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Rural Action Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Rural Action Inc

Rural Action's mission is to build a more just economy by developing the region's assets in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways.

$3.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$2.8M
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, FY2023 to 2024.

Community Improvement$3.2MEmployment$195kEnvironment$158kEducation$154kFood & Nutrition$70kHousing & Shelter$50kArts & Culture$46kHealth$40k
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $205k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $216k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.8M
$39,540
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Mountain Association$2,762,641
Ohio University Bursar Office$134,465
Building Bridges to Careers$81,621
Coalfield Development Corporation$49,579
Southeast Ohio Hope Center$39,540
Passion Works$38,700
Appalachian Center for Economic Networks Inc$25,205
Appalachian Sustainable Development$22,232
Community Food Initiative$16,706
United Plant Savers$12,942
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 17%, against an area that typically sits at 15%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 15%Ohio University Bursar Office: $134k → 15%Southeast Ohio Hope Center: $40k → 15%Building Bridges to Careers: $114k → 15%Southern Perry Incubator for Community Entrepreneurs: $19k → 16%United Plant Savers: $24k → 18%Appalachian Center for Economic Networks Inc: $388k → 22%Coalfield Development Corporation: $50k → 18%Appalachian Sustainable Development: $22k → 21%Mountain Association: $2.8M → 16%Ohio University Bursar Office: $20k → 15%Building Bridges to Careers: $82k → 15%United Plant Savers: $13k → 18%Athens Hocking Recycling Center: $83k → 22%Appalachian Sustainable Development: $16k → 21%Passion Works: $39k → 22%Community Food Initiative: $30k → 22%Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development: $27k → 22%Appalachian Center for Economic Networks Inc: $25k → 22%Live Healthy Appalachia: $23k → 22%Community Food Initiative: $17k → 22%Passion Works: $7k → 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.
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.

24%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$930k · 7 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
4

Total granted

$930k
$152k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
0%

Still filing today

71%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 10% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.9M went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24
Community ImprovementHousing & ShelterHealthFood & NutritionArts & CultureEnvironmentOther
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

  • AC
    APPALACHIAN CENTER FOR ECONOMIC NETWORKS INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $414k · revenue +51% · 30% of their budget
  • PW
    PASSION WORKS
    2× · 2023–2024 · $46k · revenue +72%
  • AS
    APPALACHIAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
    2× · 2023–2024 · $38k · revenue +58%

Funded once

  • AH
    Athens Hocking Recycling Center
    one grant, 2023 · $83k
  • TC
    THE CORPORATION FOR OHIO APPALACHIAN DEVELOPMENT
    one grant, 2023 · $27k · revenue +19%
  • LH
    LIVE HEALTHY APPALACHIA INC FERRIER LAW OFFICE
    one grant, 2023 · $23k · 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
Rising Appalachia

Education on sustainability of the environment

Environment
2
Appalachian Development Alliance Inc

Economic development in appalachia

Human Services
3
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project

To help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.

Environment
4
Ohio County & Independent Agricultural Societies
Food & Nutrition
5
Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council

The conserving of natural resources and improving rural economies through leadership and education.

Environment
6
Jackson County Economic Development Partnership

To develop jobs & economic development for the jackson co ohio area

Community Improvement
7
Community Agricultural and Nutritional Enterprises Inc

Increase agricultural footprint in letcher co ky and surrounding counties; establish permanent outlet for local farm products and creation of value added products; access to healthy local food; gain skills in preparing foods; offering of…

Food & Nutrition
8
Appalachian Partnership Inc

To foster enduring, widely spread prosperity across appalachian ohio by helping build the region's private sector business economy and work with banks and revolving loan funds as an additional or alternate funding source for small business…

Community Improvement
9
Community Agroecology Network

Community Agroecology Network's (CAN) mission is to develop a network comprised of rural communities in Latin America and U.S. consumers that work together to support self-sufficiency and sustainable farming practices.

Community Improvement
10
Appalachian Community Capital Development Foundation

To increase small business lending by providing appalachian member institutions that serve underserved people and communities with new sources of capital.

Philanthropy
11
Covation Center Inc

To energize rural pennsylvania, enabling all citizens to innovate, create, and manufacture, building a lasting economy

Employment
12
Afl-Cio Appalachian Council Inc

Job training and development

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development; the most unlike its peers is Coalfield Development Corporation. 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

11 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. 11 of the 14 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
5/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INC: $2,762,641 · Community ImprovementMOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCAPPALACHIAN CENTER FOR ECONOMIC NETWORKS INC: $413,653 · Community ImprovementAPPALACHIAN CENTER FOR ECONOMIC NETWORKS INC+3 more: $84,273 · Community ImprovementBuilding Bridges to Careers: $195,350 · OtherBuilding Brid…Ohio University: $154,496 · OtherOhio Universi…Athens Hocking Recycling Center: $83,193 · OtherAthens Hockin…LIVE HEALTHY APPALACHIA INC FERRIER LAW OFFICE: $22,976 · OtherCOALFIELD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $49,579 · Housing & ShelterCOMMUNITY FOOD INITIATIVES: $46,534 · Food & NutritionPASSION WORKS: $45,700 · Arts & CultureRECOVERY CONNECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST OHIO: $39,540 · HealthUNITED PLANT SAVERS: $36,525 · Environment
Community Improvement$3,260,567Other$456,015Housing & Shelter$49,579Food & Nutrition$46,534Arts & Culture$45,700Health$39,540Environment$36,525

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INC: $2,762,641 over 1y, 34% of budgetAPPALACHIAN CENTER FOR ECONOMIC NETWORKS INC: $413,653 over 2y, 30% of budgetCOALFIELD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $49,579 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOOD INITIATIVES: $46,534 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetPASSION WORKS: $45,700 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetRECOVERY CONNECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST OHIO: $39,540 over 1y, 47% of budgetAPPALACHIAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: $38,071 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED PLANT SAVERS: $36,525 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetTHE CORPORATION FOR OHIO APPALACHIAN DEVELOPMENT: $26,744 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIVE HEALTHY APPALACHIA INC FERRIER LAW OFFICE: $22,976 over 1y, 15% of budgetSOUTHERN PERRY INCUBATION CENTER FOR ENTERPRENEURS: $19,458 over 1y, 13% 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.

Athens County Foundat…Sisters of St Joseph …Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Athens County FoundationOH17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Athens County Foundation · Sisters of St Joseph Charitable Fund Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Rural Action Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Rural Action Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report 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, FY20–24
    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 Rural Action Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Rural Action Inc 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 14 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 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 Rural Action’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
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    $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