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New Jersey · Private foundation

Willens 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.

$603k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
19
Grants FY2025
21
Organizations funded FY2024
43%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$12,533
Largest grant, FY2025
$302,000
Organizations funded a year
11 to 21
FY2020 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
9
Total assets, FY2025
$17M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 43% of the organizations Willens Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 22% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $106k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesInternationalYouth DevelopmentEducationCivil RightsOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving19$603k42%
FY202421$479k43%
FY202318$406k56%
FY202219$364k68%
FY202114$180k71%
FY202011$100kn/a
99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Recreation & Sports$795kEducation$333kHealth$313kInternational$144kFood & Nutrition$94kHuman Services$86kScience & Tech$76kYouth Development$73kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
NY
MA
NV
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
TN
DC
AL
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 41 grantees
All grantees of Willens Family Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Northwestern University$1,097,40060%
Med Access International$97,650546%
Medecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc$86,65030%
Boca Raton Regional Hospital Inc$73,35050%
Civic Soul$55,1341n/a
Community Food Bank Of New Jersey Inc$40,65060%
Role Model Movement Inc (NFP)$35,00030%
Assisting Lives in Las Vegas$33,75061%
Minds Matter of NYC Inc$25,78321%
California Institute of Technology$25,00010%
Coalition for the Homeless Inc$24,52520%
NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc$21,65030%
World Central Kitchen Inc$20,20010%
Sanctuary for Families Inc$20,00020%
Camfed USA Foundation$15,00010%
St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc$15,00010%
Urban Initiatives Inc$14,00040%
Matthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric$12,00011%
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation$11,27510%
Equal Justice Initiative$10,50020%
Abortion Care Network$10,10010%
Sandy Hook Promise Foundation$10,10010%
Indigenous Environmental Network$10,00010%
The Brigid Alliance Inc$10,00010%
CancerFree KIDS$10,0001n/a
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation Inc$9,60010%
Urban Growers Collective Inc$9,00020%
The Night Ministry$7,00010%
Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness$7,00010%
Greater Chicago Food Depository$6,20010%
Feeding America$5,50010%
CORA Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse$5,50010%
Comp-U-Dopt Inc$5,50010%
Mental Health America Inc$5,50010%
Midwest Access Coalition$5,00010%
American Heart Association Inc$5,00010%
Paws Chicago$5,00010%
National Women's Law Center$5,00010%
Birthright Israel Foundation$5,00010%
Coalition for Rainforest Nations Secretariat$3,00010%
Clean Air Task Force Inc$3,00010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 20 recipients with no EIN on record ($254k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Willens Family Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 39 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNorthwestern University: $1,097,400 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMed Access International: $97,650 over 5y, 46% of budgetMedecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc: $86,650 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBoca Raton Regional Hospital Inc: $73,350 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Food Bank Of New Jersey Inc: $40,650 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRole Model Movement Inc (NFP): $35,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetAssisting Lives in Las Vegas: $33,750 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetMinds Matter of NYC Inc: $25,783 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCalifornia Institute of Technology: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCoalition for the Homeless Inc: $24,525 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc: $21,650 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWorld Central Kitchen Inc: $20,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSanctuary for Families Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCamfed USA Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSt Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Initiatives Inc: $14,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMatthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric: $12,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation: $11,275 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEqual Justice Initiative: $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAbortion Care Network: $10,100 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSandy Hook Promise Foundation: $10,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIndigenous Environmental Network: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Brigid Alliance Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Breast Cancer Research Foundation Inc: $9,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Growers Collective Inc: $9,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Night Ministry: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Coalition to End Homelessness: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGreater Chicago Food Depository: $6,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $5,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCORA Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse: $5,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetComp-U-Dopt Inc: $5,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMental Health America Inc: $5,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMidwest Access Coalition: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPaws Chicago: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Women's Law Center: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBirthright Israel Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCoalition for Rainforest Nations Secretariat: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetClean Air Task Force Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 39.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 Blackbaud Giving FundSC10.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Blackbaud Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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.

Compare Willens Family Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Willens Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Willens 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.

About Willens Family Foundation

How much does Willens Family Foundation give?
Willens Family Foundation reported 19 grants totaling $602,800 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 11 and 21 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
What does Willens Family Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Recreation & Sports (37%), Education (16%), Health (15%).
Who are Willens Family Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: Northwestern University ($1.1M), Med Access International ($98k), Medecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc ($87k).
Does Willens Family Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 43% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Willens Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Willens Family Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Blackbaud Giving Fund, National Philanthropic Trust, The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc.
Where is Willens Family Foundation based?
Willens Family Foundation is based in NJ.

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 61 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

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