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The Better Living Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Better Living Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$252k
Granted FY2024still arriving
35
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$60k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its 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, FY2019 to 2024.

Human Services$235kFood & Nutrition$207kHealth$113kPublic Safety & Disaster$99kYouth Development$88kPhilanthropy$60kEducation$42kRecreation & Sports$29kOther$0
02FY2024 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k29 grants · $117k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $60k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN RED CROSS$60,000
BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK$30,000
SALVATION ARMY$15,000
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE$10,000
LOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC$10,000
UNITED WAY$10,000
CHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC$6,000
CAMP HOLIDAY TRAILS$6,000
EMERGENCY FOOD NETWORK$6,000
FLUVANNA MEALS ON WHEELS$6,000
MADISON HOUSE$6,000
JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING$5,000
BUILDING GOODNESS FOUNDATION$5,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA$5,000
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$5,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $132k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 6%SHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY: $5k → 8%SHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY: $5k → 8%READYKIDS: $5k → 8%SHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY: $5k → 8%READYKIDS: $5k → 8%READYKIDS: $5k → 8%READYKIDS: $5k → 8%READYKIDS: $5k → 8%READYKIDS: $5k → 8%SHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY: $5k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $6k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $5k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $4k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $5k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $5k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $3k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $3k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $5k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $3k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $3k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $5k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $5k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $5k → 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.
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$941k · 41 repeat orgs$17k to everyone else

41 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
6

Total granted

$941k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+235%

Still filing today

71%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEducationYouth DevelopmentRecreation & 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

  • BR
    BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $80k · revenue +48%
  • LF
    LOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $35k · revenue +123%
  • CF
    CHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $32k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • S
    SPCA
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • DA
    DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS
    one grant, 2019 · $3k
  • KC
    KIWANIS CLUB OF CHARLOTTESVILLE
    one grant, 2019 · $3k
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
Sentara Health

We improve health every day through coordinating, promoting and planning for the provision of health services and the promotion of health, medical education, and the social, cultural, educational, and economic development of the community.

Health
2
Sentara Medical Group

See schedule o.as part of sentara health's integrated health care system, we improve health every day through the establishment and operation of programs and services for the provision of health care and for health related purposes; the…

Health
3
Sentara Rmh Medical Center

As part of sentara health's integrated health care system, we improve health every day.

Health
4
Sentara Hospitals

As part of sentara health's integrated health care system, we improve health every day.

Health
5
Martha Jefferson Hospital

As part of sentara health's integrated delivery system, we improve health every day.

Health
6
Young Men's Christian Association of the Virginia Peninsulas

Our mission is to put christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. our focus is on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. we help kids succeed, prepare teens…

Human Services
7
Sentara Enterprises

As part of sentara health's integrated health care organization, we improve health everyday through the provision of health care facilities and services for sick, injured, disabled, indigent, and aged persons.

Health
8
Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine

The mission of the edward via college of osteopathic medicine (vcom) is to prepare globally-minded, community-focused physicians to meet the needs of rural and medically underserved populations and promote research to improve human health.

Education
9
Sentara Princess Anne Hospital

As part of sentara health's integrated health care system, we improve health every day.

Health
10
Northern Virginia Family Services Inc

The mission of northern virginia family service (nvfs) is "to empower individuals and families to improve their quality of life, and to promote community cooperation and support in responding to family needs." nvfs was established in 1924…

Human Services
11
Uva Culpeper Medical Center

Our mission transforming health and inspiring hope for all virginians and beyond. our vision to be the nation's leading public academic health system and a best place to work - while transforming patient care, research, education, and…

Health
12
Family Lifeline

Family lifeline partners with families and individuals, delivering intensive home and community-based services to achieve an equitable, resilient community where families and individuals are connected, safe, and living a healthy,…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Charlottesville Free Clinic; the most unlike its peers is Muscular Dystrophy Association Inc. 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

32 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. 32 of the 49 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
24/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC: $80,000 · OtherBLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INCAMERICAN RED CROSS: $80,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSSUNITED WAY: $60,000 · OtherUNITED WAYSALVATION ARMY: $36,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYPIEDMONT VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $30,000 · OtherPIEDMONT VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGEBIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS OF THE CENTRAL BLUE RIDGE INC: $30,000 · OtherBIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS OF THE CENTRAL BLUE RIDGE INCRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE: $29,000 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD HOUSEMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $28,500 · OtherINNISFREE INCORPORATED: $18,000 · Other+21 more: $148,300 · Other+21 morePIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesPIEDMONT FAMILY…READYKIDS INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesREADYKIDS INCJEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesJEFFERSON AREA …Madison House: $22,000 · Human ServicesMadison HouseSHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesSHELTER FOR HEL…LOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC: $35,000 · Food & NutritionLOAVES & FI…EMERGENCY FOOD NETWORK: $32,000 · Food & NutritionEMERGENCY F…FLUVANNA MEALS ON WHEELS: $31,000 · Food & NutritionFLUVANNA ME…CHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC: $32,000 · HealthCHARLOTTE…AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $20,000 · HealthAMERICAN …CHARLOTTESVILLE-ALBEMARLE RESCUE SQUAD: $19,000 · HealthCHARLOTTE…American Heart Association Inc: $7,500 · HealthAmerican …MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC: $4,000 · HealthSOHO CENTER FOR ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $30,000 · EducationLITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ALBEMARLE: $11,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $3,000 · Youth DevelopmentCAMP HOLIDAY TRAILS: $26,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$539,800Human Services$132,000Food & Nutrition$98,000Health$82,500Education$46,500Youth Development$33,000Recreation & Sports$26,000

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 budgetBLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC: $80,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC: $35,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC: $32,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetEMERGENCY FOOD NETWORK: $32,000 over 6y, 2.4% of budgetFLUVANNA MEALS ON WHEELS: $31,000 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetSOHO CENTER FOR ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS OF THE CENTRAL BLUE RIDGE INC: $30,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetREADYKIDS INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetJEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $28,500 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCAMP HOLIDAY TRAILS: $26,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetMadison House: $22,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetSHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE-ALBEMARLE RESCUE SQUAD: $19,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetINNISFREE INCORPORATED: $18,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBUILDING GOODNESS FOUNDATION: $17,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPEOPLE AND CONGREGATIONS ENGAGED IN MINISTRY: $16,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetHOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $16,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ALBEMARLE: $11,500 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetPIEDMONT CASA INC: $10,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVIRGINIA DISCOVERY MUSEUM INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetVIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF AUTISM INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSENIOR CENTER INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFOOTHILLS CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BRIDGE MINISTRY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.3% 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 BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds LOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds EMERGENCY FOOD NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds FLUVANNA MEALS ON WHEELS ↗
  • Who funds SOHO CENTER FOR ARTS AND EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS OF THE CENTRAL BLUE RIDGE INC ↗
  • Who funds READYKIDS INC ↗
  • Who funds JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING INC ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMP HOLIDAY TRAILS ↗
  • Who funds Madison House ↗
  • Who funds SHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE-ALBEMARLE RESCUE SQUAD ↗
  • Who funds INNISFREE INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds BUILDING GOODNESS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PEOPLE AND CONGREGATIONS ENGAGED IN MINISTRY ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC ↗
  • Who funds LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ALBEMARLE ↗
  • Who funds PIEDMONT CASA INC ↗
  • Who funds American Heart Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA DISCOVERY MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF AUTISM INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SENIOR CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY ASSOCIATION INC ↗

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.

Charlottesville Area …Manning Family Founda…Perry Foundation IncCaplin FoundationThe Charles Fund IncThe Genan FoundationWhitney and Anne Ston…The Watterson Foundat…United Way of Greater…S&P Global Foundation…I J and Hilda M Breed…The J & E Berkley Fou…
Charlottesville Area Community FoundationVA58× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · Manning Family Foundation · Perry Foundation Inc · Caplin Foundation · The Charles Fund Inc · The Genan Foundation · Whitney and Anne Stone Foundation · The Watterson Foundation · United Way of Greater Charlottesville · S&P Global Foundation Fka the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation · I J and Hilda M Breeden Foundation · The J & E Berkley 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 The Better Living Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Better Living 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
    17report 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 49 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 Better Living’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