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Wisdom Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wisdom 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.

$24k
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$5k
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 2024.

Education$114kHuman Services$51kHealth$8kYouth Development$8kReligion$5kCrime & Legal$5kPhilanthropy$3kEmployment$1kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$214k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Crisis Nursery$5,000
Embrace Services$5,000
Verde Community Church$5,000
Kids Too$2,500
The Dwelling Place$2,500
Bellin Health Foundation$2,000
Elpis Enterprises$1,000
BrainPower In A BackPack--Burnsville High School$1,000
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, $40k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 15% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%The Dwelling Place: $3k → 7%Elpis Enterprises: $1k → 14%Embrace Services: $5k → 13%FOSTERING SUCCESS: $25k → 7%Fostering Success: $5k → 7%Fostering Success: $2k → 7%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.

31%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$61k · 4 repeat orgs$134k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
18

Total granted

$61k
$111k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-21%
+23%

Still filing today

50%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 4% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $23k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesHealthCivil RightsYouth DevelopmentEducationCrime & LegalOther
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

  • FS
    FOSTERING SUCCESS
    3× · 2021–2023 · $32k · revenue -29% · 48% of their budget
  • SF
    ST FRANCIS DE SALES PARISH SCHOOLS
    2× · 2020–2021 · $15k
  • UE
    U-46 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
    2× · 2020–2021 · $13k · revenue -21%

Funded once

  • SF
    SAIL FUTURE ACADEMY
    one grant, 2021 · $75k
  • TI
    TRILOGY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +30%
  • CA
    CAL'S ANGELS FOUNDATION
    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
Casa of Dupage County Inc

Recruit, train, and support volunteer citizen advocates to effectively speak to the best interests of abused, neglected, and dependent children in dupage county's juvenile court system because every child has a right to a safe, permanent…

Civil Rights
2
Advocate Health Care Network

The mission of advocate health care is to serve the health needs of individuals, families and communities through a wholistic philosophy rooted in our fundamental understanding of human beings as created in the image of god.

Health
3
Ehs Home Health Care Service Inc

Ehs home health care service, inc.'s (ehshhc) mission is to provide quality medical home health services and education to various communities in the chicagoland area regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, handicap, age or ability…

Health
4
Shelter Inc

Shelter's mission is to end the cycle of child abuse by providing a comprehensive network of support to children, their families, and our community to create safe, health, and nurturing homes.

Housing & Shelter
5
Family Service Association of Greater Elgin Area

Family Service Association of Greater Elgin Area is dedicated to empowering individuals and families, promoting self sufficiency and building stronger communities through quality, accessible client centered services.

—
6
Foster Progress

Empower Illinois youth currently or formerly in foster care to attain a college degree and transition into adulthood successfully by providing mentorship, advocacy, and educational opportunity.

Human Services
7
One for One Chicago

One for one chicago provides paid work-based learning, mentorship, and career readiness support for young people ages 1524 in chicago communities with high rates of unemployment and limited access to early work experience.

Youth Development
8
One Family Chicago

Believing that every jewish child needs and deserves to grow up in a stable and healthy home environment, and that the fabric of that home is woven from material, emotional and religious threads, one family chicago is committed to…

Human Services
9
Domestic Violence Intervention Services

See schedule oadvancing physical and emotional safety by reducing the impact and occurrence of sexual and domestic violence, human trafficking and stalking through inclusive intervention and prevention services for children, youth, and…

Human Services
10
Arc Community Services Inc

Arc community services, inc. (arc) is dedicated to helping women reclaim their lives, gain awareness of their personal self-worth, and be empowered to make the changes necessary to improve their welfare along with that of their children…

—
11
Aids Foundation of Chicago

The aids foundation of chicago mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to hiv and related chronic disease.

Health
12
Prevent Child Abuse Illinois

To prevent child abuse in Illinois through education, awareness, advocacy, and community support

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Embrace Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Fostering Success. 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

15 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. 15 of the 30 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)
15/15
Grantees still filing
8/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SAIL FUTURE ACADEMY: $75,000 · OtherSAIL FUTURE ACADEMYST FRANCIS DE SALES PARISH SCHOOLS: $15,000 · OtherST FRANCIS DE SALES PARISH SCHOOLSTRILOGY INC: $5,000 · OtherVerde Community Church: $5,000 · OtherCAL'S ANGELS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $5,000 · OtherCrisis Nursery: $5,000 · Other+11 more: $18,885 · Other+11 moreFOSTERING SUCCESS: $31,500 · Human ServicesFOSTERING SUCCESSEMBRACE SERVICES INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesEMBRACE SERVICES INCThe Dwelling Place: $2,500 · Human ServicesThe Dwelling Place+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesU-46 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $12,500 · EducationCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE FOX RIVER VALLEY: $3,000 · PhilanthropyI CAN FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentPARENTS AGAINST CHILD SEX ABUSE DBA KIDS TOO: $2,500 · Crime & LegalEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $1,000 · Civil RightsCASA KANE COUNTY: $1,000 · Civil RightsL'ARCHE CHICAGO INC: $1,010 · HealthADVOCATE SHERMAN HOSPITAL: $300 · Health
Other$133,885Human Services$40,000Education$12,500Philanthropy$3,000Youth Development$2,500Crime & Legal$2,500Civil Rights$2,000Health$1,310

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFOSTERING SUCCESS: $31,500 over 3y, 48% of budgetU-46 EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetEMBRACE SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTRILOGY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE FOX RIVER VALLEY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetI CAN FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Dwelling Place: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPARENTS AGAINST CHILD SEX ABUSE DBA KIDS TOO: $2,500 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetTHE BELLIN HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetL'ARCHE CHICAGO INC: $1,010 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCASA KANE COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetElpis Enterprises: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetADVOCATE SHERMAN HOSPITAL: $300 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.

Charities Aid Foundat…The Blackbaud Giving …Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Charities Aid Foundation AmericaVA9.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charities Aid Foundation America · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Wisdom Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wisdom Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get 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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 Wisdom Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Wisdom 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 30 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 Wisdom 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