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· Private foundation

Luck Companies Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$800k
Granted FY2020
159
Grants FY2020
16
States reached
$100k
Largest

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Luck Companies Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to The Community Foundation Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 5 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year Luck Companies Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 79 organizations, $800k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

0
’17
94
’18
79
’20
0
’21
21
’22
3
’23
5
’24
5
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Philanthropy$3.7MEducation$738kHuman Services$323kEnvironment$148kReligion$89kYouth Development$63kCommunity Improvement$59kArts & Culture$42kOther$0
02FY2020 · 159 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k136 grants · $211k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $364k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $225k
$1,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$9.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INNERWILL$100,000
YMCA OF GREATER RICHMOND$75,000
ANNA JULIA COOPER EPISCOPAL SCHOOL$50,000
ALLIANCE FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY$34,000
STARTUP VIRGINIA$30,000
JAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION$30,000
VIRGINIA CENTER FOR INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES$30,000
LAAMISTAD INC$25,000
OPERATION HEALING FORCES$25,000
BOYS HOME OF VIRGINIA$20,120
YWCA OF GREATER ATLANTA$20,000
LORD FAIRFAX COMMUNITY COLLEGE$15,000
ELIZABETH RIVER PROJECT$15,000
ABWE INTERNATIONAL$15,000
VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES$15,000
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 (FY20–20, $117k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%OPERATION HEALING FORCES: $25k → 12%FRIENDS U NEED CLUB INC: $2k → 9%YWCA OF RICHMOND: $3k → 22%YWCA OF RICHMOND: $2k → 22%YMCA OF GREATER RICHMOND: $75k → 22%YMCA OF GREATER RICHMOND: $10k → 22%YMCA OF GREATER RICHMOND: $750 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
NY
OR
IA
PA
CT
CA
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
TN
NC
SC
DC
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.
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 79% of Luck Companies Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 98% of the giving stays in VA; by stated purpose, 40%.

Luck Companies Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

57%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 43 repeat orgs$781k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +62% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

43 repeat relationships: 39 still active in FY2020, 4 since wound down; 95 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

43
58

Total granted

$1.0M
$324k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+62%
+25%

Still filing today

79%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 24% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $160 went to new ones.

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

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

’18’20’22’23’24’25
EducationHealthEnvironmentHuman ServicesArts & 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

  • I
    INNERWILL
    3× · 2018–2022 · $300k · revenue +62%
  • YM
    Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769)
    2× · 2018–2020 · $161k · revenue +25%
  • G
    GoochlandCares
    2× · 2018–2020 · $118k · revenue +84%

Funded once

  • BS
    BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
    one grant, 2018 · $101k · revenue +16%
  • VC
    VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDATgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $101k · revenue +26%
  • LR
    LAUREL RIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2018 · $15k · revenue +14%
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
University of Virginia Investment Management Company

The university of virginia investment management company (uvimco) is organized to invest funds on behalf of the rector and visitors of the university of virginia (the university or uva) and university-associated organizations (uaos).

Education
2
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
3
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
4
Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce

Chamberrva is the trusted voice for modern business in the richmond virginia region. we are change agents, rallying to do the hard things that will create a more connected, prosperous, health and equitable community.

—
5
University of Virginia Foundation

To provide administrative services to university of virginia (university) entities, university associated organizations, or other entities involved in activities which support the university. to engage in matters pertaining to real…

Education
6
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
7
Vcu Health Tappahannock Hospital

To deliver important healthcare services with exceptional quality and patient-centered care.

Health
8
Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation

The mission of vt-arc is to extend the impact of the virginia tech research and innovation enterprise, delivering superior analytic and technology solutions to government and non-government customers.

Science & Tech
9
Bon Secours - Richmond Health System Inc

The mission is to bring compassion to health care and to be good to those in need, especially those who are poor and dying. as a system of caregivers, we commit ourselves to help bring people and communities to health and wholeness.

Health
10
William & Mary Foundation

The William & Mary Foundation advances the university's highest aspirations by securing private support, guiding a multi-asset investment portfolio, and offering strategic leadership. In this work, we propel the university toward national…

Education
11
Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine

The mission of the edward via college of osteopathic medicine (vcom) is to prepare globally-minded, community-focused physicians to meet the needs of rural and medically underserved populations and promote research to improve human health.

Education
12
University of Virginia Law School Foundation

The university of virginia law school foundation's primary purpose is to receive, manage and expend funds for the benefit of the university of virginia school of law.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Greater Richmond Chamber Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Vivoblu Water for All. 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

116 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. 116 of the 198 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)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
113/116
Grantees still filing
83/116
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $3,634,833 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC+5 more: $11,364 · PhilanthropyINNERWILL: $300,250 · EducationINNERWILLVIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $101,000 · EducationVIRGINIA COM…ANNA JULIA COOPER SCHOOL: $50,000 · EducationANNA JULIA C…VMI Foundation: $45,739 · EducationVMI Foundati…VA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES: $45,000 · EducationVA FOUNDATIO…+15 more: $49,475 · Education+15 moreALLIANCE FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY: $34,000 · OtherALLIANCE FOR…Individual grant recipient: $30,000 · OtherELIJAH HOUSE ACADEMY: $25,000 · OtherTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $25,100 · OtherSTARTUP VIRGINIA INC: $30,000 · OtherGOODWILL OF CENTRAL AND COASTAL VIRGINIA INC: $33,000 · OtherGOODWILL OF …Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities: $32,500 · OtherVirginia Cen…+123 more: $394,794 · Other+123 moreYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $160,750 · Human ServicesOPERATION HEALING FORCES INC: $50,000 · Human Services+7 more: $13,875 · Human ServicesGoochlandCares: $117,700 · HealthFREE CLINIC OF POWHATAN INC: $21,000 · HealthMARCH OF DIMES INC: $5,000 · Health+11 more: $2,466 · HealthBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $101,050 · Youth DevelopmentLaAmistad Inc: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentBLUE SKY FUND: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentVICTORY JUNCTION GANG CAMP INC: $5,000 · Youth Development4KIDS A FAITH COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP INC: $5,000 · Youth Development+3 more: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $60,148 · EnvironmentCAPITAL REGION LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $34,925 · EnvironmentThe Elizabeth River Project: $15,000 · Environment+8 more: $4,421 · Environment
Philanthropy$3,646,197Education$591,464Other$604,394Human Services$224,625Health$146,166Youth Development$142,050Environment$114,494

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 COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $3,634,833 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetINNERWILL: $300,250 over 3y, 8.1% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $160,750 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGoochlandCares: $117,700 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $101,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $101,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $60,148 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetOPERATION HEALING FORCES INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetANNA JULIA COOPER SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetVMI Foundation: $45,739 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetVA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES: $45,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetCAPITAL REGION LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $34,925 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetGOODWILL OF CENTRAL AND COASTAL VIRGINIA INC: $33,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVirginia Center for Inclusive Communities: $32,500 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetSTARTUP VIRGINIA INC: $30,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $25,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetELIJAH HOUSE ACADEMY: $25,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetLaAmistad Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetFREE CLINIC OF POWHATAN INC: $21,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetGOOCHLAND EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $16,200 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetThe Elizabeth River Project: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLAUREL RIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF KERSHAW COUNTY: $12,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetGOOCHLAND COUNTY VOLUNTEER FIRE - RESCUE ASSOCIATION INC: $12,050 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CENTRAL VA INC: $10,300 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUNBOUNDRVA: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPetty Family Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetCristo Rey Richmond High School Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGEORGE C MARSHALL INTERNATIONAL CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $6,150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GREATER RICHMOND CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $5,750 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetVIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS FOUNDATION: $5,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Young Men's Christian Association of the Triangle Area Inc (4598): $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCE CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetVIRGINIA MENTORING PARTNERSHIP: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetVIVOBLU WATER FOR ALL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBLUE SKY FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetVICTORY JUNCTION GANG CAMP INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELK HILL FARM INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLIVING MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP INC: $5,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetYWCA RICHMOND: $4,700 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGreater Richmond Partnership Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR THE CHESAPEAKE BAY INC: $2,750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJSARGEANT REYNOLDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVirginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW WALK BIBLE CHURCH: $2,500 over 1y, 2.8% 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.

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 Foundation IncVA71.4× affinity42 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation Inc · Herndon Foundation · Robins Foundation · The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Richard S Reynolds Foundation · Virginia Nonprofit Housing Coalition · The Pauley Family Foundation · Carmax Foundation · Williams Mullen Foundation · Wilbur Moreland Havens Charitable Foundation · Shelton H Short Jr 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 Luck Companies Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Luck Companies Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • American Whitewater: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
24report 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 Luck Companies Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Luck Companies 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 198 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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