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Weston Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Weston 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.

$124k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$429kHealth$78kPhilanthropy$60kEducation$25kEnvironment$18kAnimals$10kInternational$9kHuman Services$8kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $34k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL$50,000
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO$25,000
THE JOFFREY BALLET$15,000
RAVINIA$7,500
GUITARS OVER GUNS$5,000
THE GLASSER PRESCHOOL$5,000
FIRST TEE$5,000
INTERNATIONAL GAME FISH ASSOCIATION$5,000
THE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND CHILDREN$5,000
NAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL$1,000
NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN$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 (FY17–25, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 80% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%THE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN AND CHILDREN: $5k → 10%JourneyCare: $20k → 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
MI
NY
MA
NJ
CO
AZ
NC
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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$510k · 9 repeat orgs$205k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
26

Total granted

$510k
$128k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+63%

Still filing today

56%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 38% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $77k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthAnimalsEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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
    5× · 2017–2025 · $173k · revenue +45%
  • JA
    JAPANESE ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA INC
    6× · 2017–2022 · $120k · revenue +37%
  • TJ
    THE JOFFREY BALLET
    3× · 2017–2025 · $35k · revenue +90%

Funded once

  • EI
    Elea Institute
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue -96%
  • THE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDAgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $17k · revenue +561%
  • UO
    University of Michigangraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue +140%
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
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
2
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
3
Lincoln Park Zoological Society

Lincoln park zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature by providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of chicago and by advancing the highest quality of animal care, horticulture, education, science and…

Animals
4
Naples Zoo Inc

Naples zoo is accredited by the american zoo & aquarium association (aza) and has numerous animal exhibits placed on its 45-acre site. (continued on schedule o)each exhibit is unique and designed to simulate typical conditions for the…

Animals
5
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
6
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
7
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
8
Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Inc

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University ("The Auditorium"), an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community and educational programming to Chicago and to the…

Arts & Culture
9
Columbia College Chicago

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

Education
10
Lyric Opera of Chicago

We believe in the life-changing, transformational, revelatory power of great art and opera. Lyric Opera of Chicago exists to provide a broad, deep, and relevant cultural service to the Chicago region and the nation, and to advance the…

Arts & Culture
11
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
12
Children's Museum of Oak Park

To spark curiosity and creativity in all young children through positive, play-based learning experiences.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Naples Botanical Garden Inc; the most unlike its peers is Japanese Art Society of America 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

29 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. 29 of the 43 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/29
Grantees still filing
22/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Guitars Over Guns: $85,000 · OtherGuitars Over GunsCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 · OtherCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INCTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: $16,500 · OtherTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDARAVINIA: $14,500 · OtherRAVINIANaples Children Education Fund: $13,250 · OtherUniversity of Michigan: $10,000 · OtherThe Womens Board of the Art Inst Chicago: $10,000 · Other+16 more: $57,650 · Other+16 moreJAPANESE ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA INC: $120,000 · Arts & CultureJAPANESE ART SOCIETY OF AMERI…THE JOFFREY BALLET: $35,000 · Arts & CultureTHE JOFFREY BALLETWriters Theatre Inc: $30,000 · Arts & CultureWriters Theatre Inc+3 more: $14,000 · Arts & Culture+3 moreTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $172,500 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHIC…+1 more: $2,500 · EducationNAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC: $51,000 · HealthNAPLES COMMUNI…Endeavor Health Clinical Operations: $30,000 · HealthEndeavor Healt…Fenix Family Health Center: $9,480 · HealthFenix Family H…Wellness House: $5,000 · Health+1 more: $1,000 · HealthElea Institute: $20,000 · Human ServicesTHE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesPAWS INC: $5,000 · AnimalsHouston Zoo Inc: $2,000 · AnimalsChicago Zoological Society: $360 · Animals+1 more: $235 · AnimalsGUITARS OVER GUNS ORGANIZATION INC: $5,000 · Youth Development
Other$266,900Arts & Culture$199,000Education$175,000Health$96,480Human Services$25,000Animals$7,595Youth Development$5,000

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 budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $172,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJAPANESE ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA INC: $120,000 over 6y, 8.4% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC: $51,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JOFFREY BALLET: $35,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWriters Theatre Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetEndeavor Health Clinical Operations: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetElea Institute: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: $16,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $10,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetINTERNATIONAL GAME FISH ASSOCIATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetARTIS-NAPLES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWellness House: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGUITARS OVER GUNS ORGANIZATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SHELTER FOR ABUSED WOMEN & CHILDREN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetRAVINIA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALLEN-CHASE FOUNDATION DBA EAGLEBROOK SCHOOL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Zoo Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MONTCLAIR FUND FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetRECLAM THE BAY: $1,500 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY MATTERS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $360 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $235 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.

AbbVie FoundationFidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
AbbVie FoundationIL12.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: AbbVie Foundation · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Weston Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Weston Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    4get 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
    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 Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Weston 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 43 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Weston’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