· Private foundation
Vail Family Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k18 grants · $52k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| RAVINIA FESTIVAL | $30,000 |
| GENEVA FOUNDATION | $10,000 |
| CLEARBROOK | $7,500 |
| NORTHFIELD MT HERMAN SCHOOL | $5,000 |
| PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY | $5,000 |
| CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT | $5,000 |
| WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE | $4,000 |
| LAKE FOREST COLLEGE | $4,000 |
| HOME OF THE SPARROW | $3,000 |
| EMORY UNIVERSITY | $2,500 |
| PHILLIPS ACADEMY ANDOVER | $2,500 |
| WINNETKA HISTORICAL SOCIETY | $2,500 |
| MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY | $2,500 |
| DOOR COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC | $2,000 |
| GLEN VIEW CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION | $1,500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $37k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +51% for those funded once.
30 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION9× · 2017–2025 · $110k · revenue +53%
Lake Forest College4× · 2017–2025 · $85k · revenue +73%- CCLEARBROOK6× · 2017–2025 · $31k · revenue +97%
Funded once
- KSKELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENTone grant, 2024 · $15k
- RURush University Medical Centergraduatedone grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +51%
- FWFrancis W Parker Schoolone grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +12%
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.
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.
Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.
Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…
Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship
Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…
Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.
The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…
We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.
Endicott college offers students a vibrant academic environment that remains true to its founding principle of integrating professional and liberal arts with experiential learning. for more information see schedule o.
The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…
Manhattan university is an independent catholic instituion of higher learning that embraces qualified men and women of all faiths, cultures, and traditions. the mission of manhattan university is to provide a contemporary, person-centered…
The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.
To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.
How this is measured
31 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. 31 of the 60 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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.
- Who funds RAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
- Who funds Lake Forest College ↗
- Who funds CLEARBROOK ↗
- Who funds NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds WINNETKA COMMUNITY HOUSE INC ↗
- Who funds PHILLIPS EXETER ACADEMY ↗
- Who funds WINNETKA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds GLEN VIEW CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds GENEVA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
- Who funds Francis W Parker School ↗
- Who funds INDEPENDENCE CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds University of Chicago ↗
- Who funds ACCESS MAMMOTH ↗
- Who funds Northwestern University ↗
- Who funds Mothers Trust Foundation ↗
- Who funds DEPAUL UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Emory University ↗
- Who funds Davidson College ↗
- Who funds GENEVA FOUNDATION OF PRESBYTERIAN HOMES ↗
- Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
- Who funds DOOR COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF THE PAVILLION INC ↗
- Who funds Home of the Sparrow Inc ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Kemper Educational and Charitable Fund · Baxter International Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Vail Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Vail Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Vail Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Vail 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.
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