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Van Nice Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Van Nice Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$89k
Granted FY2024still arriving
40
Grants FY2024still arriving
14
States reached
$21k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$219kEnvironment$111kArts & Culture$109kHealth$23kAnimals$20kRecreation & Sports$16kReligion$14kFood & Nutrition$13kOther$0
02FY2024 · 40 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k37 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $44k
$1,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$1.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DEERFIELD ACADEMY$21,400
CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN MEMBER AND DONOR SERVICE$12,500
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO ANNUAL FUND$10,000
ST FRANCIS SCHOOL ANNUAL GIFTING$5,000
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$5,000
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$3,000
LEWIS AND CLARK COLLEGE$2,500
VALLEY CATHOLIC SCHOOL$2,500
CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL$2,000
DICKINSON COLLEGE GENERAL ENDOWMENT FUND$2,000
HIGH JUMP$2,000
ANN & ROBERT H LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$1,900
LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO FOR SCHOLARSHIP DINNER$1,250
OHSU OVARIAN CANCER VISION$1,000
JAON DANCY AND PALS$1,000
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 (FY24–24, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FAMILY FOCUS: $1k → 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

NH
WA
ID
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CO
MD
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$430k · 55 repeat orgs$111k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.

55 repeat relationships: 34 still active in FY2024, 21 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
42

Total granted

$430k
$104k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+34%

Still filing today

53%
14%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureRecreation & SportsEnvironmentAnimalsYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TO
    TRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY
    4× · 2021–2024 · $57k · revenue +6%
  • TB
    THE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $31k · revenue +30%
  • CO
    CHIKAMING OPEN LANDS
    3× · 2022–2024 · $15k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • BS
    BERKSHIRE SCHOOL (VAN NICE ENDOWMENT FUND)
    one grant, 2020 · $11k
  • CO
    CHIKAMING OPEN LANDS UNRESTRICTED
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • CB
    CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN LIGHTSCAPE
    one grant, 2021 · $8k
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
Lake Forest Academy

Lake forest academy strives to embody in its practices - and to cultivate in its students -excellence of character, scholarship, citizenship, and responsibility.

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

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

—
3
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
Fountain Valley School of Colorado

Fountain valley school of colorado provides a transformative curriculum in a supportive environment where students are challenged to think critically, become leaders, and live by our core values: courage, compassion, curiosity,…

Education
5
Concord Academy

Concord academy is a community animated by love of learning, diverse and striving for equity, with common trust as our foundation. honoring each individual, we challenge and expand our understanding of ourselves and the world through…

Education
6
Darrow School

Darrow school is dedicated to serving students with diverse backgrounds and abilities, building on each student's talents and interests to inspire enduring confidence for success in college and life. this mission is accomplished through…

Education
7
Lake Forest College

Provide post-secondary education leading to a baccalaureate degree. Program service expenditures are made in conjunction with the operation of a liberal arts college spread over 107 acres with approximately 63 educational and support…

Education
8
The University of Chicago Charter School Corporation

To Prepare Students for Success in Four-Year Colleges.

Education
9
The Northwest School of the Arts Humanities and Environment

We offer an outstanding international college preparatory program for grades 6-12.

Education
10
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
11
San Francisco University High School

At san franicisco university high school, we engage our community of diverse voices in a transformational experience that embraces the spirited pursuit of learning and empowers purpose larger than self.

Education
12
Explorer West an Independent Middle School

We empower young people to explore and grow their unique intellectual, ethical, and creative capabilities, and to treasure diversity and growth in others.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ethel Walker School Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Flamingo Foundation. 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

40 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. 40 of the 104 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
39/40
Grantees still filing
32/40
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO ANNUAL FUND: $40,000 · OtherLYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO ANNUAL FUNDCHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN MEMBER AND DONOR SERVICE: $22,500 · OtherCHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN MEMBER AND DONOR SERVICEST FRANCIS SCHOOL ANNUAL GIFTING: $22,500 · OtherST FRANCIS SCHOOL ANNUAL GIFTINGCHIKAMING OPEN LANDS (ANNUAL FUND): $20,000 · OtherCHIKAMING OPEN LANDS (ANNUAL FUND)CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN ANNUAL GIVING: $14,500 · OtherST CHRYSOSTOM'S CHURCH: $12,250 · OtherBERKSHIRE SCHOOL (VAN NICE ENDOWMENT FUND): $11,000 · Other+67 more: $175,000 · Other+67 moreTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY: $57,300 · EducationTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMYTHE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC: $31,000 · EducationTHE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INCTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $13,250 · EducationTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGOLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $12,500 · EducationLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGECHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $10,000 · EducationCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION IN…THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $9,500 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGOHIGH JUMP: $5,500 · Education+9 more: $25,750 · Education+9 moreChicago Symphony Orchestra: $10,000 · Arts & CultureLyric Opera of Chicago: $7,500 · Arts & Culture626 LANDMARK FOUNDATION: $3,000 · Arts & CulturePORTLAND ART MUSEUM: $2,750 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1,000 · Arts & CultureCHIKAMING OPEN LANDS: $14,500 · EnvironmentFERNWOOD INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentREWILD: $4,250 · AnimalsOREGON HUMANE SOCIETY: $3,500 · AnimalsFELIX ORGANIZATION - ADOPTEES FOR CHILDREN INC: $4,000 · Recreation & SportsClearwater Camp Foundation Inc: $2,250 · Recreation & SportsFOUR WINDS: $1,000 · Recreation & SportsGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $3,000 · Youth DevelopmentMAURICE LUCAS FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Youth Development
Other$317,750Education$164,800Arts & Culture$24,250Environment$16,500Animals$7,750Recreation & Sports$7,250Youth Development$5,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY: $57,300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC: $31,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCHIKAMING OPEN LANDS: $14,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $13,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $12,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOREGON FOOD BANK: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH JUMP: $5,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLATINAS FIRST FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREWILD: $4,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFELIX ORGANIZATION - ADOPTEES FOR CHILDREN INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetOREGON HUMANE SOCIETY: $3,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAHIVOY: $3,500 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetCHICAGO ROWING FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPortland Backpack: $3,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGARY COMER YOUTH CENTER INC: $3,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budget626 LANDMARK FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetPORTLAND ART MUSEUM: $2,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJESUIT HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAURICE LUCAS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetClearwater Camp Foundation Inc: $2,250 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetFERNWOOD INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPANORAMA GLOBAL: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHADD INC CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCARDIGAN MOUNTAIN SCHOOL: $1,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE LAWRENCEVILLE SCHOOL: $1,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAGE SCHOOL INC: $1,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOMAN'S BOARD OF NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFAMILY FOCUS LEGACY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG PEOPLES THEATRE PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUR WINDS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FLAMINGO FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 11% 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.

  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds THE BERKSHIRE SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds CHIKAMING OPEN LANDS ↗
  • Who funds THE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Chicago Symphony Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds Lyric Opera of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds OREGON FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds HIGH JUMP ↗
  • Who funds LATINAS FIRST FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds REWILD ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds FELIX ORGANIZATION - ADOPTEES FOR CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds OREGON HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds AHIVOY ↗

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.

Marie Lamfrom Charita…The Chicago Community…The Oregon Community …Gs Donor Advised Phil…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…The Blackbaud Giving …American Endowment Fo…
Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation TrustOR15× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Trust · The Chicago Community Trust · The Oregon Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Endowment 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 Van Nice Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Van Nice Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 21%
  • Chadd Inc Children and Adults With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: 31% of income from government
  • Ahivoy: 29% of income from government
  • Oregon Food Bank: 21% of income from government
  • Lewis & Clark College: 2% of income from government
  • Portland Art Museum: 1% of income from government
  • Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation Incorporated: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 104 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 2024, released 2024. 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