Skip to content
Ross Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ross Family 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.

$25k
Granted FY2024still arriving
6
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$10kEducation$8kHealth$6kHuman Services$5kEnvironment$3kReligion$3kPublic Safety & Disaster$3kInternational$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$454k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
KID SMART$5,000
STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$5,000
DUMBARTON ARTS AND EDUCATION INC$5,000
MISSISSIPPI HEROES$5,000
GROW DAT YOUTH FARMS$2,500
NAMI NATIONAL$2,500
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 (FY23–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 75% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $5k → 11%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA: $3k → 17%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $3k → 14%ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION INC: $3k → 14%NEW LIFE FAMILY CHURCH: $3k → 19%NAMI NATIONAL: $3k → 7%WATER INSTITUTE OF THE GULFS DELTA: $3k → 19%GROW DAT YOUTH FARMS: $3k → 23%STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $3k → 11%DUMBARTON ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $5k → 14%MISSISSIPPI HEROES: $5k → 19%KID SMART: $5k → 23%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 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
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
2
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
3
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
4
Alzheimer's Impact Movement

To advance and develop policies to overcome alzheimer's and all other dementia through increased investment in research, enhanced care and improved support.

Health
5
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors

Empowering financial professionals and consumers through world-class advocacy and education.

—
6
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
7
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
8
National Association of Clean Water Agencies

Nacwa is the national voice of public clean water utilities, shaping water policy, convening a vibrant peer network, and empowering water leaders.

—
9
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
10
International Life Sciences Institute

Ilsi is a global, nonprofit federation dedicated to generating and advancing emerging science and groundbreaking research to ensure foods are safe, nutritious and sustainable, and that they improve planetary and human health and well-being…

Science & Tech
11
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
12
American Water Works Association

To promote public health, safety, and welfare through the improvement of the quality and quantity of drinking water and the development and furtherance of understanding of the problems relating thereto.

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Medecins Sans Frontieres Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mississippi Heroes. 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

10 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. 10 of the 11 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MISSISSIPPI HEROES: $5,000 · HealthMISSISSIPPI HEROESALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATE…NAMI National: $2,500 · HealthNAMI NationalDUMBARTON ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureDUMBARTON ARTS AND EDUCATI…KID SMART: $5,000 · Arts & CultureKID SMARTSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $8,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,500 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL…THE WATER INSTITUTE OF THE GULF: $3,000 · EnvironmentNEW LIFE FAMILY CHURCH: $3,000 · OtherGROW DAT YOUTH FARM: $2,500 · Food & Nutrition
Health$10,500Arts & Culture$10,000Education$8,000International$5,000Environment$3,000Other$3,000Food & Nutrition$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 budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMISSISSIPPI HEROES: $5,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetDUMBARTON ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKID SMART: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE WATER INSTITUTE OF THE GULF: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAMI National: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGROW DAT YOUTH FARM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 11 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 Ross Family’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