Funding search · EIN 366101775 · Lake Forest, IL

Butler Family Foundation

Name: Butler Family Foundation grants, 2022–2025
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

244
grants reported: $5.9M
total given: 2022–2025
filing years: $15,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2025. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

donee educational religious scientific organizationgeneral

Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

Blood cancer research and patient support (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society)
Chicago and Lake Forest arts institutions: Ravinia, Art Institute, Field Museum
Episcopal and Presbyterian churches, especially Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest
Adaptive sports and disability services in Lake County, Illinois
Independent schools, boarding schools, and small liberal arts colleges
Phoenix-area arts, children's hospitals, and food banks

Typical grant

Median grant is $15,000, with the middle half falling between $10,000 and $25,000. The large checks, $50,000 to $450,000, go to a short list of long-standing relationships: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Metro NY, Ravinia Festival, Jackson Laboratory, Church of the Holy Spirit, Art Institute of Chicago, Great Lakes Adaptive Sports. Giving repeats heavily year over year, with 244 grants spread across only 114 recipients, and amounts to the same organization swing widely between years.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“GENERAL CHARITABLE, RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL OR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSE OF THE DONEE ORGANIZATION”
“general charitable”
“scientific purpose”
“purpose of the donee organization”

Positioning adjacent work

Tie biomedical work to their blood cancer and Jackson Laboratory giving; pediatric brain tumor support also recurs.
Ask $10,000 to $25,000 on a first approach. Six-figure checks go only to decade-long relationships.
Lead with the institution, not the project. Every grant is coded as general support of the donee.
If your work sits in Lake County or Chicago, say so early. Illinois takes over half the grants.

Worth knowing: This is a family checkbook foundation, not a program shop: giving clusters where family members live and serve, Lake Forest and Chicago plus Phoenix/Paradise Valley and a scatter of alma maters from Colgate to Villanova to Groton. Roughly a third of all dollars sit with five or six repeat recipients, so cold approaches without a personal connection to the family or a board they sit on rarely land.

0 grants matching “disability services and research”

No grants to show here.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Inc - Metro Ny Region Now Blood Care United1 grant · $451,650
Art Institute of Chicago4 grants · $353,000
Jackson Laboratory4 grants · $318,333
Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Assoc4 grants · $306,025
The Church of the Holy Spirit4 grants · $271,500
Ravinia Festival Association3 grants · $235,000
Make a Wish Foundation of America4 grants · $195,000
American National Red Cross4 grants · $140,000
Lake Forest Open Lands Association4 grants · $124,000
Southwestern Heights High School4 grants · $120,000

Giving over time

$1.4M

2022

$1.0M

2023

$1.6M

2024

$1.8M

2025

Grant history

The 100 largest of 244 grants.

$451,650
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Inc - Metro Ny Region Now Blood Care United · Rye Brook, NY · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$165,000
Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Assoc · Lake Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$160,000
Ravinia Festival Association · Highland Park, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$158,333
Jackson Laboratory · Bar Harbor, ME · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$156,500
The Church of the Holy Spirit · Lake Forest, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$116,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$90,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$84,166
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Inc - Metro Ny Region · Rye Brook, NY · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$81,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$70,000
Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Assoc · Lake Forest, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$66,000
Art Institute of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$65,000
Ravinia Festival Association · Highland Park, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$65,000
Lake Forest Country Day School · Lake Forest, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$60,000
Make a Wish Foundation of America · Phoenix, AZ · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$60,000
Mothers Tr Foundation · Lake Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$60,000
American National Red Cross · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$60,000
Jackson Laboratory · Bar Harbor, ME · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$60,000
St Stephens and St Agnes School Foundation · Alexandria, VA · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$55,000
Field Musuem of Natural History · Chicago, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$55,000
Make a Wish Foundation of America · Phoenix, AZ · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$55,000
Lake Forest Open Lands Association · Lake Forest, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$54,025
Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Assoc · Lake Forest, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Colgate University · Hamilton, NY · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Dominican University · River Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organizationgeneral charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Jackson Laboratory · Bar Harbor, ME · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Environmental Working Group · Washington, DC · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Jackson Laboratory · Bar Harbor, ME · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society · Rye Brook, NY · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Dominican University · River Forest, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$50,000
Make a Wish Foundation of America · Phoenix, AZ · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$45,000
The Church of the Holy Spirit · Lake Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$43,000
Lake Forest Open Lands Association · Lake Forest, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$40,000
Lake Forest Country Day School · Lake Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$40,000
The Church of the Holy Spirit · Lake Forest, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$38,000
Brooks School · North Andover, MA · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$36,000
Chicago Heightening Opportunity & Potential for Educational Success · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$35,000
University of Virginia School of Architecture · Charlottesville, VA · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$35,000
Urban Rivers · Chicago, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$35,000
American National Red Cross · Chicago, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$32,500
Phoenix Symphony Association · Phoenix, AZ · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$32,500
Stonington Historical Society · Stonington, CT · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Colgate University · Hamilton, NY · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Make a Wish Foundation of America · Phoenix, AZ · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Southwestern Heights High School · Kismet, KS · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Ballet Arizona · Phoenix, AZ · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
History Center of Lake Forest Lake Bluff · Lake Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Orchard School Foundation · Indianapolis, IN · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Phoenix Childrens Hospital · Phoenix, AZ · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Southwestern Heights High School · Kismet, KS · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Southwestern Heights High School · Kismet, KS · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
The Church of the Holy Spirit · Lake Forest, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Union League Boys & Girls Club · Chicago, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Caney Creek Community Center - Alice Lloyd College · Pippa Passes, KY · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Champs Male Mentoring Program - Chirise · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$30,000
Southwestern Heights High School · Kismet, KS · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Groton School · Groton, MA · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Phoenix Symphony Association · Phoenix, AZ · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Villanova University · Villanova, PA · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Way of the Rain · Santa Fe, NM · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
American National Red Cross · Chicago, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Chicago Community Foundation · Chicago, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Lake County Community Foundation · Grayslake, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
The Courageous Parents Network · Newton, MA · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Villanova University · Villanova, PA · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Allies for Community Business · Chicago, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organizationgeneral charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals · New York, NY · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Ballet Arizona · Phoenix, AZ · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods · Riverwoods, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Chicago Community Foundation · Chicago, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
University of Virginia School of Architecture · Charlottesville, VA · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Villanova University · Villanova, PA · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Allies for Community Business · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organizationgeneral charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Ballet Arizona · Phoenix, AZ · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Culver Education Foundation · Culver, IN · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
North Chicago Community Partners Nfp · Lake Bluff, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Northwestern University · Evanston, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
The Chicago Community Trust · Chicago, IL · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
University of Virginia School of Architecture · Charlottesville, VA · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$25,000
Villanova University · Villanova, PA · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$24,000
Elawa Farm Foundation · Lake Forest, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
American National Red Cross · Chicago, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals · New York, NY · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods · Riverwoods, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Caney Creek Community Center - Alice Lloyd College · Pippa Passes, KY · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
The Posse Foundation Inc - Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals · New York, NY · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Caney Creek Community Center - Alice Lloyd College · Pippa Passes, KY · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art · Indianapolis, IN · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Elawa Farm Foundation · Lake Forest, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Northwestern University · Evanston, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
The Posse Foundation Inc - Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Caney Creek Community Center - Alice Lloyd College · Pippa Passes, KY · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Colgate University · Hamilton, NY · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Guide Dogs for the Blind · San Rafael, CA · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
The Posse Foundation Inc - Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$20,000
Guide Dogs for the Blind · San Rafael, CA · 2022
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$17,950
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Inc - Nyc Chapter · New York, NY · 2024
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$17,000
Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Assoc · Lake Forest, IL · 2023
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization
$15,000
Chicago Symphony Orchestra · Chicago, IL · 2025
General charitable, religious, educational or scientific purpose of the donee organization

View all 244 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.