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Murlan Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Murlan Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$145k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$25k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Human Services$478kEducation$147kPhilanthropy$78kArts & Culture$72kHealth$65kAnimals$55kPublic Benefit$25kFood & Nutrition$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $140k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTRAL VIRGINIA CHILDREN'S WELLNESS INITIATIVE$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA$20,237
ROCKFISH WILDLIFE SANCTUARY$20,000
ST ANNE'S - BELFIELD SCHOOL$20,000
STEPPING STONE$20,000
THE PARAMOUNT THEATER$19,819
BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK$15,278
LIGHT HOUSE STUDIO$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 (FY18–22, $441k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%READYKIDS: $135k → 8%READYKIDS: $76k → 8%READYKIDS: $75k → 8%READYKIDS: $75k → 8%READYKIDS: $75k → 8%THE ARC OF THE PIEDMONT: $5k → 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.
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$719k · 7 repeat orgs$143k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +88% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
5

Total granted

$719k
$78k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+88%
+33%

Still filing today

86%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 55% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $66k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationPhilanthropyEmploymentAnimalsOther
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

  • RI
    READYKIDS INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $436k · revenue +0%
  • SA
    ST ANNE'S-BELFIELD INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $65k · revenue +20%
  • VI
    VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF AUTISM INC
    4× · 2021–2025 · $60k · revenue +161%

Funded once

  • FRACTURED ATLAS INC
    one grant, 2022 · $28k · revenue +16%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHSEWANEE
    one grant, 2018 · $20k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTHgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue +40%
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
Richmond Waldorf School

Our approach to a holistic Waldorf education lays the foundation for a life full of meaning and purpose. (See 4a)

—
2
St Joseph's Villa

The mission of st. joseph's villa is to provide children with special needs and their families the opportunity to succeed through effective and innovative programs.

Human Services
3
The Paramount Theater of Charlottesville Inc

The mission of the historic nonprofit paramount theater is to educate, enchant, enrich, and enlighten through the power of the arts by providing high-quality programming and accessibility for the artistic and charitable benefit of our…

Arts & Culture
4
Good Shepherd Episcopal School

The mission of Good Shepherd Episcopal School is to inspire each child to achieve academic excellence within a diverse, nurturing community that builds character and fosters respect for one another and our shared environment, locally and…

Education
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
St Vincent's Home

The mission of st. vincent's home is to meet the needs of individuals with unique learning challenges across the lifespan. this includes supporting the family. the programs associated with st. vincent's home including the blue ridge autism…

—
7
Pinecrest School Inc

Family involvement in the Pinecrest educational experience, low student-teacher ratios, caring and committed teachers, and a cohesive school community combined with a rigorous educational program to foster the development in students of…

—
8
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
9
Lutheran Family Services of Virginia Inc Dba Encircle

Encircle's mission is to express god's love by providing services and assistance to empower communities, families, and individuals in their journey to well-being. our goal is to make the world a more loving place.

Human Services
10
Via of the Lehigh Valley Inc

To help people reach their full potential through a rewarding career, meaningful relationships, and an enriching community life. Via creates pathways to success through vocation, inclusion, and advocacy.

Human Services
11
The Miller School of Albemarle

We create opportunities for discovery and reflection by engaging the minds, hands, and hearts of our students.

Education
12
Savannah College of Art and DesignInc

Scad prepares talented students for creative professions through engaged teaching and learning in a positively oriented university environment.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Readykids Inc; the most unlike its peers is Kindness Cville. 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

13 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. 13 of the 17 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)
13/13
Grantees still filing
11/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

READYKIDS INC: $435,794 · Human ServicesREADYKIDS INC+1 more: $5,077 · Human ServicesSTEPPING STONE: $42,250 · OtherSTEPPING STONECENTRAL VIRGINIA CHILDRENS WELLNESS INITIATIVE: $25,000 · OtherCENTRAL VIRGINIA …MOUNTAINTOP MONTESSORI: $21,237 · OtherMOUNTAINTOP MONTE…UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $20,237 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIR…UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHSEWANEE: $20,021 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF SOU…BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC: $15,278 · OtherBLUE RIDGE AREA F…CHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $77,563 · PhilanthropyCHARLOTTESVILLE …VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF AUTISM INC: $59,564 · PhilanthropyVIRGINIA INSTITU…ST ANNE'S-BELFIELD INC: $65,082 · EducationST ANNE'S-…UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $20,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY…THE PARAMOUNT THEATER FOUNDATION IN F/K/A THE PARAMOUNT THEATER INC: $39,815 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $27,500 · Arts & CultureLIGHT HOUSE STUDIO INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureROCKFISH WILDLIFE SANCTUARY INC: $55,000 · AnimalsKindness Cville: $5,000 · Employment
Human Services$440,871Other$144,023Philanthropy$137,127Education$85,082Arts & Culture$72,315Animals$55,000Employment$5,000

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 budgetREADYKIDS INC: $435,794 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $77,563 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetST ANNE'S-BELFIELD INC: $65,082 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetVIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF AUTISM INC: $59,564 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetROCKFISH WILDLIFE SANCTUARY INC: $55,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetTHE PARAMOUNT THEATER FOUNDATION IN F/K/A THE PARAMOUNT THEATER INC: $39,815 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $27,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMOUNTAINTOP MONTESSORI: $21,237 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC: $15,278 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARC OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $5,077 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKindness Cville: $5,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetLIGHT HOUSE STUDIO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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.

Charlottesville Area …Manning Family Founda…The Rimora FoundationThe Charles Fund IncPerry Foundation IncThe Genan FoundationCaplin FoundationEdmonds Family Founda…The Hilltop FoundationQuantitative Foundati…Leaw Family Foundatio…The J & E Berkley Fou…
Charlottesville Area Community FoundationVA21.8× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · Manning Family Foundation · The Rimora Foundation · The Charles Fund Inc · Perry Foundation Inc · The Genan Foundation · Caplin Foundation · Edmonds Family Foundation · The Hilltop Foundation · Quantitative Foundation · Leaw Family Foundation Inc · The J & E Berkley 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 Murlan Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Murlan Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s 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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Murlan Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Murlan 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 17 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 Murlan’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