Thierer Family Foundation

Thierer Family Foundation (TFF) is a small, closely held Chicago family foundation ($6.4M in assets as of FY2024, led by President Nasrin S. Thierer alongside officers Mark A., Stephanie, and Jonathon Thierer) that funds through relationships, not open competitions. Both the foundation's own website and third-party grant databases confirm it does not accept unsolicited proposals; its 43 tracked grants in the platform's database (totaling $1,029,695, averaging $23,946 per grant) went almost entirely to organizations the family already had a connection to — 36 of 43 grants (84%) landed in Illinois, with small clusters in New York (3), Tennessee (3), and Iowa (1). For an outside organization, the realistic path in is not a cold LOI but a warm introduction: board connections, co-funders, or program partners who already work with TFF grantees like the Greater Chicago Food Depository network, Lakeview Pantry, or the University of Tennessee (site of a $167,000 multi-year Sirang Scholarship commitment, presumably tied to family ties there). First-time contact should be framed as a relationship inquiry — 'does our work align with your current priorities' — rather than a funding request, per the foundation's own description of tailoring its process 'to the needs and resources of the applying nonprofit.' Once a relationship opens, expect an informal, foundation-driven diligence process rather than a published rubric; officer compensation of $0 in most years signals an all-volunteer, hands-on family operation, so responsiveness and personal rapport with Nasrin or Mark Thierer likely matter more than polished packets. Best-fit applicants are Chicago-area nonprofits in food access, arts and culture, or human services that can show a concrete technology or data-infrastructure upgrade (a client management database, a digital ordering platform, a CRM) as the specific use of funds — TFF has repeatedly funded named tech projects (Windy City Harvest's $40,000 client management database, Ignite's $70,000 digital platform grant) rather than generic operating support.

TFF's database-tracked giving totals $1,029,695 across 43 grants to 33 distinct organizations, for an average grant of $23,946 — but the distribution is highly skewed. The top five recipients alone (University of Tennessee $167,000; Food Access Project $165,500; Chicago Symphony Orchestra $150,000; Lakeview Pantry $91,000; Lyric Opera of Chicago $74,300) account for $647,800, or 63% of all tracked giving, while the smallest 15 grants are exactly $1,000 each (mostly 'Austin Community Grant' micro-gifts to West Side Chicago churches and pantries). Excluding that $1,000 floor tier, the realistic 'meaningful grant' range for a new relationship runs roughly $5,000-$50,000, with the foundation's own typical_grant_size data showing a $1,000-$100,000 range, $1,000 median, and $12,533 average — confirming that most awards are small and recurring rather than large one-time gifts. By program area, food security/basic necessities is the largest identifiable bucket (Food Access Project $165,500, Lakeview Pantry $91,000, Windy City Harvest $40,000, Ignite $70,000, Nourishing Hope $15,000, plus the Austin community pantry cluster — well over $300,000, roughly 30% of total giving), arts and culture is second (Chicago Symphony Orchestra $150,000, Lyric Opera $74,300, Art Institute of Chicago $10,000, Collaborative Arts Institute $12,045 — around $250,000, 24%), and education/scholarships is concentrated almost entirely in the two University of Tennessee Sirang Scholarship awards ($167,000 + $60,850 = $227,850, 22%). Total giving reported on Form 990-PF has swung sharply year to year: $515,477 (FY2018) to $884,570 (FY2019) to $1,473,605 (FY2020, boosted by $2.5M in contributions received that year) to $519,121 (FY2021) to $2,670,792 (FY2022) — indicating funding capacity tracks family contributions into the foundation rather than a smooth payout schedule, so timing an ask around a strong-asset year matters less than simply being in the relationship pipeline when discretionary cash is available.

TFF sits in a tight cluster of similarly sized, family-run Philanthropy & Grantmaking foundations with roughly $6.4M in assets — likely all funded from a common liquidity event or advisor structure given the near-identical asset figures.

TFF stands out among these five near-identical-asset peers as the only one with a public-facing website, a named mission statement, and disclosed focus areas — most of this peer set discloses nothing beyond IRS filings, making TFF comparatively transparent and reachable despite its closed application process. Grant seekers priced out of TFF's Chicago/Illinois geographic concentration should treat Springhouse Foundation (Texas, also web-present) as the next foundation worth direct outreach to in this peer group.

The most recent Form 990-PF on file was filed November 6, 2025 (covering FY2024), with a prior filing dated January 21, 2025 — both consistent with routine annual compliance rather than a signal of change. FY2024 total assets stood at $6,430,192, down from $10,028,904 in FY2022 and $14,318,347 in FY2021, a multi-year asset decline that likely reflects both grant payout and net investment performance (FY2024 total revenue was reported as -$1,021,629, i.e., a net loss year). No leadership changes were found; the same four family officers — President Nasrin S. Thierer, and officers Mark A., Stephanie, and Jonathon Thierer — have led the foundation across all available filing years, with $0 officer compensation in most years, reinforcing that this remains an unpaid, all-family operation. The foundation's flagship technology initiative, Vivery — a digital food-access platform built with the Greater Chicago Food Depository in 2020 — has reportedly reached agreements with all eight Illinois food banks, the most concrete recent programmatic milestone found, though an exact 2025/2026 date could not be confirmed. No new grant program announcements, RFPs, or public grant cycles were identified in 2025-2026 web coverage; the foundation's public footprint remains limited to its own site and third-party 990 aggregators (Instrumentl, Cause IQ, ProPublica, GuideStar), with no press releases located on PR Newswire or elsewhere.

TFF does not run an open cycle, so the standard LOI-then-proposal playbook does not apply — treat any application attempt as relationship-building, not form-filling. First, do not cold-submit: the foundation's own site states it is 'not currently accepting unsolicited grant proposals' and 'work[s] exclusively through selected long-term partnerships.' The highest-leverage move is securing a warm introduction through an existing grantee or shared board connection — Chicago food-access and arts organizations (Greater Chicago Food Depository network, Lakeview Pantry, Windy City Harvest, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago) are the most credible referral sources given they already hold multi-year TFF relationships. Second, lead with a specific technology or data-infrastructure ask rather than general operating support — TFF's grant history shows a strong preference for funding named systems (a client management database, a digital ordering/market platform, a 'new digital platform') over unrestricted gifts; frame any pitch as 'this grant funds X system that lets us serve Y more people/more efficiently,' echoing the foundation's own stated mission of helping nonprofits 'leverage technology to be more effective, efficient, and sustainable.' Third, calibrate the ask to actual grant sizes — the median tracked grant is $1,000 and the average is $23,946, so a first-time ask above roughly $25,000-$50,000 is likely out of range unless the relationship is already well established (the two outlier six-figure gifts — University of Tennessee's $167,000 Sirang Scholarship and Food Access Project's $165,500 — both reflect years-long, deeply personal commitments, not typical entry points). Fourth, geography matters: 84% of tracked grants (36 of 43) went to Illinois organizations, so non-Chicago nonprofits face a materially steeper climb unless they connect through the Tennessee (University of Tennessee) or New York ties visible in the grant history. Finally, given zero officer compensation and a small, all-family board, expect direct personal engagement rather than a program-officer-run process — persistence through direct, respectful outreach (referencing specific TFF-funded work by name) is more likely to get a response than a generic inquiry through the website's contact form.