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Walter Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Walter Family Foundation Inc

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.

$2.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
31
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$1.4M
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 2024.

Animals$23MEducation$8.9MArts & Culture$7.4MRecreation & Sports$1.1MPhilanthropy$760kInternational$450kReligion$271kYouth Development$265kOther$0
02FY2024 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $281k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $150k
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.3M
$10,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$575k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$1,450,000
ONEGOAL$500,000
CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC$359,200
FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$50,000
CENTER FOR THE ARTS$50,000
JACKIE JOYNER KERSEE FOUNDATION$50,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$45,000
ST TERESA OF AVILA PARISH$40,500
METRO SQUASH NFP$25,000
BEYOND HUNGER$25,000
ONE ACRE FUND$25,000
THE JAIME AND BLANCA JARRIN FOUNDATION$10,000
CT3 FOUNDATION$10,000
CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL INC CINEMA-CHICAGO$10,000
LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY$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 (FY17–24, $4k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 75% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LA POSADA PROVIDENCIA: $1k → 23%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $1k → 14%JOLIET AREA COMMUNITY HOSPICE CORP AKA LIGHTWAYS HOSPICE & SERIOUS ILLNESS: $1k → 7%FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN-CHICAGO: $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

IL
NY
MA
IA
NJ
RI
CA
CO
NE
MO
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
LA
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$42M · 34 repeat orgs$502k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 16 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
43

Total granted

$42M
$392k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+23%

Still filing today

79%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $110k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyAnimalsEducationRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • LP
    LINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $9.0M · revenue +30%
  • O
    ONEGOAL
    5× · 2017–2024 · $8.4M · revenue +44%
  • CT
    CHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $4.8M · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • CU
    Creighton Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $100k · revenue +56%
  • XT
    XS Tennis and Education Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue ×19
  • TE
    THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +56%
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
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
2
Saint Xavier University

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…

Education
3
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
4
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
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
Kipp Chicago Schools

The team at kipp chicago schools is guided by a simple, yet powerful mission: to create a network of excellent schools in chicago that teach our students the character and academic skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond, and to…

Education
7
Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute

The chicago psychoanalytic institute transforms the lives of individuals, families and communities, using psychoanalytic knowledge to help them grow and thrive.

Social Science
8
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
9
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
10
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
11
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
12
Loyola University of Chicago

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.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Epworth Children & Family Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Jonathan Plutzik & Lesley Goldwasser Family 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

70 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. 70 of the 92 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
68/70
Grantees still filing
48/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHIMP HAVEN INC: $10,000,001 · AnimalsCHIMP HAVEN INCLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $9,029,800 · AnimalsLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETYBUBYE VALLEY CONSERVATION RESEARCH: $3,866,060 · AnimalsBUBYE VALLEY CONSERVATION RESEARCH+2 more: $400,500 · AnimalsONEGOAL: $8,415,000 · Youth DevelopmentONEGOAL+2 more: $199,400 · Youth DevelopmentCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $4,838,700 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO THEATRE GRO…FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1,900,000 · Arts & CultureFIELD MUSEUM OF NAT…+11 more: $619,500 · Arts & Culture+11 moreDMF Internationl Inc: $375,000 · OtherROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY ILLINOIS: $200,000 · OtherST TERESA OF AVILA: $109,500 · OtherST TERESA PARISH: $98,500 · OtherTOUGH ENOUGH TO WEAR PINK: $75,000 · OtherCITY YEAR INC: $75,000 · OtherBEYOND HUNGER: $100,000 · OtherONE ACRE FUND: $75,000 · Other+44 more: $329,400 · OtherNorthwestern University: $962,167 · Recreation & SportsMETROSQUASH NFP: $50,000 · Recreation & Sports+3 more: $60,000 · Recreation & SportsFOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC: $385,000 · PhilanthropyThe Chicago Community Trust: $250,000 · PhilanthropyChicago Blackhawks Foundation: $50,000 · PhilanthropyTHE CHRIS TUCKER FOUNDATION: $30,000 · Philanthropy+5 more: $72,000 · PhilanthropyCreighton University: $100,000 · EducationThe Jaime and Blanca Jarrin Foundation: $20,000 · EducationErikson Institute: $5,000 · Education+2 more: $1,500 · Education
Animals$23,296,361Youth Development$8,614,400Arts & Culture$7,358,200Other$1,437,400Recreation & Sports$1,072,167Philanthropy$787,000Education$126,500

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 budgetCHIMP HAVEN INC: $10,000,001 over 3y, 41% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $9,029,800 over 8y, 3.4% of budgetONEGOAL: $8,415,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetCHICAGO THEATRE GROUP INC: $4,838,700 over 8y, 6.4% of budgetBUBYE VALLEY CONSERVATION RESEARCH: $3,866,060 over 2y, 97% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $1,900,000 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetNorthwestern University: $962,167 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC: $400,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetFOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC: $385,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetDMF Internationl Inc: $375,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetThe Chicago Community Trust: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY ILLINOIS: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJACKIE JOYNER KERSEE FOUNDATION: $189,400 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $170,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $160,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetLOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY: $145,500 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetBEYOND HUNGER: $100,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetCreighton University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $75,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetONE ACRE FUND: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $68,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMETROSQUASH NFP: $50,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetChicago Blackhawks Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTHE CHRIS TUCKER FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetXS Tennis and Education Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetTHE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetLADYLIKE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetWomens Sports Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA OPERA: $23,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetChicago International Film Festival Inc Cinema-Chicago: $21,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetJONATHAN PLUTZIK & LESLEY GOLDWASSER FAMILY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetA BETTER CHANCE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSTART EARLY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUSTIN TURNER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON GROUND FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHOLLYROD FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCongo Square Theatre Company: $10,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetErikson Institute: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETTER GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEWPORT FILM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF DALLAS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORK: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF AUSTIN: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SUDC FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 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.

The Chicago Community…Polk Bros Foundation …John D and Catherine …Lloyd a Fry FoundationArie and Ida Crown Me…Frederick Henry Princ…Dr Scholl FoundationCircle of Service Fou…Jewish Federation of …AbbVie FoundationThe Bluhm Family Foun…Pritzker Traubert Fou…
The Chicago Community TrustIL24.7× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Lloyd a Fry Foundation · Arie and Ida Crown Memorial · Frederick Henry Prince Testamentary Trust · Dr Scholl Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago · AbbVie Foundation · The Bluhm Family Foundation · Pritzker Traubert 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 Walter Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Walter Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
15report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Walter Family Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Walter Family Foundation Inc 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 92 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

Play a game based on Walter 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