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Weston Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Weston Family 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.

$13M
Granted FY2023
7
Grants FY2023
3
States reached
$13M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2023.

Philanthropy$13MArts & Culture$375kHealth$26kInternational$6kHousing & Shelter$5kHuman Services$2kEducation$2kRecreation & Sports$1kOther$0
02FY2023 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k3 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
  • $250k+1 grant · $13M
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$22k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROGER L WESTON FOUNDATION$12,856,078
THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$10,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF COLLIER COUNTY$10,000
THE JOFFREY BALLET$10,000
SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN$5,000
FIRST TEE - NAPLES COLLIER$1,000
THE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION SARA WILCOX FOUND$500
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 (FY21–22, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 29% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%THE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN: $2k → 10%Journey Care: $800 → 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.
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.

3%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$420k · 6 repeat orgs$13M to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2023, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
14

Total granted

$420k
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+61%

Still filing today

83%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13M went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23
PhilanthropyEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureInternationalRecreation & 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

  • TA
    THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
    3× · 2020–2023 · $350k · revenue +32%
  • NC
    NAPLES CHILDREN FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $22k · revenue +277%
  • TN
    THE NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR CHILDREN INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $22k · revenue +19%

Funded once

  • R
    RAVINIA
    one grant, 2022 · $4k
  • SF
    SCLERODERMA FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO
    one grant, 2022 · $2k · revenue +7%
  • THE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $2k · revenue +90%
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
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
2
The Richard H Driehaus Foundation
Philanthropy
3
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
4
True Chicago
Arts & Culture
5
The Chicago Innovation Foundation
Philanthropy
6
Ackerman Institute for the Family

The institute is dedicated to the study, diagnosis and treatment of family relationship problems

Health
7
The Trustees of the Smith College

Smith college educates women of promise for lives of distinction and purpose. a college of and for the world, smith college links the power of the liberal arts to excellence in research and scholarship, developing leaders for society's…

Education
8
Harold E Eisenberg Foundation

The foundation's objective is to fund breakthrough gastrointestinal (gi) cancer research, including clinical trials and studies, at the robert h. lurie comprehensive cancer center of northwestern university.additionally, another objective…

Philanthropy
9
Lookingglass Theatre Company

Lookingglass theatre company is a national leader in the creation and presentation of innovative, cutting-edge theatrical work. lookingglass interweaves movement, circus arts and narrative in original and captivating ways. guided by an…

Arts & Culture
10
The Schull Institute
Education
11
John Carroll University

As a jesuit catholic university committed to academic rigor, inclusive excellence, and care for the whole person, john carroll university inspires individuals of intellect and character to learn, lead and serve in the community and…

Education
12
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare Group

Northwestern memorial healthcare is an integrated healthcare system, consisting of multiple hospitals (including northwestern memorial hospital, an academic medical center) and networks of physicians and healthcare professionals, where the…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Naples Children Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Murphy's Backpacks Inc. 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

13 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. 13 of the 25 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
10/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROGER L WESTON FOUNDATION: $12,856,078 · PhilanthropyROGER L WESTON FOUNDATION+1 more: $22,122 · PhilanthropyTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $349,500 · Education+1 more: $100 · EducationTHE NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR CHILDREN INC: $22,000 · OtherCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · OtherSHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN: $5,000 · OtherRAVINIA: $4,000 · OtherSCLERODERMA FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO: $2,000 · Other+10 more: $6,461 · OtherTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $20,000 · Arts & CultureJAPAN AMERICA SOCIETY OF CHICAGO INC: $6,000 · InternationalTHE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesElea Institute: $800 · Human ServicesErikas Lighthouse A Beacon of Hope for Adolescent Depression: $1,000 · HealthNorthwestern University: $200 · Recreation & Sports
Philanthropy$12,878,200Education$349,600Other$59,461Arts & Culture$20,000International$6,000Human Services$2,800Health$1,000Recreation & Sports$200

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 budgetROGER L WESTON FOUNDATION: $12,856,078 over 1y, 78% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $349,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNAPLES CHILDREN FOUNDATION INC: $22,122 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NEW ENGLAND CENTER FOR CHILDREN INC: $22,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJAPAN AMERICA SOCIETY OF CHICAGO INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSCLERODERMA FOUNDATION OF GREATER CHICAGO: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetErikas Lighthouse A Beacon of Hope for Adolescent Depression: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetElea Institute: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMURPHY'S BACKPACKS INC: $100 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO6.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Weston Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Weston Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • The New England Center for Children Inc: 3% of income from government
  • The Shelter for Abused Women & Children Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Weston Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Weston 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.

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 25 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Weston 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