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Richard C Von Hess Foundation at a glance

· 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 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, FY2019 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$11MHealth$388kEducation$310kEnvironment$200kFood & Nutrition$152kPhilanthropy$76kReligion$20kHuman Services$10k
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

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

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

ME
IL
NY
MA
IA
PA
WV
VA
MD
DE
DC
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 16% of Richard C Von Hess Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Richard C Von Hess 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.

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

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +13% since the first grant, against +6% for those 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
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

  • 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%
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
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Frick Art & Historical Center Inc; 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.
05the grantee network

49 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. 49 of the 62 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/49
Grantees still filing
28/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and 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 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 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 budgetHistorical Society of Pennsylvania: $500,000 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC: $500,000 over 5y, 0.5% 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 budgetWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONSERVANCY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDELAWARE ART MUSEUM INC: $186,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetWALTERS ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC: $175,000 over 3y, 71% of budgetCARNEGIE INSTITUTE: $175,000 over 2y, 0.1% 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 budgetLANDIS VALLEY ASSOCIATES: $60,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetFRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE: $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVIRTUA HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPITTSBURGH GLASS CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetLANCASTER GENERAL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetVictoria Mansion: $34,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBrandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art: $29,955 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHRIST CHURCH PRESERVATION TRUST: $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetHUDSON OPERA HOUSE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetAMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetALLENTOWN ART MUSEUM: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% 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 budgetLONGWOOD GARDENS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 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.

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

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 Richard C Von Hess Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Richard C Von Hess Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%funder's 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
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 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 62 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 Richard C Von Hess’ 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