skip to content
The Willis Towers Watson Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

The Willis Towers Watson Foundation

The willis foundation sponsors fundraising events and in turn makes charitable contributions to u.s.

$777k
Granted FY2020
21
Grants FY2020
12
States reached
$119k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2020.

Health$348kHousing & Shelter$165kEducation$130kYouth Development$102kAnimals$79kHuman Services$75kEmployment$35kCrime & Legal$26kOther$0
02FY2020 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 21 grants below total $675,145, the rows itemized in this filing. The $776,968 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $101,823 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k3 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $181k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $474k
$19,636
Median grant
12
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$119,400
POSSE$110,000
AMERICAN VET DOGS$65,000
FISHER HOUSE$65,000
GARY SINISE FOUNDATION$65,000
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION GRANGER COBB INSTITUTE FOR SENIOR L$50,000
AGC EDUCATION & RESEARCH FOUNDATION$25,000
CHARLES HUMPHREY KEATING IV FOUNDATION$25,000
KIDS CHANCE OF WISCONSIN$20,000
BE THE MATCH FOUNDATION$20,000
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NYC$19,636
UMOM NEW DAY CENTERS$10,941
ADVENTURES IN RIDING$10,715
THE OPEN DOOR$10,000
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE EASTERN WISCONSIN$10,000
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 (FY17–20, $77k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 68% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TAKE A BREATHER FOUNATION: $15k → 7%BROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING SERVICES: $10k → 20%BROOKDALE ASSOCIATE COMPASSION FUND: $10k → 4%AINSLEY'S ANGELS OF AMERICA: $6k → 12%OAK HILL: $11k → 11%BLESSING IN A BACKPACK: $10k → 14%CRADLES TO CRAYONS: $15k → 14%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
MN
IL
WI
NY
PA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
MD
AZ
TN
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

12%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$125k · 4 repeat orgs$910k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2020, 0 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
24

Total granted

$125k
$278k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+49%

Still filing today

75%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 6% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $631k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20
HealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyEducationHousing & ShelterEmploymentOther
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

  • BB
    BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC
    3× · 2017–2020 · $68k · revenue -13%
  • RI
    Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
    2× · 2017–2020 · $23k · revenue +31%
  • AI
    ADVENTURES IN RIDING WITH MISS JULIE
    2× · 2019–2020 · $21k

Funded once

  • SA
    SOUTHWEST AUTISM RESEARCH AND RESOURCE CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +138%
  • TA
    TAKE A BREATHER FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue +145%
  • HI
    HARTFORD INTERVAL HOUSE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $16k · revenue +108%
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
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
2
The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Fdn Group

Susan g. komen 's mission is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities & investing in breakthrough research to prevent & cure breast cancer.

—
3
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

To cure cf and provide all people with cf the opportunity to lead long, fulfilling lives by funding research and drug development, partnering with the cf community, and advancing high-quality, specialized care.

Health
4
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
5
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
6
Target Als Foundation Inc

Our mission is to break down barriers to als research to find effective treatments. by uniting academia, the pharma and biotech industry, government, venture capital, related nonprofits, and the als community, we aim to overcome the…

Education
7
The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc

Susan g. komen has an unmatched, comprehensive 360-degree approach to fighting breast cancer across all fronts and supporting millions of people in the u.s. and in countries worldwide. we advocate for policies to protect patients, drive…

Health
8
Lung Cancer Research Foundation

The mission of the lung cancer research foundation is to improve lung cancer outcomes by funding research for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of lung cancer.

Health
9
Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation

The samuel waxman cancer research foundation (the "foundation") funds innovative research to bring faster cures to patients. in addition to supporting ongoing collaborative research in specific cancers, our scientists are investigating the…

—
10
Commonwealth Cancer Consortium Inc

Break through cancer is a foundation dedicated to supporting translational research in the most difficult to treat cancers. our partner organizations are among the top cancer research centers and together, represent some of the most…

—
11
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred hutch cancer center ("fred hutch") unites innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious disease. continued on schedule o

Health
12
Lifeworks Services Inc

Lifeworks' mission is to partner with people with disabilities to drive change by increasing opportunity and access in the community.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is St Baldrick's Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Concerns of Police Survivors. 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

43 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 43 of the 45 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/43
Grantees still filing
32/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $67,636 · OtherBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY …FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $65,000 · OtherFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INCAMERICAN VET DOGS: $65,000 · OtherAMERICAN VET DOGSAGC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · OtherAGC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION INCADVENTURES IN RIDING WITH MISS JULIE: $21,035 · OtherADVENTURES IN RIDING WITH MISS JULIEHARTFORD INTERVAL HOUSE INC: $15,663 · OtherCOMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION INC: $15,663 · OtherPAWS CHICAGO: $13,500 · Other+10 more: $100,468 · Other+10 moreTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 · EducationTHE POSSE FOUNDATIO…WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationWASHINGTON STATE UN…KIDS CHANCE OF WISCONSIN INC: $20,000 · EducationKIDS CHANCE OF WISC…SOUTHWEST AUTISM RESEARCH AND RESOURCE CENTER: $25,000 · HealthSOUTHWEST AUTIS…Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $22,500 · HealthRehabilitation …TAKE A BREATHER FOUNDATION: $20,000 · HealthTAKE A BREATHER…PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $10,000 · HealthPANCREATIC CANC…RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF EASTERN WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD…H LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · HealthH LEE MOFFITT C…HORIZON HOME CARE & HOSPICE INC: $10,000 · HealthHORIZON HOME CA…BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $10,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1…MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC: $8,750 · HealthMUSCULAR DYSTRO…Alabama Kidney Foundation Inc: $8,500 · HealthAlabama Kidney …BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,953 · HealthHABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $119,400 · InternationalHABITAT FOR H…GARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $65,000 · PhilanthropyGARY SINISE…NMDP FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyNMDP FOUNDA…UNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $10,300 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY …ST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 · PhilanthropyST BALDRICK…CRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesPHILADELPHIA CORPORATION FOR AGING: $15,000 · Human ServicesTHE CONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND INC: $11,055 · Human ServicesBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesBROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING AND SERVICES: $10,000 · Human ServicesBROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesAINSLEY'S ANGELS OF AMERICA: $6,000 · Human ServicesCHARLES HUMPHREY KEATING IV FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Public Benefit
Other$388,965Education$180,000Health$140,703International$119,400Philanthropy$103,300Human Services$77,055Public Benefit$25,000

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 budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $119,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF NEW YORK CITY INC: $67,636 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $65,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHWEST AUTISM RESEARCH AND RESOURCE CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHARLES HUMPHREY KEATING IV FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetAGC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $22,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTAKE A BREATHER FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetNMDP FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHARTFORD INTERVAL HOUSE INC: $15,663 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION INC: $15,663 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPHILADELPHIA CORPORATION FOR AGING: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $13,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHORIZONS INC: $11,055 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYWCA HARTFORD REGION INC: $11,055 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CONNECTICUT INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND INC: $11,055 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUMOM NEW DAY CENTERS INC: $10,941 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $10,300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE PASSAGE PROJECT CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF EASTERN WISCONSIN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE OPEN DOOR: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLYN COMMUNITY HOUSING AND SERVICES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetH LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER & RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHORIZON HOME CARE & HOSPICE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF ORANGE COUNTY CALIFORNIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINC HOUSING CORPORATION: $9,237 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC: $8,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,953 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.

Hartford Foundation f…Sbm Charitable Founda…Ion Bank Foundation I…Aetna Foundation IncArthur J Gallagher Fo…The Chicago Community…Ge Aerospace Foundati…The Bank of America C…The Blackbaud Giving …Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…
Hartford Foundation for Public GivingCT14.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hartford Foundation for Public Giving · Sbm Charitable Foundation Inc · Ion Bank Foundation Inc · Aetna Foundation Inc · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Ge Aerospace Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving 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 Willis Towers Watson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Willis Towers Watson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 39%
  • Community Partners in Action Inc: 90% of income from government
  • Horizons Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Ywca Hartford Region Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 45 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Willis Towers Watson’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