Skip to content
Critical Role Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Critical Role Foundation

To leave the world better than we found it.

$791k
Granted FY2022
9
Grants FY2022
7
States reached
$479k
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, FY2020 to 2022.

Philanthropy$555kEducation$282kInternational$221kYouth Development$200kHealth$142kHuman Services$139kCivil Rights$132kPublic Safety & Disaster$50kOther$0
02FY2022 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $144k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $167k
  • $250k+1 grant · $479k
$42,749
Median grant
7
States reached
$216k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COMIC RELIEF INC$478,840
PABLOVE FOUNDATION INC$55,787
826LA$55,787
OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL$55,787
OSD$42,749
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC$40,000
SHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT$25,787
FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE$25,786
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION INC$10,000
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 (FY20–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 87% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ALL HANDS AND HEARTS: $10k → 8%ASIAN PACIFIC FUND: $10k → 10%826LA: $226k → 14%WOMEN FOR AFGHAN WOMEN: $10k → 13%COMIC RELIEF INC: $479k → 17%OSD: $96k → 10%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $40k → 14%SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION INC: $10k → 9%FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $200k → 12%SHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT: $160k → 9%HOPE FOR HAITI INCORPORATED: $15k → 6%CARE USA FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 8%826LA: $56k → 14%COMIC RELIEF INC: $76k → 17%OSD: $43k → 10%FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $26k → 12%SHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT: $26k → 9%NO US WITHOUT YOU LA: $15k → 14%RESTAURANT WORKERS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $15k → 17%PABLOVE FOUNDATION INC: $76k → 14%OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL: $76k → 17%PABLOVE FOUNDATION INC: $56k → 14%OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL: $56k → 17%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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
NY
MA
CT
CA
CO
MD
DC
TX
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 11% of Critical Role Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Critical Role Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 11% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 7 repeat orgs$110k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2022, 0 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
5

Total granted

$1.7M
$60k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-20%
+78%

Still filing today

86%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22
InternationalPhilanthropyEducationPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • CR
    COMIC RELIEF INC DBA COMIC RELIEF US
    4× · 2021–2024 · $555k · revenue -72%
  • 8
    826LA
    4× · 2021–2024 · $282k · revenue -20%
  • FN
    FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $226k · revenue +255%

Funded once

  • HF
    HOPE FOR HAITI INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
  • NU
    NO US WITHOUT YOU LA
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
  • WF
    Women for Afghan Women Inc
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue -61%
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
International Center for Research On Women

The international center for research for women (icrw) is a global research institute, with a mission to advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and structurally excluded populations with actionable evidence and solutions.

International
2
Worldwide Vets Incorporated

Our goal is to sustainably improve animal welfare, provide veterinary care, and improve veterinary education globally. in order to achieve this goal, we work in over 10 countries, across 5 continents, supporting local people and animals,…

Animals
3
Food & Water Watch

Food & water watch conducts extensive research and public education to ensure the food and water we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. so we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of…

Food & Nutrition
4
Women First Inc

Women first invests in grassroots initiatives driven by women in developing economies that sustainably advance their lives.

International
5
Human Rights Watch Inc

Human rights watch ("hrw") defends the rights of people worldwide. we scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. human rights watch is an independent,…

International
6
Relief International Inc

Relief international (ri) partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience, and promote long-term health and wellbeing of people in the communities that we serve. relief…

International
7
Upturn Inc

Upturn advances equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.

—
8
Onechild Global

One child global's mission is to advocate for children in hard places and provide holistic care so they have hope and thrive. onechild global's 355 hope centers provide holistic child development progress in nineteen countries.

International
9
Human Rights Campaign Foundation

The human rights campaign foundation is organized for the charitable and educational purposes of promoting public education and welfare for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (lgbtq+) community. the hrc foundation envisions…

Civil Rights
10
Us Digital Response

U.s. digital response is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps governments, nonprofits, and public entities respond quickly to critical public needs. the organization serves the public by leveraging a network of pro bono…

Public Safety & Disaster
11
Public Knowledge

Public knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. we work to shape policy on behalf of the public interest.

Public Benefit
12
Health Care Without Harm

The mission of health care without harm (hcwh) is to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is World Central Kitchen Inc; the most unlike its peers is Operation Supply Drop Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

14 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. 14 of the 16 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
2/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMIC RELIEF INC DBA COMIC RELIEF US: $555,176 · PhilanthropyCOMIC RELIEF INC DBA COMIC RELIEF USPABLOVE FOUNDATION INC: $132,123 · PhilanthropyPABLOVE FOUNDATION INC+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $225,786 · OtherFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUT…OPERATION SUPPLY DROP INC: $139,012 · OtherOPERATION SUPPLY DROP INCOUTRIGHT INTERNATIONAL: $132,123 · OtherOUTRIGHT INTERNATIONAL+3 more: $40,000 · Other+3 more826LA: $282,123 · Education826LASHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT INC: $185,787 · InternationalSHANTI BHAVAN C…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $40,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL K…Save The Children Federation Inc: $10,000 · InternationalWomen for Afghan Women Inc: $10,000 · InternationalRESTAURANT WORKERS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $10,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Philanthropy$697,299Other$536,921Education$282,123International$245,787Food & Nutrition$15,000Public Safety & Disaster$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCOMIC RELIEF INC DBA COMIC RELIEF US: $555,176 over 4y, 0.9% of budget826LA: $282,123 over 4y, 9.0% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $225,786 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetSHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT INC: $185,787 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetOPERATION SUPPLY DROP INC: $139,012 over 2y, 49% of budgetOUTRIGHT INTERNATIONAL: $132,123 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetPABLOVE FOUNDATION INC: $132,123 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRESTAURANT WORKERS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWomen for Afghan Women Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASIAN PACIFIC FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Charities Aid Foundat…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Silicon Valley Commun…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Vanguard Charitable E…Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…American Online Givin…The Pfizer Foundation…Paypal Charitable Giv…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…
Charities Aid Foundation AmericaVA12.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charities Aid Foundation America · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc

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 Critical Role Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Critical Role Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Critical Role Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Critical Role Foundation 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 16 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $407k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2022, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Critical Role’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