Illinois · Nonprofit
WOLFRAM FOUNDATION
WOLFRAM FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $67,537 to it, the largest being Endaoment Inc ($60,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $136k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $68k
- Net assets
- $449k
What Wolfram Foundation does
Mission
The Wolfram Foundation's objective is to support education, research, and entrepreneurism. On our own and with our partners we organize and manage programs and create long-term resources to realize the promise of science and computation in building the future.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Wolfram Institute, started in 2022, is dedicated to the acceleration of scientific progress through the use of computation. The Institute continued research on hypergraph rewriting and the categorical study of complexity tradeoffs involved in rewrite system emulations, and initiated new research in the areas of observer theory and infrageometry. More than 50 "open science" public livestreams offered viewers an opportunity to observe Institute personnel conduct research in real time. The Institute also engaged with university students on computational projects of mutual interest
$311,211 spent93% of program spendingIn 2023, the foundation accomplished the expansion of its education and research programs to provide research and educational opportunities to students from diverse educational backgrounds worldwide. The work of the foundation also resulted in the production of significant volumes of scientific articles, technical documents, research blogs, video work logs, livestreams, summer schools, winter schools and year-round online educational and research-oriented opportunities for students of all ages. These open science activities are a core part of the foundation's philosophy, and are expected to continue into 2025 and beyond.
$24,673 spent7% of program spendingThe Wolfram Physics Project (WPP) is an international basic research collaboration, based upon an "open science" philosophy, with open access to all scientific publications, software tools, working sessions and databases. The WPP supports research positions worldwide, and works closely with university departments and major international research centers to provide support and supervision for basic research at all levels. WPP also organizes a variety of events and educational opportunities for students and researchers around the world.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $335,884.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $33k to $855k (+2473%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
100% of WOLFRAM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $5 → $58k.
2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 89% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of WOLFRAM FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
WOLFRAM FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
89% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund WOLFRAM FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 87% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
89% of WOLFRAM FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $8k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Illinois, across 1 state.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $60k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
WOLFRAM FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 7,117 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,117 philanthropy nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like WOLFRAM FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
46%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WOLFRAM FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds WOLFRAM FOUNDATION?
- WOLFRAM FOUNDATION (Illinois) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $67,537 to it, the largest being Endaoment Inc ($60,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WOLFRAM FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $67,537 in grants to WOLFRAM FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WOLFRAM FOUNDATION?
- Endaoment Inc is the largest funder on record, with $60,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WOLFRAM FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Wolfram →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing