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· Private foundation

Richard C Von Hess 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.

$3.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0166% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY2019–2025.

Arts & Culture$6.0MEducation$1.7MEnvironment$200kReligion$122kPhilanthropy$76kRecreation & Sports$60kHealth$50kHuman Services$10kOther$4.2M
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $1k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $55k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $737k
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.6M
$100,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOUISE STEINMAN VON HESS FOUNDATION$2,000,000
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS$314,600
WOODMERE ART MUSEUM$250,000
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONSERVANCY$200,000
ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM$150,000
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA$125,000
PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM$100,000
DELAWARE ART MUSEUM$60,000
DEMUTH FOUNDATION$52,150
HILLWOOD ESTATE MUSEUM & GARDENS$50,000
LANDIS VALLEY ASSOCIATES$30,000
FRIENDS OF THE MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES INC$25,000
LONGWOOD GARDENS$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 65% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Lewes Historical Society: $65k → 10%Peabody Essex Museum: $200k → 10%ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM: $150k → 16%Historical Society of Pennsylvania: $100k → 7%Demuth Foundation: $76k → 9%Woodmere Art Museum: $250k → 22%The Royal Oak Foundation: $281k → 17%The Phillips Collection: $63k → 14%University of Iowa Center for: $100k → 15%Oak Spring Garden Foundation: $122k → 4%Rubicon Productions Inc: $150k → 11%The Baltimore Museum of Art Inc: $500k → 19%Peabody Essex Museum: $100k → 10%Museum of Fine Arts Boston: $75k → 16%Historical Society of Pennsylvania: $100k → 7%WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONSERVANCY: $200k → 11%The Barnes Foundation: $75k → 22%The Royal Oak Foundation: $281k → 17%The Phillips Collection: $63k → 14%Ladew Topiary Gardens: $70k → 11%The Baltimore Museum of Art Inc: $100k → 19%PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM: $100k → 10%Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: $70k → 16%Andalusia Foundation: $75k → 6%Historical Society of Pennsylvania: $100k → 7%Carnegie Institute: $150k → 11%WOODMERE ART MUSEUM: $250k → 22%The National Society of the Colonial: $78k → 14%Ladew Topiary Gardens: $70k → 11%Maryland Center for History and Culture: $125k → 19%Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur: $85k → 10%Historical Society of Pennsylvania: $75k → 7%Carnegie Museum of Art: $75k → 11%The Barnes Foundation: $75k → 22%Maryland Center for History and Culture: $125k → 19%The Frick Art & Historical Center: $200k → 11%Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens: $100k → 14%PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS: $315k → 22%Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens: $75k → 14%LOUISE STEINMAN VON HESS FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 9%Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: $125k → 22%The von Hess Foundation: $238k → 9%The University of the Arts: $108k → 22%The University of the Arts: $100k → 22%The University of the Arts: $98k → 22%Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: $75k → 22%HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $125k → 22%Museum of the American Revolution: $100k → 22%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.

Which US states your grants reach

ME
IL
NY
MA
IA
PA
WV
VA
MD
DE
DC

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.

04

Where the work is directed

The same grants, placed two ways — where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose earmarks the money.

About 16% of Richard C Von Hess Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another.

Richard C Von Hess Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address

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 foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

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.

68%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$8.5M · 32 repeat orgs$3.9M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +13% since the first grant, against +6% for the ones you funded once.

32 repeat relationships — 9 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
26

Total granted

$8.5M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
+6%

Still filing today

88%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 34% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.2M went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyEnvironmentRecreation & SportsHealthOther

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

  • TR
    THE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2021–2024 · $611k · revenue +48%
  • BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
    2× · 2021–2024 · $600k · revenue +13%
  • ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC
    4× · 2019–2025 · $470k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • TV
    The von Hess Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $238k
  • PM
    PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
    one grant, 2019 · $170k · revenue -15%
  • RP
    RUBICON PRODUCTIONS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $150k · revenue 0%

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
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The huntington library, art museum, and botanical gardens shares its world-renowned collections to support scholarship, foster learning, inspire creativity, and offer transformative experiences for diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
2
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
3
Museum of Collections
Arts & Culture
4
Clyfford Still Museum

Home to the art and legacy of the american painter clyfford still, we invite all to explore the potential of individual creative endeavor.

Arts & Culture
5
The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

The mission of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, d/b/a brooklyn museum (the "museum") is to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. (see schedule o).

Arts & Culture
6
The Newark Museum Association

Nmoa mission statement is: we welcome everyone with inclusive experiences that spark curiosity and foster community.

Arts & Culture
7
Arnot Art Museum

The arnot art museum is an exhibiting and collecting fine arts museum, accredited by the american association of museums. the museum exhibits its permanent collection of 17th-19th century european paintings and sculpture; 19th century…

Arts & Culture
8
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The metropolitan museum of art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.

Arts & Culture
9
The Jewish Museum

The mission of the jewish museum is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art and jewish culture. see schedule o for more information.

Arts & Culture
10
Tudor Place Foundation Inc

Tudor place historic house & garden preserves the stories of six generations of descendants of martha washington and the enslaved and free people who lived and worked at this georgetown landmark for nearly two centuries. by examining their…

—
11
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston

The museum of fine arts, houston serves as a welcoming and inclusive place for all people, connecting the communities of houston with diverse histories of art spanning 6,000 years and six continents. through our permanent collections,…

Arts & Culture
12
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Frick Art & Historical Center Inc and the most unlike its peers is Andalusia Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 62 years old; the field is 19. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number18%0%<5yr13%2%5–10yr19%2%10–20yr17%19%20–35yr15%17%35–55yr17%60%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value18%0%<5yr13%3%5–10yr19%1%10–20yr17%10%20–35yr15%32%35–55yr17%54%55yr+

The field is 18% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 9% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/50
the rest of the field
9%
7,129/78,112

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

05the grantee network

49 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 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 49 of the 62 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/49
Grantees still filing
31/49
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION INC — $611,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION INCBALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART — $600,000 · Arts & CultureBALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ARTWOODMERE ART MUSEUM — $540,000 · Arts & CultureWOODMERE ART MUSEUMPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC — $500,000 · Arts & CulturePEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INCISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $470,000 · Arts & CultureISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INCMARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $325,000 · Arts & CultureMARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCHILLWOOD ESTATE MUSEUM & GARDENS — $275,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BARNES FOUNDATION — $210,000 · Arts & Culture+24 more — $2,470,112 · Arts & Culture+24 moreTHE LOUISE STEINMAN VON HESS FOUNDATION — $2,000,000 · OtherTHE LOUISE STEINMAN VON HESS FOUNDATIO…Historical Society of Pennsylvania — $500,000 · OtherHistorical Society of PennsylvaniaFRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER INC — $335,000 · OtherFRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER INCThe von Hess Foundation — $237,500 · OtherThe von Hess FoundationYale Center for British Art — $200,770 · OtherLadew Topiary Gardens — $170,000 · Other+13 more — $780,300 · Other+13 morePENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS — $1,073,502 · EducationPENNSYLVANIA AC…THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS — $501,478 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY …DREXEL UNIVERSITY — $95,000 · EducationDREXEL UNIVERSI…FRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE — $60,000 · Education+1 more — $15,000 · EducationWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONSERVANCY — $200,000 · EnvironmentOAK SPRING GARDEN FOUNDATION — $122,130 · ReligionLANCASTER GENERAL HEALTH FOUNDATION — $50,000 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS OF THE MARYLAND STATE ARCHIVES — $25,000 · Philanthropy+1 more — $1,000 · PhilanthropyLANDIS VALLEY ASSOCIATES — $60,000 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$6,001,112Other$4,223,570Education$1,744,980Environment$200,000Religion$122,130Philanthropy$76,000Recreation & Sports$60,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE LOUISE STEINMAN VON HESS FOUNDATION — $2,000,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS — $1,073,502 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetTHE ROYAL OAK FOUNDATION INC — $611,000 over 3y, 8.7% of budgetBALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART — $600,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetWOODMERE ART MUSEUM — $540,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS — $501,478 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC — $500,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetHistorical Society of Pennsylvania — $500,000 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM INC — $470,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFRICK ART & HISTORICAL CENTER INC — $335,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetMARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $325,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetHILLWOOD ESTATE MUSEUM & GARDENS — $275,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetTHE BARNES FOUNDATION — $210,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetDELAWARE ART MUSEUM INC — $186,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetCARNEGIE INSTITUTE — $175,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWALTERS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC — $175,000 over 3y, 71% of budgetThe Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum Inc — $170,120 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION — $170,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART — $170,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRUBICON PRODUCTIONS INC — $150,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetIndependence Seaport Museum — $140,547 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetDEMUTH FOUNDATION — $133,775 over 3y, 11% of budgetTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION — $125,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetOAK SPRING GARDEN FOUNDATION — $122,130 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE LEWES HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC — $117,000 over 2y, 6.6% of budgetTHE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA — $115,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetJAMES A MICHENER ART MUSEUM — $113,440 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetWESTMORELAND MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART — $110,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLANCASTERHISTORYORG — $100,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetDREXEL UNIVERSITY — $95,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROCK FORD FOUNDATION — $86,540 over 2y, 13% of budgetANDALUSIA FOUNDATION — $75,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetFRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE — $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLANDIS VALLEY ASSOCIATES — $60,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetLANCASTER GENERAL HEALTH FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetPITTSBURGH GLASS CENTER INC — $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetVIRTUA HEALTH FOUNDATION INC — $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetVictoria Mansion — $34,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBrandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art — $29,955 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM — $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCHRIST CHURCH PRESERVATION TRUST — $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetALLENTOWN ART MUSEUM — $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHUDSON OPERA HOUSE INC — $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetHUNTINGTON MUSEUM OF ART INC — $18,735 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF BUCKS COUNTY — $10,000 over 1y, 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.

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 Philadelphia Foun…Lancaster County Comm…The Pew Charitable Tr…Ibm International Fou…Thomas a and Georgina…Willis and Elsie Shen…Quaker City FoundationHigh FoundationLindback Cr & Mf Foun…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…Clark Associates Char…Connelly Foundation
The Philadelphia FoundationPA18× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · Lancaster County Community Foundation · The Pew Charitable Trusts · Ibm International Foundation · Thomas a and Georgina T Russo Foundation · Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation · Quaker City Foundation · High Foundation · Lindback Cr & Mf Foundation Tw Main · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · Clark Associates Charitable Foundation · Connelly Foundation

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 Richard C Von Hess 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, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%your share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Maryland Historical Society Inc — 9% of income from government
  • Delaware Art Museum Inc — 8% of income from government
  • The Lewes Historical Society Inc — 4% of income from government
  • Baltimore Museum of Art — 4% of income from government
  • Peabody Essex Museum Inc — 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
typical government reliance, FY20–25

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 Richard C Von Hess Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Richard C Von Hess 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 62 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines