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Zell Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Zell Family Foundation Inc

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.

$140k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$56k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Crime & Legal$333kHousing & Shelter$190kHuman Services$104kInternational$46kCommunity Improvement$37kArts & Culture$31kYouth Development$15kRecreation & Sports$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $52k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $56k
$2,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TO RISE UP INDUSTRIES$56,000
GOLDEN RULE REENTRY$16,000
WOMEN FIRST TRANSITION AND REFERRAL CENTER$15,000
FREEDOM FARMS$11,000
BEYOND THESE WALLS$10,000
GIVE A BEAT FOUNDATION$6,000
TO LEAP TO SUCCESS$3,000
GSL RESCUE$3,000
THE DOE FUND$3,000
IT TAKES A VILLAGE$3,000
Individual grant recipient$2,000
ENGLISH FOR NEW BOSTONIANS$1,500
MOUNT TAMALPAIS COLLEGE$1,500
REFUGE POINT$1,500
CENTER CITY CONCERN$1,500
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, $181k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 83% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%IT TAKES A VILLAGE: $3k → 12%UPTOGETHER: $3k → 10%UNITED IN HARMONY: $5k → 14%MOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $30k → 10%GOLDEN RULE REENTRY: $16k → 13%IT TAKES A VILLAGE: $2k → 12%UP TOGETHER: $1k → 10%TO RISE UP INDUSTRIES: $56k → 11%UNITED IN HARMONY: $3k → 14%UNION RESCUE MISSION: $3k → 14%STREET ROOTS: $2k → 12%ARDELLAS HOUSE: $3k → 22%UNITED IN HARMONY: $3k → 14%DIGNITY VILLAGE: $3k → 12%WOMENS COMMUNITY JUSTICE ASSOCIATION: $20k → 17%YWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $15k → 12%YWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $2k → 12%FOOD DEPOT: $500 → 12%SENSE OF HOME: $5k → 14%SENSE OF HOME: $5k → 14%SENSE OF HOME: $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

ME
VT
NH
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
CA
MD
AZ
NM
DC
GA
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.

36%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$295k · 22 repeat orgs$513k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +82% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
47

Total granted

$295k
$388k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+82%
+17%

Still filing today

91%
77%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 11% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $125k 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
Human ServicesHousing & ShelterCrime & LegalEducationInternationalHealthOther
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

  • SE
    SAINT ELIZABETH SHELTER CORPORATION
    4× · 2017–2021 · $38k · revenue +93%
  • AF
    AVENUES FOR JUSTICE INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $26k · revenue +82%
  • YWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND
    2× · 2020–2024 · $17k · revenue +104%

Funded once

  • DH
    DISMAS HOUSE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $41k · revenue -13%
  • HI
    HIAS INC
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue -28%
  • MC
    MOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue -50%
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
The San Francisco Particular Council of the Society of St Vincent De Paul

The mission of the st. vincent de paul society of san francisco (svdp-sf) is to offer hope and service on a direct person-to-person basis, working to break the cycles of homelessness and domestic violence.

Human Services
2
Transition House Inc

Transition house is a human services agency dedicated to preventing and ending domestic violence. the agency provides a continuum of housing resources and holistic support for survivors of violence and their children, as well as prevention…

—
3
The Miracle House Foundation

Mentorship and housing assistant for women returning from incarceration

Human Services
4
Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services Inc

Cases' mission is to increase public safety through innovative services that reduce crime and incarceration, improve behavioral health, promote recovery and rehabilitation, and create opportunities for success in the community. we believe…

—
5
Community Forward Sf Inc

Community Forward SF's support services create pathways from crisis to long-term stability through our Women's Wellness Pathway, a proven continuum linking a 24/7 drop-in center, shelter, transitional housing, behavioral health care, and…

Health
6
Project Return Inc

People who have just been released from prison are typically stigmatized, overlooked, and pigeonholed by society. when they walk into project return, they discover that here they are valued, heard, and encouraged. while reduction of…

—
7
The Anti-Recidivism Coalition

The anti-recidivism coalition (arc) works to end mass incarceration in california. to ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole, arc empowers formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive by providing a support network,…

Crime & Legal
8
Women of Choices

Transitional housing project for ex=offender females

Human Services
9
Interval House

The mission of the organization is to ensure safety and stability for people who are battered, abused, homeless or at risk; to create public awareness about the epidemic of violence; and to mobilize the community to prevent violence and…

Human Services
10
Housing Plus Solutions Inc

To provide community-based housing and comprehensive services to women, including women with children, to support them in overcoming poverty, homelessness, addiction, trauma, and the effects of incarceration, in order to build lives of…

Housing & Shelter
11
Interim Inc

Interim, inc.'s mission is to provide services and affordable housing to supporting members of our community with mental illness in building productive and satisfying lives.

—
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Housing Works; the most unlike its peers is Dignity Village. 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

70 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. 70 of the 87 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
67/70
Grantees still filing
48/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Rise Up Industries: $56,000 · Human ServicesRise Up IndustriesMOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $30,000 · Human ServicesMOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSIONWomens Community Justice Association Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesWomens Community Justice As…YWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $17,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF GREATER PORTLANDGOLDEN RULE REENTRY: $16,000 · Human ServicesGOLDEN RULE REENTRYYOUTH SHELTERS & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $15,500 · Human ServicesYOUTH SHELTERS & FAMILY SER…A SENSE OF HOME: $12,750 · Human ServicesA SENSE OF HOMEUNITED IN HARMONY: $10,000 · Human Services+7 more: $19,500 · Human Services+7 moreSAINT ELIZABETH SHELTER CORPORATION: $37,500 · Housing & ShelterSAINT ELIZABETH SHELTE…VALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $30,000 · Housing & ShelterVALLEY COMMUNITY DEVEL…HOUSING WORKS: $25,000 · Housing & ShelterHOUSING WORKSJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $14,500 · Housing & ShelterJEREMIAH PROGRAMBUILDING OPP FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY: $12,750 · Housing & ShelterBUILDING OPP FOR SELF-…TENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $12,500 · Housing & ShelterTENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOO…ALTERNATIVES FOR GIRLS: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterALTERNATIVES FOR GIRLSTHE DOE FUND INC: $6,000 · Housing & ShelterHumble Design Inc: $6,000 · Housing & Shelter+1 more: $4,000 · Housing & ShelterALPHA PROJECT FOR THE HOMELESS: $25,000 · OtherALPHA PROJECT FOR THE HOMEL…TRANSFORMATIONAL PRISON PROJECT: $21,000 · OtherTRANSFORMATIONAL PRISON PRO…YMCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $21,000 · OtherYMCA OF GREATER PORTLANDFAMILY INDEPENDENCE INITIATIVE: $10,000 · OtherHIAS PENNSYLVANIA: $7,500 · OtherPEAR: $7,500 · OtherLeap to Success: $15,500 · OtherLeap to SuccessBEYOND THESE WALLS: $10,000 · OtherRUTH ELLIS CENTER: $10,000 · Other+34 more: $65,500 · Other+34 moreDISMAS HOUSE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $41,000 · Crime & LegalDISMAS HOUSE OF M…AVENUES FOR JUSTICE INC: $26,000 · Crime & LegalAVENUES FOR JUSTI…MOTHERHOOD BEYOND BARS INC: $20,000 · Crime & LegalMOTHERHOOD BEYOND…WOMENFIRST TRANSITION REFERRAL CENTER: $15,000 · Crime & LegalWOMENFIRST TRANSI…COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $12,500 · Crime & LegalCOMMUNITY LEGAL S…FREEDOM FARMS: $11,000 · Crime & LegalFREEDOM FARMS+1 more: $2,500 · Crime & LegalGIVE A BEAT FOUNDATION: $47,000 · InternationalGIVE A BEAT…HIAS INC: $30,000 · InternationalHIAS INC+3 more: $6,000 · International+3 moreWhy Not Prosper Inc: $15,000 · Community ImprovementHomeStart Inc: $12,500 · Community ImprovementCenter for Restorative Justice Works: $20,000 · HealthCROSSROADS INC: $1,000 · HealthA NEW WAY OF LIFE REENTRY PROJECT: $1,000 · HealthNAMI WESTSIDE LA: $1,000 · Health+1 more: $250 · Health
Human Services$196,750Housing & Shelter$158,250Other$193,000Crime & Legal$128,000International$83,000Community Improvement$27,500Health$23,250

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 budgetGIVE A BEAT FOUNDATION: $47,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetDISMAS HOUSE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $41,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetSAINT ELIZABETH SHELTER CORPORATION: $37,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetHIAS INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOTOR CITY MITTEN MISSION: $30,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetVALLEY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $30,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetAVENUES FOR JUSTICE INC: $26,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetALPHA PROJECT FOR THE HOMELESS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSING WORKS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMOTHERHOOD BEYOND BARS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetWomens Community Justice Association Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetCenter for Restorative Justice Works: $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetYWCA OF GREATER PORTLAND: $17,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetYOUTH SHELTERS & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $15,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLeap to Success: $15,500 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetWhy Not Prosper Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetWOMENFIRST TRANSITION REFERRAL CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $14,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetA SENSE OF HOME: $12,750 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetBUILDING OPP FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY: $12,750 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHomeStart Inc: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM FARMS: $11,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetBEYOND THESE WALLS: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetRUTH ELLIS CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED IN HARMONY: $10,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetALTERNATIVES FOR GIRLS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE DOE FUND INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHumble Design Inc: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetKITCHEN ANGELS INC: $5,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHILLTOWN VILLAGE: $5,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetFII - NATIONAL: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA COMMUNITY OF FRIENDS: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION PIONEER VALLEY: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTINY SEED PROJECT INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetROCA INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNION RESCUE MISSION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARDELLA'S HOUSE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSISTER S RETURNING HOME INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMercy Corps: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREHABILITATION THROUGH THE ARTS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF NATAL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNAL FUND: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPOTLIGHT PA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS TRUST: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSTREET ROOTS INC: $2,000 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.

Seeding JusticeThe Rose Hills Founda…Meyer Memorial TrustThe William Penn Foun…Independence Foundati…Boston Foundation IncClaneil Foundation IncThe Philadelphia Foun…Community Foundation …United Way Of Massach…Proteus Fund IncRockefeller Philanthr…
Seeding JusticeOR17× affinity6 shared granteesties to 4 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seeding Justice · The Rose Hills Foundation · Meyer Memorial Trust · The William Penn Foundation · Independence Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Claneil Foundation Inc · The Philadelphia Foundation · Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Proteus Fund Inc · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 47%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Roca Inc: 78% of income from government
  • Community Action Pioneer Valley: 62% of income from government
  • Golden Rule Reentry: 47% of income from government
  • Mercy Corps: 47% of income from government
  • HomeStart Inc: 20% of income from government
  • Ywca of Greater Portland: 15% of income from government
  • Red Lodge Transition Services: 12% of income from government
  • English for New Bostonians Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Hilltown Village: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
24report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
3rely 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 Zell Family Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Zell Family Foundation Inc 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 87 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 Zell 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