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Robert H & Katharine B Garff Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert H & Katharine B Garff Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
48
Grants FY2024still arriving
14
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$15MArts & Culture$3.5MRecreation & Sports$335kYouth Development$111kHealth$77kCivil Rights$76kHuman Services$60kPublic Safety & Disaster$51kOther$0
02FY2024 · 48 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k35 grants · $134k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $162k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+2 grants · $2.3M
$5,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$3.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH$2,037,350
Martin Luther King Jr Center$250,000
UTAH FIRST LADY FOUNDATION$50,000
Individual grant recipient$28,000
Salt Lake City School District$26,758
UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY$22,500
UTAH SPORTS COMMISSION FOUNDATION$15,000
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY$14,927
Success in Education$13,300
WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY$11,189
The Major Brent Taylor Foundation$10,000
The McGillis School$10,000
Cal State Los Angeles$10,000
U of U President$8,919
Salt Lake christian Center$8,919
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 (FY21–24, $32k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF OGDEN: $3k → 9%FAMILY PROMISE OF OGDEN: $2k → 9%FAMILY PROMISE OF OGDEN: $2k → 9%FAMILY PROMISE OF OGDEN: $2k → 9%Transcend International: $25k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
WY
SD
IA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
AZ
KS
GA
TX
FL
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 39 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +69% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

39 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

39
40

Total granted

$18M
$1.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+69%
+2%

Still filing today

28%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $405k 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
EducationYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • US
    Utah Sports Commission Foundation
    3× · 2022–2024 · $308k · revenue +386%
  • UF
    UTAHS FIRST LADY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $105k · revenue +89%
  • KG
    KEN GARFF FOR GOOD
    2× · 2022–2024 · $38k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • GS
    GEORGE S AND DOLORES DORE ECCLES THEATER
    one grant, 2021 · $800k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
  • LO
    Life of Christ Art Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
2
Utah Valley University Foundation Inc

To assist Utah Valley University (UVU) in fulfilling its objectives: to aid and advance the services of UVU, to raise funds for student scholarships, and to raise funds for University program development.

Education
3
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
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
Midwives College of Utah

Educate and train midwives to provide safe, professional, affordable and personal maternity and general health care.

Education
6
Fielding Graduate University

We provide exemplary interdisciplinary programs for a community of scholar-practitioners within a distributed learning model grounded in student-driven inquiry and leading to enhanced knowledge.

—
7
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
8
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
9
Utah Humanities Council

Utah Humanities collaborates with libraries, museums, historical societies, schools, colleges, and cultural and civic groups; provides capacity-building opportunities for volunteers and professionals in the cultural sector; presents…

Arts & Culture
10
Equality Utah Foundation

To secure equal rights and protections for lgbtq utahns and their families.

Civil Rights
11
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
12
The Utah Tech University Foundation

To promote and support Utah Tech University previously Dixie State University and its various scientific educational and other activities programs and services.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Utah Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Transcend International. 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

30 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. 30 of the 105 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/30
Grantees still filing
21/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $14,749,563 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAHECCLES THEATER: $2,400,000 · OtherECCLES THEATERGEORGE S AND DOLORES DORE ECCLES THEATER: $800,000 · Other+76 more: $1,194,831 · Other+76 moreUtah Sports Commission Foundation: $308,000 · Recreation & SportsUTAHS FIRST LADY FOUNDATION: $105,000 · Youth DevelopmentKEN GARFF FOR GOOD: $38,300 · Youth Development+3 more: $5,500 · Youth DevelopmentSigma Chi Foundation: $20,000 · EducationSOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationTHE MCGILLIS SCHOOL: $10,000 · EducationMAJOR BRENT TAYLOR LEADERSHIP LEGAC: $10,000 · EducationFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $10,000 · EducationUniversity of St Thomas: $7,500 · EducationSalt Lake Community College Foundation: $6,833 · EducationCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES: $5,000 · EducationVANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL: $5,000 · EducationNEW ENGLAND LAWBOSTON: $4,978 · EducationCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS CORPORATION: $4,507 · Education+2 more: $2,500 · EducationTRANSCEND INTERNATIONAL: $25,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY PROMISE OF OGDEN: $7,000 · Human ServicesHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $25,000 · HealthThe Rachel Covey Foundation: $2,500 · HealthFPC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureHALE CENTRE THEATRE: $10,000 · Arts & CultureUTAH FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Public Benefit
Other$19,144,394Recreation & Sports$308,000Youth Development$148,800Education$96,318Human Services$32,000Health$27,500Arts & Culture$25,000Public Benefit$2,500

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 budgetUtah Sports Commission Foundation: $308,000 over 3y, 21% of budgetThe Martin Luther King Jr Center For Nonviolent Social Change Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetUTAHS FIRST LADY FOUNDATION: $105,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetKEN GARFF FOR GOOD: $38,300 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTRANSCEND INTERNATIONAL: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOOD DEED REVOLUTION: $20,000 over 3y, 6.1% of budgetSigma Chi Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFPC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUTAH FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MCGILLIS SCHOOL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAJOR BRENT TAYLOR LEADERSHIP LEGAC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetHALE CENTRE THEATRE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF OGDEN: $7,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSalt Lake Community College Foundation: $6,833 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW ENGLAND LAWBOSTON: $4,978 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS CORPORATION: $4,507 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe Rachel Covey Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUTAH SPORTS HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetUTAH FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN UTAH: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDavis Technical College Foundation Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGranite Education Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN - UTAH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

  • Who funds Utah Sports Commission Foundation ↗
  • Who funds The Martin Luther King Jr Center For Nonviolent Social Change Inc ↗
  • Who funds UTAHS FIRST LADY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds KEN GARFF FOR GOOD ↗
  • Who funds TRANSCEND INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds HUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GOOD DEED REVOLUTION ↗
  • Who funds Sigma Chi Foundation ↗
  • Who funds FPC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UTAH FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds THE MCGILLIS SCHOOL ↗

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.

Larry H Miller and Ga…Sorenson Legacy Found…George S and Dolores …The Community Foundat…Dominion Energy Chari…The Call FoundationBeesley Family Founda…Wcf FoundationLawrence & Janet Dee …Union Pacific Foundat…C Scott & Dorothy E W…Clark and Christine I…
Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family FoundationUT34.2× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation · Sorenson Legacy Foundation · George S and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation · The Community Foundation of Utah · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · The Call Foundation · Beesley Family Foundation · Wcf Foundation · Lawrence & Janet Dee Foundation · Union Pacific Foundation · C Scott & Dorothy E Watkins Charitable Foundation · Clark and Christine Ivory 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 Robert H & Katharine B Garff Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert H & Katharine B Garff Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Florida Institute of Technology Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
13report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Robert H & Katharine B Garff Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Robert H & Katharine B Garff 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 105 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Robert H & Katharine B Garff’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