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Dennis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Dennis Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$73k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
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 2025.

Human Services$192kHealth$129kHousing & Shelter$35kYouth Development$35kCrime & Legal$23kEducation$20kArts & Culture$3k
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $33k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $40k
$7,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST JOSEPHS VILLA$10,000
VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS$10,000
HEALTH BRIGADE$10,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC$10,000
VIRGINIA HOME$7,500
FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN$5,000
SHELTERING ARMS HOSPITAL$5,000
MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF VIRGINIA$5,000
CARITAS$5,000
CENTRAL VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC$5,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $175k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%CHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA: $5k → 9%CIRCLE CENTER ADULT DAY SERVICES: $5k → 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10k → 22%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10k → 22%ST JOSEPHS VILLA: $10k → 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10k → 22%ST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $5k → 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $10k → 22%ST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $5k → 9%SAFE HARBOR: $8k → 22%ST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $5k → 9%ST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $5k → 9%SAFE HARBOR: $5k → 22%VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $10k → 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $5k → 22%VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $10k → 9%SAFE HARBOR: $5k → 22%VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $8k → 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $5k → 22%VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $5k → 9%VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $5k → 9%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 22%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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$390k · 16 repeat orgs$46k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
9

Total granted

$390k
$41k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+15%

Still filing today

100%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthCrime & LegalHousing & ShelterEducationArts & CultureOther
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

  • JF
    Jewish Family Services Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $50k · revenue +62%
  • TV
    The Virginia Home
    6× · 2020–2025 · $48k · revenue +80%
  • VH
    VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
    5× · 2020–2025 · $38k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • BT
    BOYS TO MEN MENTORING NETWORK OF VA
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • OO
    OAR of Richmond Inc
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +4%
  • GH
    GATEWAY HOMES INC
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Miller Home of Lynchburg Virginia
—
2
Virginia Lutheran Homes Inc

Providing life-enriching services that promote well-being and build community.

—
3
SupportWorks Housing

We end homelessness by providing permanent housing and supportive services.

—
4
Abilities Richmond Inc

Abilities richmond envisions a world where all individuals with developmental disabilities and other barriers will have the opportunity to participate in a full range of life activities. competitive employment in support of this vision.

Human Services
5
Samaritan House Inc

Samaritan House is committed to fostering personal safety, growth, and self-sufficiency in adults and their children through freedom from domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking and removing their risks of homelessness.

Housing & Shelter
6
SeniorNavigatorcom

SeniorNavigator and its family of websites are national models for aging, disability and veteran information. By combining online assistance with a network of community-based centers, the websites bring over 26,000 community resources,…

Community Improvement
7
James Barry Robinson Institute

The Barry Robinson Center offers programs to improve the lives of children and their families.

Human Services
8
Habitat for Humanity Virginia

Habitat for Humanity Virginia provides support to Virginia affiliates so that they can build or facilitate affordable housing by offering advocacy, organizational development, funding, and resource development

Housing & Shelter
9
Virginia Community Development Corp

VCDC delivers vital financial resources and support while collaborating with local organizations dedicated to social impact, ensuring the creation of affordable homes in vibrant neighborhoods where everyone can thrive.

Housing & Shelter
10
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities

VCIC works with schools, businesses, and communities to achieve success through inclusion.

Civil Rights
11
Housing Options Inc

We provide housing for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Education
12
Transitions Family Violence Services

The mission of transitions family violence services (tfvs) is to build safe and healthy families on the virginia peninsula by providing services to adult and child victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. we work to increase…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Childsavers- Memorial Child Guidance Clinic; the most unlike its peers is Circle Center Adult Day Services. 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

23 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. 23 of the 26 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/23
Grantees still filing
19/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Jewish Family Services Inc: $50,000 · Human ServicesJewish Family Services IncVIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $37,500 · Human ServicesVIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLSFRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $30,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDRENST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $30,000 · Human ServicesST JOSEPH'S VILLASAFE HARBOR: $17,500 · Human ServicesSAFE HARBOR+2 more: $10,000 · Human Services+2 moreSAINT FRANCIS HOME INC: $21,020 · OtherSAINT FRANCIS HOME INCHEALTH BRIGADE: $20,000 · OtherHEALTH BRIGADEMENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF VIRGINIA: $17,436 · OtherMENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF V…CHILDSAVERS- MEMORIAL CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC: $10,000 · OtherCHILDSAVERS- MEMORIAL CHIL…GATEWAY HOMES INC: $10,000 · OtherGATEWAY HOMES INCBOYS TO MEN MENTORING NETWORK OF VA: $5,000 · OtherCENTRAL VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · OtherVIRGINIA FDN FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $5,000 · OtherARMSTRONG LDERP PRGM RICHMOND HILL INC: $5,000 · OtherSOUTH RICHMOND ADULT DAY CARE CENTER: $3,840 · OtherThe Virginia Home: $47,500 · HealthThe Virginia HomeSHELTERING ARMS HOSPITAL: $34,000 · HealthSHELTERING ARMS HOSPIT…GATEWAY HOMES INC: $5,000 · HealthGATEWAY HOMES INCGREATER RICHMOND SCAN - STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW INC: $25,000 · Crime & LegalOAR of Richmond Inc: $5,000 · Crime & LegalCARITAS: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterBETTER HOUSING COALITION: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterST JAMES'S CHILDREN'S CENTER: $15,000 · EducationCADENCE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $2,500 · Arts & Culture
Human Services$175,000Other$102,296Health$86,500Crime & Legal$30,000Housing & Shelter$25,000Education$15,000Arts & Culture$2,500

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 budgetJewish Family Services Inc: $50,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetThe Virginia Home: $47,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetVIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $37,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSHELTERING ARMS HOSPITAL: $34,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $30,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER RICHMOND SCAN - STOP CHILD ABUSE NOW INC: $25,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSAINT FRANCIS HOME INC: $21,020 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHEALTH BRIGADE: $20,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSAFE HARBOR: $17,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF VIRGINIA: $17,436 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetCARITAS: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST JAMES'S CHILDREN'S CENTER: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCHILDSAVERS- MEMORIAL CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBETTER HOUSING COALITION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGATEWAY HOMES INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOAR of Richmond Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCENTRAL VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Home Society of Virginia: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCircle Center Adult Day Services: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTH RICHMOND ADULT DAY CARE CENTER: $3,840 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCADENCE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

The Community Foundat…Shelton H Short Jr Tr…Herndon FoundationAnnabella R Jenkins F…The Pauley Family Fou…Richmond Memorial Hea…Dominion Energy Chari…Robert G Cabell III a…United Way of Greater…Virginia Nonprofit Ho…Carmax FoundationEstes Foundation Co M…
The Community Foundation IncVA40.9× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation Inc · Shelton H Short Jr Trust · Herndon Foundation · Annabella R Jenkins Foundation · The Pauley Family Foundation · Richmond Memorial Health Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Robert G Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation · United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg · Virginia Nonprofit Housing Coalition · Carmax Foundation · Estes Foundation Co Matthew Breidenbach Pitcairn

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 Dennis Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Dennis 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 26 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Dennis’ 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