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Plinth

· Private foundation

Ralph S Robinson Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$182k
Granted FY2023
19
Grants FY2023
3
States reached
$45k
Largest

Read this first · the figures below need context

57% of Ralph S Robinson Family Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Gaston Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 12 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Ralph S Robinson Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 13 organizations, $182k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

8
18
9
19
10
20
2
21
12
22
13
23
12
24

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

01What you fund
0199% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20182024.

Philanthropy$452kReligion$262kHuman Services$191kEducation$106kRecreation & Sports$37kCommunity Improvement$32kHousing & Shelter$20kYouth Development$17kOther$0
02FY2023 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k9 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $170k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$3.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$45,000
GASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$30,000
CRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY GASTONIA$20,000
MAYLO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$11,569
COVENANT VILLAGE$11,569
TRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION$11,569
GASTON DAY SCHOOL$10,000
COASTAL CRISIS CHAPLAINCY$10,000
DREAM CENTER CHARLOTTE$10,000
UNITED WAY OF GASTON COUNTY$10,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GASTON COUNTY INC$6,000
LAKE SUMMIT FOUNDATION$2,000
GASTON HOSPICE$1,000
THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC$600
GREEN RIVER VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE$500
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY18–24, $72k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FUTURES IGNITE INC: $12k → 17%BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY: $10k → 12%COVENANT VILLAGE: $26k → 12%COVENANT VILLAGE: $12k → 12%COVENANT VILLAGE: $10k → 12%COVENANT VILLAGE: $1k → 12%COVENANT VILLAGE: $1k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$618k · 20 repeat orgs$128k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +25% since the first grant, against -17% for the ones you funded once.

20 repeat relationships — 16 still active in FY2023, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, 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
6

Total granted

$618k
$83k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
-17%

Still filing today

65%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • GD
    GASTON DAY SCHOOL INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $70k · revenue +32%
  • CV
    COVENANT VILLAGE INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $50k · revenue +47%
  • LS
    LAKE SUMMIT FOUNDATION INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $37k · revenue +134%

Funded once

  • GC
    Gaston County Family YMCA
    one grant, 2018 · $65k · revenue -17%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2018 · $15k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NC AT CHAPEL HILL EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $1k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Gordon College

Gordon college strives to graduate men & women distinguished by (continued on schedule o) (continuation) intellectual maturity and christian character, committed to lives of service and prepared for leadership worldwide.

Education
2
Gaston Memorial Hospital Foundation Inc

To engage and inspire our community to support caromont health in providing compassionate, exceptional and highly reliable care.

Health
3
Gaston Memorial Hospital Inc

To provide compassionate, exceptional and highly reliable care.

Health
4
Gaston College Foundation

The mission of the gaston college foundation, inc. is to raise, invest, administer and disburse funds exclusively for charitable, scientific or educational purposes for the benefit of gaston college.

Education
5
Goucher Charter School

Goucher charter academy's mission is believing in nurturing the whole child through leadership and community service.

Education
6
Greensboro College

Greensboro College provides a liberal arts education grounded in the traditions of the United Methodist Church and fosters the intellectual, social, and spiritual development of all students while supporting their individual needs.

Education
7
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
8
Gaston Christian School Inc

The mission of gaston christian school is to help students mature spiritually and excel academically by offering a biblically integrated, college-preparatory program that will enable them to impact the kingdom of god by living productive…

9
Caromont Health

To provide compassionate, exceptional and highly reliable care.

Health
10
Carteret County General Hospital Foundation

To assist carteret general hospital in providing the best possible healthcare to the people of carteret county through fund raising programs that support community based programs, purchase of vital equipment, capital expansion, renovations…

Philanthropy
11
George Fox University

George fox university, a christ centered community, prepares students spiritually, academically, and professionally to think with clarity, act with integrity, and serve with passion.

Education
12
Greenville College

Greenville college d/b/a greenville university empowers students for lives of character and service through a transforming christ-centered education in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Gaston Community Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy. 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

20 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 20 of the 32 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
9/20
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH — $250,000 · OtherFIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHGaston County Family YMCA — $64,507 · OtherGaston County Family YMCACRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY GASTONIA — $45,000 · OtherCRISIS ASSISTANCE MINISTRY GASTONIALAKE SUMMIT FOUNDATION INC — $36,500 · OtherLAKE SUMMIT FOUNDATION INCDREAM CENTER CHARLOTTE — $20,000 · OtherHabitat for Humanity of Gaston County Inc — $19,700 · Other+12 more — $50,459 · Other+12 moreGASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $366,300 · PhilanthropyGASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONUNITED WAY OF GASTON COUNTY INC — $45,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GASTON COUNTY INCCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC — $36,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC+1 more — $5,000 · PhilanthropyGASTON DAY SCHOOL INC — $70,000 · EducationGASTON DAY…WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL — $15,450 · EducationWOODBERRY …TRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $11,569 · EducationTRIDENT TE…ASHLEY HALL FOUNDATION — $4,000 · Education+1 more — $2,400 · EducationCOVENANT VILLAGE INC — $50,169 · Human ServicesFUTURES IGNITE INC — $12,000 · Human ServicesBISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY — $10,000 · Human ServicesCoastal Crisis Chaplaincy — $30,000 · Community ImprovementSCHIELE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND PLANETARIUM — $3,500 · Arts & Culture
Other$486,166Philanthropy$452,300Education$103,419Human Services$72,169Community Improvement$30,000Arts & Culture$3,500

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetGASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $366,300 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetGASTON DAY SCHOOL INC — $70,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGaston County Family YMCA — $64,507 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOVENANT VILLAGE INC — $50,169 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GASTON COUNTY INC — $45,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetLAKE SUMMIT FOUNDATION INC — $36,500 over 7y, 3.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC — $36,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCoastal Crisis Chaplaincy — $30,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetHabitat for Humanity of Gaston County Inc — $19,700 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetWOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL — $15,450 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFUTURES IGNITE INC — $12,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $11,569 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE OF GASTON COUNTY INC — $9,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetROTARY FOUNDATION OF GASTON COUNTY — $5,000 over 4y, 5.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER GAS — $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetASHLEY HALL FOUNDATION — $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCHIELE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND PLANETARIUM — $3,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $2,400 over 3y, 16% of budgetGREEN RIVER VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE — $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds GASTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds GASTON DAY SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds Gaston County Family YMCA
  • Who funds COVENANT VILLAGE INC
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GASTON COUNTY INC
  • Who funds LAKE SUMMIT FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HENDERSON COUNTY INC
  • Who funds Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy
  • Who funds Habitat for Humanity of Gaston County Inc
  • Who funds WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL
  • Who funds FUTURES IGNITE INC
  • Who funds TRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds BISHOP GADSDEN EPISCOPAL RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF GASTON COUNTY INC
  • Who funds ROTARY FOUNDATION OF GASTON COUNTY
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER GAS
  • Who funds ASHLEY HALL FOUNDATION
  • Who funds SCHIELE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND PLANETARIUM
  • Who funds THE EDUCATION FOUNDATION
  • Who funds GREEN RIVER VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The David Belk Cannon FoundationNC22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The David Belk Cannon Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · The Carrie E and Lena V Glenn Found · Foundation for the Carolinas · The W Duke Kimbrell Family Foundation Co Julia B Singh · Gaston Memorial Hospital Inc · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · The Howe Foundation Inc · The Hendricks-Cox Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · Truist Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Ralph S Robinson Family Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%your 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
    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 · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Ralph S Robinson Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ralph S Robinson Family 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 32 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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