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Miller Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Miller Foundation

Its FY2022 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 FY2021
17
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

99% of Miller Foundation’s FY2022 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. FY2022 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year Miller Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 15 organizations, $36k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

18
’17
17
’18
15
’19
14
’20
15
’21
1
’22

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

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Philanthropy$399kEducation$51kScience & Tech$24kArts & Culture$24kEnvironment$20kHealth$16kHousing & Shelter$11kReligion$6kOther$0
02FY2021 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$757
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION$5,000
V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED$4,500
MANAKIN EPISCOPAL CHURCH$4,000
SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER$3,000
HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST$2,500
VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FOUNDATION$2,500
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION$2,000
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$2,000
SHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION$1,500
MAYMONT FOUNDATION$1,500
JAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION$1,500
NATURE CONSERVANCY$1,000
SCRABBLE SCHOOL PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC$1,000
VIRGINIA HOME$1,000
ROBERT E LEE MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION$1,000
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 (FY17–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 98% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%SHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $3k → 5%NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2k → 7%MANAKIN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $4k → 7%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $3k → 8%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $238k → 9%GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%SHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $2k → 5%MANAKIN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $2k → 7%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $3k → 8%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $161k → 9%GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%SHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $2k → 5%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $2k → 8%JAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $2k → 9%RAPPAHANNOCK LEAGUE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION I: $2k → 10%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $5k → 12%SHELTERING ARMS FOUNDATION: $2k → 5%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $2k → 8%JAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $2k → 9%GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $4k → 12%SHELTERING ARMS FOUNDATION: $2k → 5%UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $4k → 12%VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FOUNDATION: $3k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $2k → 8%HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $3k → 9%GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FOUNDATION: $2k → 22%HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $3k → 9%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $3k → 12%VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FOUNDATION: $2k → 22%HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $2k → 9%GEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%VIRGINIA HOME: $2k → 22%RECTOR & VISITORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $2k → 8%HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $2k → 9%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FOUNDATION: $2k → 22%HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $2k → 9%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS FOUNDATION: $2k → 22%RECTOR & VISITORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $2k → 8%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%V M I FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $2k → 12%VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 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.
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 65% of Miller Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Miller 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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$146k · 20 repeat orgs$5k to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2021, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, 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

20
4

Total granted

$146k
$4k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+110%
+141%

Still filing today

90%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22
EducationArts & CultureHealthHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyEnvironmentOther
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

  • HF
    HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST
    5× · 2017–2021 · $11k · revenue +210%
  • VM
    Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation
    5× · 2017–2021 · $10k · revenue +234%
  • SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
    4× · 2018–2021 · $10k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • RL
    RAPPAHANNOCK LEAGUE FOR
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
  • FC
    FAMILY CENTERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $1k · revenue +141%
  • FC
    FAMILY CENTERS INC At Home In Greenwich Division
    one grant, 2018 · $1k
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
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
2
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
3
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
4
Virginia Tech Foundation Inc

Virginia tech foundation, inc. (vtf) is a virginia nonstock corporation established in 1948 for the sole purpose of managing virginia tech's endowment to advance virginia tech's mission and its strategic priorities.

Education
5
Jefferson Scholars Foundation

The jefferson scholars foundation (foundation) provides academic merit-based scholarship, fellowship and professorship support to students and faculty at the university of virginia (uva).

Philanthropy
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
Medical College of Va Foundation

To support and foster vcu health and vcu health sciences through philanthropy, stewardship, innovation, communication, and collaboration.

Education
8
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
9
Vcu Health Tappahannock Hospital

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

Health
10
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
11
Virginia Association of Museums

The virginia association of museums is a statewide network serving the museum community. the association's mission statement is "the virginia association of museums helps our museum community succeed".

Arts & Culture
12
University of Virginia Alumni Association

The mission of the alumni association is to build the strongest bond among alumni and between alumni and the university by serving all alumni and students; being the center for engaging and connecting the global uva community; acting as a…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Virginia Law School Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Family Centers 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

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 28 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
19/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $399,215 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC+1 more: $3,500 · PhilanthropyGEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $24,000 · OtherGEORGE C M…SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $9,500 · OtherSOUTHERN E…MANAKIN EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $6,000 · OtherMANAKIN EP…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $4,500 · OtherTHE NATURE…RECTOR & VISITORS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $4,000 · OtherRECTOR & V…+4 more: $4,500 · Other+4 moreVMI Foundation: $22,500 · EducationVMI Found…UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $7,000 · EducationUNIVERSIT…UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA DARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $4,500 · EducationUNIVERSIT…VA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES: $4,000 · EducationVA FOUNDA…VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $4,000 · EducationVIRGINIA …THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $2,350 · Education+1 more: $1,500 · EducationVirginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $7,500 · Arts & CultureSTRATFORD HALL: $5,000 · Arts & CultureChildren's Museum of Richmond: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $250 · Arts & CultureThe Virginia Home: $7,000 · HealthSHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $6,000 · HealthSHELTERING ARMS FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthHOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $10,650 · Housing & ShelterJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $4,500 · Environment
Philanthropy$402,715Other$52,500Education$45,850Arts & Culture$23,750Health$16,000Housing & Shelter$10,650Environment$4,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $399,215 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGEORGE C MARSHALL RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $24,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetVMI Foundation: $22,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $10,650 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetVirginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation: $10,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $7,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Virginia Home: $7,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSTRATFORD HALL: $5,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA DARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetELK HILL FARM FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSHELTERING ARMS FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $2,350 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHEADWATERS THE RAPPAHANNOCK COUNTY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFAMILY CENTERS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Museum of Richmond: $1,000 over 2y, 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.

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.

Carmax FoundationThe Community Foundat…Luck Companies Founda…Robert G Cabell III a…Herndon FoundationRichard S Reynolds Fo…The Mary Morton Parso…The NewMarket Foundat…Commonwealth Foundati…Virginia Nonprofit Ho…Robins FoundationDominion Energy Chari…
Carmax FoundationVA23.9× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Carmax Foundation · The Community Foundation Inc · Luck Companies Foundation · Robert G Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation · Herndon Foundation · Richard S Reynolds Foundation · The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation · The NewMarket Foundation · Commonwealth Foundations · Virginia Nonprofit Housing Coalition · Robins Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable 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 Miller Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Miller 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 →median 20%
  • Family Centers Inc: 20% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report 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.

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 28 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Miller’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