New Horizon Foundation

The New Horizon Foundation is an Evanston, Illinois-based private foundation (EIN 36-3406294, 501(c)(3) since February 1986) with a clearly articulated mission: to encourage interest and foster education in the arts and sciences, and to fund projects concerned with human rights, social welfare, and global security. The Foundation is led by William Revelle (President, a well-known Northwestern University personality psychologist) and Carolyn Hufbauer (VP), with additional Hufbauer and Revelle family members on the board. Unlike typical grantmakers, a core element of the Foundation's strategy is a direct-programs approach: it maintains public-facing web content on advances in personality theory and research and sponsors the sapa-project.org online data collection site for individual-differences research. Critically, the Foundation's website explicitly states: "The foundation does not invite unsolicited proposals for funding." Applicants should not waste effort with cold outreach — grantmaking is directed by the board based on personal interests, academic networks (notably Northwestern's psychology department), and long-standing relationships. This is a textbook operating-hybrid family foundation where the Revelle/Hufbauer academic circle is the de facto pipeline.

Recent 990-PF filings show New Horizon Foundation is in a gradual drawdown phase. Assets have declined from roughly $5.2M (2022) to $3.2M (tax period ending August 2025), with revenue falling from over $1M in pandemic-era years to $180K-$201K more recently. ProPublica's summary reports "grants paid" at $0 on the summary line for all recent years — again, this is a reporting artifact; most small 990-PF filers report actual distributions in Schedule I. The Foundation must distribute roughly 5% of net investment assets annually, implying approximately $150K-$250K in annual grant/program distributions given the recent asset trajectory. With a focus split across arts, sciences, human rights, social welfare, and global security, and with direct-programs activity (sapa-project.org, personality research content), it is reasonable to infer that a meaningful fraction of qualifying distributions are channeled into the Foundation's own operating projects rather than outside grantees. Typical outside grants, if any, likely range from $1K-$15K to a small set of aligned academic or advocacy organizations.

New Horizon Foundation is unusual — a small private foundation that behaves partly like an operating foundation (running its own academic program) and partly like a closed family grantmaker. Peer comparison:

Compared to institutional Chicago-area research funders (Spencer, MacArthur), New Horizon is tiny and operates on a fundamentally different model. The closest functional comparable is a small personality/psychology-affiliated operating foundation, not a traditional grantmaker. Its $3.2M asset base and shrinking revenue trajectory suggest it is a planned limited-duration vehicle rather than a perpetual endowment.

As of April 23, 2026, the New Horizon Foundation website has not been substantively updated in some time — the most recent "Last modified" date on the main page is August 16, 2018. The most recent publicly available annual report linked from the site is 2015-2016, with the two most recent referenced IRS 990PF PDFs being 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. ProPublica shows the Foundation's most recent filing covers tax period ending August 2025 with $3.22M in assets and $201K income. The sapa-project.org data collection site (the Foundation's operating program) appears to remain the primary active initiative. No 2025-2026 grant announcements are posted. Organizations interested in New Horizon's focus areas should not expect any formal outreach from the Foundation and should plan around the stated policy of no unsolicited proposals.

New Horizon Foundation's website is unambiguous: no unsolicited proposals. Respecting that policy is critical. Specific tips:

1. Do not submit an unsolicited proposal. The Foundation has stated this policy in writing on its website and violating it signals a failure to do basic due diligence. 2. If your work aligns directly with William Revelle's research (personality theory, individual differences, quantitative psychology) or the SAPA Project (https://sapa-project.org), reach out through standard academic channels — conferences, co-authored research, or introduction from a Northwestern University psychology faculty member — rather than as a grant applicant. 3. For organizations working in the stated cause areas (arts, sciences education, human rights, social welfare, global security), assume the Foundation's entire budget is committed to its own programs plus a small set of long-relationship grantees. Budget accordingly. 4. Direct correspondence to the Secretary/Treasurer at the address listed on the website (1625 Hinman Ave., #202, Evanston, IL 60201) ONLY if responding to a specific invitation. General inquiries are unlikely to yield response. 5. Given the Foundation's asset drawdown trajectory, any long-term funding relationship is increasingly unlikely — focus cultivation on other Chicago-area research funders (Spencer, MacArthur, Russell Sage) that have open RFP cycles. 6. If you are a researcher in personality psychology or individual differences, the highest-value engagement is academic collaboration via SAPA Project rather than grant-seeking.