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Ferguson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ferguson Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$36k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$17k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Religion$55kPhilanthropy$40kEducation$14kHuman Services$4kHealth$3kEnvironment$1kArts & Culture$685Food & Nutrition$360Other$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $5k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $32k
$310
Median grant
2
States reached
$377k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BANNER ELK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$16,810
HIGH COUNTRY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$15,100
LEES-MCRAE COLLEGE$2,900
ELK RIVER HELPING HANDS$1,000
THE TUCKAHOE GARDEN CLUB OF$310
GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA$100
GOOCHLAND CHRISTMAS MOTHER$50
BOLLING HAXALL HOUSE FOUNDATION$50
Individual grant recipient$50
ASHVILLE AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$50
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 (FY22–24, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 50% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%WESTMINSTER CANTERBURY FOUNDATION: $1k → 9%ELK RIVER HELPING HANDS: $1k → 21%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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$114k · 18 repeat orgs$5k to everyone else

18 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
21

Total granted

$114k
$3k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+35%

Still filing today

50%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
PhilanthropyEnvironmentHealthHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterEducationOther
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

  • TH
    The High Country Charitable Foundation
    2× · 2023–2024 · $15k · revenue +6%
  • LC
    LEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $9k · revenue +27%
  • WC
    WESTMINSTER CANTERBURY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2022 · $3k · revenue +276%

Funded once

  • WM
    WILLIAM MARY
    one grant, 2022 · $2k
  • TV
    The Virginia Homegraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $250 · revenue +54%
  • UP
    UNION PRESBYTERIAN SEMINARY
    one grant, 2019 · $150
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
Washington and Lee University

Mission statement of washington and lee university: washington and lee university provides a liberal arts education that develops students' capacity to think freely, critically, and humanely and to conduct themselves with honor, integrity,…

Education
2
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
3
Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society

History is not the past; it is the story we tell about the past. every person in albemarle county and the city of charlottesville has a unique and powerful story to tell. through collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of our…

Arts & Culture
4
Association for the Preservation of Va Antiquities

To preserve, promote and serve as an advocate for virginia's irreplaceable historic places for cultural, economic and educational benefits for everyone.

Arts & Culture
5
Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University, a 501(c)(3) institution of higher education, is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the liberal arts and in graduate and professional education. The organization is comprised of seven constituent parts: Wake…

Education
6
Wesley Commons

Wesley commons is a continuing care retirement community that provides value-based health services, including assisted living, intermediate and skilled nursing care, specialized care for alzheimer's and dementia-related illnesses, as well…

Human Services
7
The Valentine Museum

The mission of the valentine is to engage, educate and challenge a diverse audience by collecting, preserving and interpreting richmond's history.

Arts & Culture
8
The Elizabethan Gardens Inc a Subsidiary of the Garden Club of Nc

To develop, maintain and administer a historical garden.

Environment
9
The Carolina Trust
Philanthropy
10
Maymont Foundation

The maymont foundation is committed to creating experiences that delight, educate and inspire.

Arts & Culture
11
Goodwin House Incorporated

The mission of goodwin house incorporated ("ghi") is to support, honor and uplift the lives of older adults and the people who care for them through a faith-based, nonprofit organization affiliated with the episcopal church.

Human Services
12
Uva Community Health Foundation

The mission of uvachf is to raise community support and funding through charitable giving for much needed programs, improved facilities, and state of the art technology for uva community health, an integral part of uva health. uva…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Garden Club of Virginia Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hillsdale College. 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

18 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. 18 of the 45 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)
18/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BANNER ELK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH INC: $27,610 · OtherBANNER ELK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH INCFIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $26,675 · OtherFIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHHIGH COUNTY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $24,500 · OtherHIGH COUNTY CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONWILLIAM AND MARY: $3,000 · Other+24 more: $4,308 · OtherThe High Country Charitable Foundation: $15,300 · PhilanthropyThe High Country…RICHMOND EYE AND EAR FOUNDATION: $2,000 · PhilanthropyRICHMOND EYE AND…+1 more: $400 · PhilanthropyLEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC: $8,900 · Education+2 more: $150 · EducationWESTMINSTER CANTERBURY FOUNDATION: $3,000 · Human ServicesELK RIVER HELPING HANDS: $1,000 · Human ServicesLEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $950 · EnvironmentCAPITAL TREES: $200 · EnvironmentTHE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA INC: $150 · EnvironmentThe Virginia Home: $250 · HealthAMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSN: $100 · HealthMemoryCare Inc: $50 · HealthFORSYTH JAIL AND PRISON MINISTRIES: $100 · Crime & LegalASHEVILLE AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $50 · Housing & ShelterHOMEWARD BOUND OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $50 · Housing & Shelter
Other$86,093Philanthropy$17,700Education$9,050Human Services$4,000Environment$1,300Health$400Crime & Legal$100Housing & Shelter$100

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe High Country Charitable Foundation: $15,300 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetLEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC: $8,900 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWESTMINSTER CANTERBURY FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRICHMOND EYE AND EAR FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetELK RIVER HELPING HANDS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $950 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGOOCHLAND CHRISTMAS MOTHER: $400 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetThe Virginia Home: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPITAL TREES: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA INC: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFORSYTH JAIL AND PRISON MINISTRIES: $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSN: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSALEM ACADEMY AND COLLEGE: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASHEVILLE AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMEWARD BOUND OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMemoryCare Inc: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOLLING HAXALL HOUSE FOUNDATION: $50 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.

  • Who funds The High Country Charitable Foundation ↗
  • Who funds LEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds WESTMINSTER CANTERBURY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RICHMOND EYE AND EAR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ELK RIVER HELPING HANDS ↗
  • Who funds LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC ↗
  • Who funds GOOCHLAND CHRISTMAS MOTHER ↗
  • Who funds The Virginia Home ↗
  • Who funds CAPITAL TREES ↗
  • Who funds THE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds FORSYTH JAIL AND PRISON MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSN ↗
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds SALEM ACADEMY AND COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds ASHEVILLE AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds HOMEWARD BOUND OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC ↗

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…The Winston-Salem Fou…Foundation for the Ca…The Capa FoundationCommonwealth Foundati…Richard S Reynolds Fo…Raymond James Charita…The Community Foundat…The Ayco Charitable F…Duke Energy FoundationMary Ratrie Wick Fami…The Mraz Charitable T…
The Community Foundation IncVA23× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation Inc · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · The Capa Foundation · Commonwealth Foundations · Richard S Reynolds Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · Mary Ratrie Wick Family Foundation · The Mraz Charitable Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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.

    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 45 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ferguson Family’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