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Williams Family Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Williams Family Charitable 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.

$102k
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$8k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$127kFood & Nutrition$41kArts & Culture$37kHuman Services$32kEnvironment$27kAnimals$26kCivil Rights$22kPhilanthropy$16kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$4,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago$7,500
Big Shoulders Fund$6,000
Latin School of Chicago$5,000
Joliet Junior College Foundation$5,000
Mayo Clinic$5,000
University District Service League$5,000
Open Books Ltd$5,000
Evans Scholars Foundation$5,000
The Bloc$5,000
Greater Chicago Food Depository$5,000
Washington Womens Foundation$5,000
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fu$4,000
After School Matters Inc$4,000
Environmental Defense Fund Incorpor$4,000
Traveling Tails Dog Rescue$3,000
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 (FY21–24, $42k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 70% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Misericordia Foundation: $1k → 14%Misericordia Foundation: $1k → 14%University District Service League: $5k → 9%University District Service League: $5k → 9%Chief Seattle Club: $3k → 9%The Bloc: $15k → 14%The Bloc: $5k → 14%The Bloc: $5k → 14%The Bloc: $3k → 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

WA
MN
IL
NY
IN
OH
MO
TN
DC
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$320k · 35 repeat orgs$64k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +15% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
19

Total granted

$320k
$56k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+3%

Still filing today

86%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k 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
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesAnimalsCrime & LegalEnvironmentOther
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

  • TB
    THE BLOC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $27k · revenue +107%
  • IF
    Institute for Nonviolence Chicago
    4× · 2021–2024 · $22k · revenue +223%
  • OB
    OPEN BOOKS LTD
    4× · 2021–2024 · $22k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • KENYON COLLEGE
    one grant, 2023 · $7k · revenue +2%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2021 · $7k · revenue +21%
  • FC
    Firehouse Community Arts Center of
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
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
3
Chicago Sun-Times Media Inc

Chicago sun-times serves the public interest by strengthening the well-being of our local communities and our democracy through independent local journalism.

—
4
Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management's mission is to bring the real world to business education and leadership development.

—
5
The Chicago Bar Foundation

The chicago bar foundation brings the legal community together through advocacy, funding, and innovation to improve access to justice for people in need and to make the legal system more fair, equitable, and effective.

Education
6
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
7
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
8
Junior Achievement of Chicago

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

International
9
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
10
Children's Museum of Oak Park

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

Arts & Culture
11
Chicago Zoological Society

To inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature.

Animals
12
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.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chicago Public Media Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Goldin Institute. 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

51 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. 51 of the 62 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
51/51
Grantees still filing
30/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Evans Scholars Foundation: $21,800 · OtherEvans Scholars FoundationJOLIET JUNIOR COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,833 · OtherJOLIET JUNIOR COLLEGE FOUNDATIONEnvironmental Defense Fund Incorpor: $12,000 · OtherEnvironmental Defense Fund IncorporBALLARD FOOD BANK: $9,000 · OtherBALLARD FOOD BANKCatholic Charities-Chicago Archdioc: $9,000 · OtherCatholic Charities-Chicago ArchdiocOaken Acres Wildlilfe Refuge and Re: $7,500 · OtherTraveling Tails Dog Rescue: $9,633 · OtherTraveling Tails Dog RescueENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $6,800 · OtherSurge for Water Inc: $6,500 · OtherCOMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE: $7,500 · OtherCHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT: $6,000 · Other+20 more: $55,332 · Other+20 moreOPEN BOOKS LTD: $21,800 · EducationOPEN BOOKS LTDTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $15,000 · EducationTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAG…Big Shoulders Fund: $13,000 · EducationBig Shoulders FundAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $12,000 · EducationAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INCSIT STAY READ INC: $10,000 · EducationSIT STAY READ INCFrancis W Parker School: $7,000 · EducationFrancis W Parker SchoolKENYON COLLEGE: $7,000 · EducationKENYON COLLEGEDePauw University: $5,000 · Education+2 more: $3,000 · EducationTHE BLOC: $27,000 · Human ServicesTHE BLOCUNIVERSITY DISTRICT SERVICE LEAGUE: $10,000 · Human ServicesUNIVERSITY DI…MARY'S PLACE SEATTLE: $6,000 · Human ServicesMARY'S PLACE …CHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $2,500 · Human ServicesMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Human ServicesInstitute for Nonviolence Chicago: $22,000 · Crime & LegalEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $9,000 · Crime & LegalNORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: $5,500 · Arts & CultureGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $3,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureChicago Symphony Orchestra: $3,000 · Arts & CultureLyric Opera of Chicago: $2,000 · Arts & CultureKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $2,000 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,000 · Arts & CultureBLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER CORPORATION: $1,000 · Arts & CultureWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $1,000 · Arts & CultureGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $21,800 · Food & NutritionWASHINGTON WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyEL PASO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,000 · PhilanthropyTHE GOLDIN INSTITUTE: $5,000 · Philanthropy
Other$166,898Education$93,800Human Services$47,500Crime & Legal$31,000Arts & Culture$23,500Food & Nutrition$21,800Philanthropy$21,000

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 BLOC: $27,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetInstitute for Nonviolence Chicago: $22,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetOPEN BOOKS LTD: $21,800 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $21,800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJOLIET JUNIOR COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $15,833 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LATIN SCHOOL OF CHICAGO: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBig Shoulders Fund: $13,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAFTER SCHOOL MATTERS INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSIT STAY READ INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY DISTRICT SERVICE LEAGUE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTraveling Tails Dog Rescue: $9,633 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetBALLARD FOOD BANK: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFrancis W Parker School: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $6,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSurge for Water Inc: $6,500 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetMARY'S PLACE SEATTLE: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEL PASO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHWEST AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM: $5,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetREFUGEEONE: $5,333 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDePauw University: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGRANT PARK ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBLACK UNITED FUND OF ILLINOIS INC: $2,833 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetONE TAIL AT A TIME NFP: $2,833 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPeaceful Valley Donkey Rescue Inc: $2,833 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHIEF SEATTLE CLUB: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN - SEATTLE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOutdoors for all Foundation: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONSERVATION NW: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH JUMP: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKenneth C Griffin Museum of Science and Industry: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER CORPORATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWINDOW TO THE WORLD COMMUNICATIONS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART FKA MEXICAN FINE ARTS CENTER MUSEUM: $1,000 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.

The Chicago Community…John D and Catherine …The Seabury FoundationSeattle FoundationFrederick Henry Princ…Robert R McCormick Fo…Circle of Service Fou…The Norcliffe Foundat…United Way of King Co…AbbVie FoundationHelen and Curtis Pinn…Raikes Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL22× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Seabury Foundation · Seattle Foundation · Frederick Henry Prince Testamentary Trust · Robert R McCormick Foundation · Circle of Service Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · United Way of King County · AbbVie Foundation · Helen and Curtis Pinnell Foundation · Raikes 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 Williams Family Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Williams Family Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Williams Family Charitable Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Williams Family Charitable 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 62 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 Williams 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