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Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley

ALLIANCE FOR THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY informs and engages people to protect the natural resources, cultural heritages, and rural character of our region.

$207k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Environment$290kArts & Culture$28kFood & Nutrition$11k
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 10 grants below total $153,153, the rows itemized in this filing. The $206,862 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $53,709 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $115k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONSERVATION LEGACY$40,000
GAP VALLEY FARM$36,100
SHENANDOAH VALLEY CONSERVANCY$18,400
CEDAR HEIGHTS FARM LLC$10,555
SHENANDOAH VALLEY BLACK HERITAGE$10,000
HESED HILL LLC$9,426
FRIENDS OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER$8,862
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION$7,178
SHENANDOAH VALLEY SOIL & WATER$6,868
TWIN CREEK FARM LLC$5,764
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%CONSERVATION LEGACY: $40k → 12%GAP VALLEY FARM: $36k → 8%HESED HILL LLC: $9k → 11%FRIENDS OF N FORK OF THE SHEN RIV: $11k → 12%FRIENDS OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER: $9k → 16%INSTITUTE FOR CONSTRUCTIVE ADVOCACY: $8k → 29%CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION: $7k → 6%CEDAR HEIGHTS FARM LLC: $11k → 11%FRIENDS OF THE SHENANDOAH RAIL TRAI: $7k → 12%INSTITUTE FOR CONSTRUCTIVE ADVOCACY: $8k → 29%SHENANDOAH VALLEY BLACK HERITAGE: $10k → 11%SHENANDOAH VALLEY BATTLEFIELDS FOUN: $8k → 12%SHENANDOAH VALLEY BLACK HERITAGE: $10k → 11%TWIN CREEK FARM LLC: $6k → 11%SHENANDOAH VALLEY SOIL & WATER: $7k → 11%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.
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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$178k · 4 repeat orgs$150k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
3

Total granted

$178k
$25k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+5%
+105%

Still filing today

75%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 19% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $125k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentRecreation & SportsArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • VC
    VALLEY CONSERVATION COUNCIL
    5× · 2020–2024 · $106k · revenue -13%
  • SV
    Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition
    2× · 2022–2023 · $36k · revenue +5%
  • SV
    SHENANDOAH VALLEY BLACK HERITAGE PROJECT
    2× · 2023–2024 · $20k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE NORTH FORK OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER INC
    one grant, 2023 · $11k · revenue -9%
  • SV
    SHENANDOAH VALLEY BATTLEFIELDS FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $8k · revenue +105%
  • FO
    Friends of the Shenandoah Trailgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $7k · revenue +130%
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
Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley

Alliance for the shenandoah valley informs and engages people to protect the natural resources, cultural heritages, and rural character of our region.

Community Improvement
2
Friends of Snoqualmie Valley Trail and River
Environment
3
Friends of the Catharine Valley Trail
Environment
4
Shenandoah Foundation
—
5
Historic Virginia Land Conservancy

Promoting for the benefit of the general public, the preservation, protection and enjoyment of our natural resources, principally in the lower james, york, rappahannock and chowan rivers and surrounding watersheds.

Environment
6
Floyds Fork Conservancy Inc
Environment
7
Secretariat Heritage Center
Arts & Culture
8
Penns Valley Conservation Association

To serve as a steward for the natural and cultural communities in the upper Penns Creek Watershed. We seek to preserve and Honor the agricultural roots of Penns Valley by protecting and conserving its waters, farmland, forests and rural…

Environment
9
Friends of Herring Run Parks Inc

To restore, protect and promote the Herring Run stream valley as a place where nature and neighbors thrive.

Environment
10
The Vermont River Conservancy Inc

Protect land along rivers, lakes and wetlands of vt; protect public access, wildlife habitat, scenic natural beauty, and ecological integrity.

Human Services
11
Keep Virginia Beautiful

To engage and unite virginians to improve our natural and scenic environment

Environment
12
Mount Vernon Preservation Society
Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition. 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

9 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. 9 of the 15 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
4/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VALLEY CONSERVATION COUNCIL: $106,002 · EnvironmentVALLEY CONSERVATION COUNCILFRIENDS OF THE NORTH FORK OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER INC: $11,390 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE NORTH FORK OF THE SHENANDOAH RI…FRIENDS OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER INC: $8,862 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER INCCHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC: $7,178 · EnvironmentCHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INCGAP VALLEY FARM: $36,100 · OtherGAP VALLEY FARMJAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY: $16,376 · OtherJAMES MADISON UNIVERSITYCEDAR HEIGHTS FARM LLC: $10,555 · OtherCEDAR HEIGHTS FARM LLCHESED HILL LLC: $9,426 · OtherHESED HILL LLCSHENANDOAH VALLEY SOIL & WATER: $6,868 · OtherSHENANDOAH VALLEY SOIL & WATE…TWIN CREEK FARM LLC: $5,764 · OtherTWIN CREEK FARM LLCShenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition: $35,500 · Recreation & SportsShenandoah Val…Friends of the Shenandoah Trail: $6,500 · Recreation & SportsFriends of the…CONSERVATION LEGACY: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentCONSERVATION …SHENANDOAH VALLEY BLACK HERITAGE PROJECT: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSHENANDOA…SHENANDOAH VALLEY BATTLEFIELDS FOUNDATION: $7,500 · Arts & CultureSHENANDOA…
Environment$133,432Other$85,089Recreation & Sports$42,000Youth Development$40,000Arts & Culture$27,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetVALLEY CONSERVATION COUNCIL: $106,002 over 5y, 7.9% of budgetCONSERVATION LEGACY: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetShenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition: $35,500 over 2y, 6.8% of budgetSHENANDOAH VALLEY BLACK HERITAGE PROJECT: $20,000 over 2y, 6.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE NORTH FORK OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER INC: $11,390 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE SHENANDOAH RIVER INC: $8,862 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetSHENANDOAH VALLEY BATTLEFIELDS FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC: $7,178 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.

Vanguard Charitable E…Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA9.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley?

Find your warmest path to Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley 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 15 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley’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