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Foster Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Foster Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
686
Grants FY2025still arriving
13
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Education$1.0MHuman Services$644kArts & Culture$566kReligion$528kHealth$388kRecreation & Sports$279kPhilanthropy$265kFood & Nutrition$226kOther$0
02FY2025 · 686 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k653 grants · $747k
  • $10k–50k32 grants · $489k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$500
Median grant
13
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG$50,000
THE ACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS$35,000
CENTRA FOUNDATION$28,000
MIRIAM'S HOUSE$25,000
FREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA$25,000
HUMAN KIND$25,000
JUBILEE FAMILY$25,000
BROOKNEAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL$20,000
YMCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA$20,000
SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE$20,000
DUKE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING$20,000
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE$20,000
PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION$15,000
NATIONAL CENTER FOR HEALTHY VETERANS$15,000
TRO$12,500
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 (FY18–25, $296k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 55% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NORTHERN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY FOOD CENTER: $2k → 14%NORTHERN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY FOOD CENTER: $2k → 14%NORTHERN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY FOOD CENTER: $2k → 14%BEDFORD COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS STATION: $2k → 8%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $15k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $15k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $15k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $10k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $10k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $10k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $10k → 13%HARMONY DAY SUPPORT: $3k → 8%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $5k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $5k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $4k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%Park View Community Mission: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $3k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $2k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $2k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $2k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $2k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $2k → 13%HUMAN KIND: $25k → 8%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $2k → 13%HUMAN KIND: $15k → 8%ELIZABETHS EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $13k → 8%HUMAN KIND: $5k → 8%Elizabeth's Early Learning Center: $5k → 8%Human Kind: $5k → 8%ELIZABETHS EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $5k → 8%HUMAN KIND: $5k → 8%ELIZABETHS EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $5k → 8%HUMAN KIND: $3k → 8%HUMAN KIND: $3k → 8%HUMAN KIND: $3k → 8%HUMAN KIND: $3k → 8%ELIZABETH'S EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $3k → 8%LAKE CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES: $5k → 8%LAKE CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES: $4k → 8%LAKE CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES: $4k → 8%LAKE CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES: $4k → 8%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

IL
NY
PA
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.6M · 428 repeat orgs$350k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

428 repeat relationships: 335 still active in FY2025, 93 since wound down; 124 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

428
178

Total granted

$4.6M
$212k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+10%

Still filing today

20%
20%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $138k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsArts & CulturePublic 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

  • AC
    ACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $251k · revenue +27%
  • AS
    AMAZEMENT SQUARE
    8× · 2018–2025 · $160k · revenue +20%
  • PV
    PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $144k · revenue +18%

Funded once

  • CC
    Carilion Clinic
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -2%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • P
    PRT
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
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
Lynchburg Covenant Fellowship Incorporated

Provision of safe and affordable housing.

—
2
Virginia Community Food Connections

Our mission is to ensure the availability, access, and affordability of locally produced food by connecting local farmers and all members of the community through programs, awareness, and advocacy.

Food & Nutrition
3
Voices for Virginia's Children

The mission of voices for virginia's children is to champion public policies and legislation that achieve positive and equitable outcomes for young people.

Civil Rights
4
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities

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

Civil Rights
5
Central Virginia Foundation for Economic Education&Improvement Inc

Furtherance of economic growth, education, training and development

—
6
Vcu Investment Management Company

To provide investment and investment management and related services to the rector and the board of visitors of virginia commonwealth university (vcu), and/or to the private and independent foundations and other entities affiliated with…

Education
7
Virginia Lutheran Homes Inc

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

—
8
Nokesville Volunteer Fire Department

Fire and rescue services

Public Safety & Disaster
9
Little Hands Virginia Inc

Little hands virginia's mission is to ensure young children in need in central virginia have essentials from day one to improve outcomes for life.

Human Services
10
Virginia Commonwealth University Intellectual Property Foundation

The foundation determines the patentability and obtains patents on virginia commonwealth university (vcu) inventions and markets and licenses such inventions to commerical entities. the foundation's activities promote research efforts at…

Health
11
Feed More Inc

Feedmore's mission is to fight hunger in central virginia. we are the core hunger relief organization serving children, families, and seniors within our 34 city and county service area.

Food & Nutrition
12
Lynchburg Baptist Retirement Community Llc

To provide "dignity in living" for senior adults who reside in this planned services community.

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Special Olympics Virginia Inc; the most unlike its peers is Southside Dairy Association. 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

158 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. 158 of the 733 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)
37
Early backer (in before they grew)
155/158
Grantees still filing
96/158
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CENTRA FOUNDATION: $433,280 · OtherCENTRA FOUNDATIONTRO: $123,500 · Other+157 more: $2,599,101 · Other+157 moreACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC: $250,700 · Arts & CultureACADEMY CENT…AMAZEMENT SQUARE: $159,950 · Arts & CultureAMAZEMENT SQ…VECTOR SPACE: $56,500 · Arts & CultureVECTOR SPACEPATRICK HENRY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $34,000 · Arts & CulturePATRICK HENR…+2 more: $8,500 · Arts & CultureHAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $80,000 · EducationSWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE: $80,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG: $60,000 · EducationLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $38,500 · EducationVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $21,000 · EducationJohn Oakes Foundation: $14,000 · Education+6 more: $31,000 · EducationPARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION INC: $143,875 · Human ServicesPRESBYTERIAN HOMES & FAMILY SVCS: $69,500 · Human ServicesELIZABETH'S EARLY LEARNING CENTER INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesLAKE CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES INC: $26,300 · Human ServicesISAIAH 117 HOUSE: $22,900 · Human Services+4 more: $23,000 · Human ServicesFREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC: $38,000 · HealthCarilion Clinic Foundation: $31,000 · HealthCarilion Clinic: $25,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $9,750 · HealthBlue Ridge Pregnancy Center Inc: $8,400 · HealthCOMMUNITY ACCESS NETWORK INC: $5,000 · HealthJOHNSON HEALTH CENTER: $5,000 · HealthTRUCKERS FOR A CAUSE INC: $4,875 · Health+1 more: $3,000 · HealthGREATER LYNCHBURG COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $103,500 · PhilanthropyROTARY CLUB OF FOREST FOUNDATION INC: $15,774 · PhilanthropyGLEANING FOR THE WORLD INC: $44,600 · InternationalFreedom 4 24: $34,400 · InternationalELEVATE ORPHAN: $5,000 · International
Other$3,155,881Arts & Culture$509,650Education$324,500Human Services$315,575Health$130,025Philanthropy$119,274International$84,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC: $250,700 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetAMAZEMENT SQUARE: $159,950 over 8y, 3.2% of budgetPARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION INC: $143,875 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetGREATER LYNCHBURG COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $103,500 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetHAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $80,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE: $80,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPRESBYTERIAN HOMES & FAMILY SVCS: $69,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetVECTOR SPACE: $56,500 over 7y, 4.4% of budgetMIRIAM'S HOUSE INC: $55,350 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $49,380 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetGLEANING FOR THE WORLD INC: $44,600 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetLYNCHBURG DAILY BREAD INC: $43,750 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetLIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC: $38,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC: $38,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetINTERFAITH OUTREACH ASSOCIATION: $34,500 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetFreedom 4 24: $34,400 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetPATRICK HENRY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $34,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetCarilion Clinic Foundation: $31,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetELIZABETH'S EARLY LEARNING CENTER INC: $30,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetIRON LIVES INC: $28,000 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetLYNCHBURG GROWS: $27,500 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetBROOKNEAL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $27,400 over 8y, 4.3% of budgetLAKE CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES INC: $26,300 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetM4K LYNCHBURG INC: $26,177 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetCarilion Clinic: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetISAIAH 117 HOUSE: $22,900 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $21,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVIRGINIA HUNTERS WHO CARE INC: $19,200 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS INC: $16,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetROTARY CLUB OF FOREST FOUNDATION INC: $15,774 over 6y, 5.9% of budgetGO SEND ME GLOBAL: $15,750 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetDowntown Lynchburg Association: $15,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetGODS PIT CREW INC: $11,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKIDFIT: $10,500 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetRUSH HOMES INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCAMPBELL COUNTY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $9,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRANDOLPH COLLEGE INC: $9,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBROOK HILL RETIREMENT CENTER FOR HORSES INC: $8,500 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetBlue Ridge Pregnancy Center Inc: $8,400 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL D-DAY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRED TRUCK MINISTRY: $8,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetCharlotte County Meals On Wheels: $7,500 over 5y, 3.4% of budgetDAWN INC: $7,400 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetNORTHERN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY FD CT: $7,000 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetJUBILEE FAMILY DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $6,308 over 2y, 0.8% 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 ACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds AMAZEMENT SQUARE ↗
  • Who funds PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER LYNCHBURG COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds SWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds PRESBYTERIAN HOMES & FAMILY SVCS ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG ↗
  • Who funds VECTOR SPACE ↗
  • Who funds MIRIAM'S HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS INC ↗
  • Who funds GLEANING FOR THE WORLD INC ↗
  • Who funds LYNCHBURG DAILY BREAD INC ↗
  • Who funds LIBERTY UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds FREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds INTERFAITH OUTREACH ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Freedom 4 24 ↗

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.

Greater Lynchburg Com…The Al Stroobants Fou…Centra Health IncEasley Char Irr Tua 5…Schewel Charitable Fo…Moore's Charitable Fo…M4k Lynchburg IncThe Minnie and Bernar…Centra Health Foundat…Liberty University IncThe Harry D Forsyth F…Bedford Community Hea…
Greater Lynchburg Community FoundationVA111.3× affinity55 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation · The Al Stroobants Foundation · Centra Health Inc · Easley Char Irr Tua 5019004715 · Schewel Charitable Foundation · Moore's Charitable Foundation · M4k Lynchburg Inc · The Minnie and Bernard Lane Foundation · Centra Health Foundation · Liberty University Inc · The Harry D Forsyth Foundation · Bedford Community Health 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 Foster Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Foster Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • University of Hartford: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
34report 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.

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 733 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 Foster’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