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Room & Board Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Room & Board 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.

$4.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$4.3M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$4.3MEnvironment$1.2MAnimals$440kPhilanthropy$150kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $30k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+1 grant · $4.3M
$100,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WALKER ART CENTER$4,344,000
THE MINNESOTA LAND TRUST$100,000
Individual grant recipient$30,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY MINNESOTA$6,175
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 22% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONAL: $50k → 16%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $40k → 11%THE MINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $100k → 14%Project Drawdown: $20k → 8%SHARING HANDS ZAMBIA: $30k → 10%THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $60k → 14%WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION: $50k → 17%350ORG: $50k → 20%350org: $40k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONAL: $50k → 16%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $40k → 11%THE MINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $60k → 14%THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $30k → 14%WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION: $20k → 17%350ORG: $50k → 20%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%Corporate Accountability International: $50k → 16%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $40k → 11%THE MINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $30k → 14%THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $20k → 14%WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION: $20k → 17%350ORG: $50k → 20%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONAL: $50k → 16%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $40k → 11%THE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $100k → 14%THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $10k → 14%What is Missing Foundation: $20k → 17%350ORG: $40k → 20%NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY INTERNATIONAL: $40k → 16%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $40k → 11%THE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $70k → 14%THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $10k → 14%WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION: $20k → 17%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $20k → 11%THE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 14%WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION: $20k → 17%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 7%THE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 14%Nature Conservancy: $20k → 7%WALKER ART CENTER: $4.3M → 11%The Raptor Center University of Minnesota: $50k → 14%THE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 14%THE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 14%The Raptor Center University of Minnesota: $20k → 14%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.

27%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 7 repeat orgs$4.4M to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
1

Total granted

$1.6M
$20k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+395%

Still filing today

71%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 2% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4.4M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CulturePhilanthropyEducationOther
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

  • ID
    Infact DBA Corporate Accountability
    5× · 2017–2021 · $240k · revenue +27%
  • ML
    MINNESOTA LAND TRUST
    3× · 2023–2025 · $190k · revenue +36%
  • WI
    WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION FKA THE EXTINCTION PROJECT
    6× · 2017–2023 · $150k · revenue +131%

Funded once

  • PD
    PROJECT DRAWDOWNgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue +395%
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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
4
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
5
Environment Now
—
6
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
7
Rainforest Action Network

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) works toward a world where the rights and dignity of all communities are respected and where healthy forests, a stable climate and wild biodiversity are protected and celebrated.

Environment
8
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
9
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
10
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
11
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
12
One Earth Philanthropy

One Earth's mission is to empower everyone, everywhere, with the knowledge, inspiration, and opportunity to heal the Earth and reclaim our future.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Minnesota Land Trust; the most unlike its peers is What Is Missing Foundation Fka the Extinction Project. 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

8 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. 8 of the 12 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/8
Grantees still filing
6/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WALKER ART CENTER: $4,344,000 · Arts & CultureWALKER ART CENTERTHE RAPTOR CENTER UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $440,000 · OtherTHE RAPTOR CENT…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN MINNESOTA: $220,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONS…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $170,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONS…Individual grant recipient: $30,000 · Other+1 more: $6,175 · OtherInfact DBA Corporate Accountability: $240,000 · EnvironmentInfact DBA Cor…350ORG: $230,000 · Environment350ORGMINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $190,000 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA LAND…THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $140,000 · EnvironmentTHE LAND TRUST…WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION FKA THE EXTINCTION PROJECT: $150,000 · PhilanthropyPROJECT DRAWDOWN: $20,000 · Education
Arts & Culture$4,344,000Other$866,175Environment$800,000Philanthropy$150,000Education$20,000

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 budgetWALKER ART CENTER: $4,344,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetInfact DBA Corporate Accountability: $240,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budget350ORG: $230,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMINNESOTA LAND TRUST: $190,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $170,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION FKA THE EXTINCTION PROJECT: $150,000 over 6y, 12% of budgetTHE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $140,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetPROJECT DRAWDOWN: $20,000 over 1y, 1.7% 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 WALKER ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Infact DBA Corporate Accountability ↗
  • Who funds 350ORG ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds WHAT IS MISSING FOUNDATION FKA THE EXTINCTION PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds THE LAND TRUST FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT DRAWDOWN ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Room & Board Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Room & Board Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Infact Dba Corporate Accountability: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report 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.

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 12 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

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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