Skip to content

· Private foundation

The Ceres Foundation Inc

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.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
45
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$200k
Largest
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.

Environment$2.6MArts & Culture$1.8MEducation$1.4MHealth$1.3MHuman Services$530kFood & Nutrition$388kAnimals$380kReligion$160kOther$0
02FY2025 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $107k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $255k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $685k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$27M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Nature Conservancy of SC$200,000
Gibbes Museum of Art$185,000
Nuvance Health Network$100,000
Community School$100,000
Hotchkiss School$50,000
Nemours Wildlife Foundation$50,000
GrowFood Carolina$35,000
Blue Ridge Literacy$30,000
FARE$25,000
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra$25,000
Science Museum of Western VA$15,000
St Francis Service Dogs$15,000
Grace House of Brunswick$10,000
Friends of Caroline Hospice$10,000
Davis Love III Foundation$10,000
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 (FY17–25, $310k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 30% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%REGIONAL YMCA OF WESTERN CONNECTICUT: $10k → 9%Foxfield FARMS: $10k → 11%REGIONAL YMCA OF WESTERN CT: $5k → 9%Foxfield FARMS: $10k → 11%REGIONAL YMCA OF WESTERN CT: $5k → 9%Foxfield FARM corporation: $10k → 11%Safe Harbor Center Inc: $5k → 14%Adult Care Center of Roanoke Valley: $20k → 8%Friends of Boca Grande Community Center: $10k → 11%REGIONAL YMCA OF WESTERN CT: $5k → 9%FOXFIELD FARMS: $8k → 11%Safe Harbor Center Inc: $5k → 14%Adult Care Center of Roanoke Valley: $8k → 8%Friends of Boca Grande Community Center: $5k → 11%REGIONAL YMCA OF WESTERN CT: $5k → 9%FOXFIELD FARMS: $5k → 11%Safe Harbor Center Inc: $5k → 14%FRIENDS OF BOCA GRANDE COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 11%FOXFIELD FARMS: $5k → 11%FOXFIELD FARMS: $5k → 11%St Francis Service Dogs: $15k → 8%St Francis Service Dogs: $15k → 8%St Francis Service Dogs: $10k → 8%ROANOKE DIVERSITY CENTER: $5k → 20%ANN'S PLACE: $10k → 9%ANN'S PLACE: $10k → 9%ANN'S PLACE: $10k → 9%ANN'S PLACE: $10k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $15k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $15k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $15k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $10k → 9%Simply Smiles: $5k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $5k → 9%SIMPLY SMILES: $5k → 9%Simply Smiles: $5k → 9%Simply Smiles: $5k → 9%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

WI
NY
MA
OR
IA
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
TN
NC
SC
DC
LA
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.5M · 103 repeat orgs$975k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

103 repeat relationships: 44 still active in FY2025, 59 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

103
81

Total granted

$8.5M
$970k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+13%

Still filing today

62%
49%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
Arts & CultureHealthEducationEnvironmentHuman ServicesFood & NutritionOther
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

  • LC
    Lacuna Corporation
    4× · 2017–2021 · $730k · revenue +227% · 97% of their budget
  • OS
    OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $580k · revenue +134%
  • LL
    LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $491k · revenue +125%

Funded once

  • FE
    FOOD EQUALITY INITIATIVE INC
    one grant, 2021 · $60k · revenue -79%
  • NC
    Nature Conservancy in Virginia
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2018 · $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
Bon Secours - Richmond Health System Inc

The mission is to bring compassion to health care and to be good to those in need, especially those who are poor and dying. as a system of caregivers, we commit ourselves to help bring people and communities to health and wholeness.

Health
2
Vcu Health Tappahannock Hospital

To deliver important healthcare services with exceptional quality and patient-centered care.

Health
3
Vcu Investment Management Company

To provide investment and investment management and related services to the rector and the board of visitors of virginia commonwealth university (vcu), and/or to the private and independent foundations and other entities affiliated with…

Education
4
Community Care of West Virginia Inc

The mission of ccwv is to help our communities live the healthiest lives possible by meeting their immediate and long-term healthcare needs. this mission is accomplished by providing high quality, accessible, comprehensive, culturally…

—
5
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
6
University of Virginia Investment Management Company

The university of virginia investment management company (uvimco) is organized to invest funds on behalf of the rector and visitors of the university of virginia (the university or uva) and university-associated organizations (uaos).

Education
7
The Charleston Museum

To educate Charleston area residents and visitors about the natural and cultural history of the South Carolina Lowcountry through collections, exhibitions, preservation, conservation, research and related programming.

Arts & Culture
8
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
9
Virginia Maryland and Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives

Trade association for electric cooperatives

—
10
Atlantic Coast Conservancy Inc

The mission of the atlantic coast conservancy is to provide 21st century solutions and sound scientific applications for conservation of critical natural resources in the face of a changing climate, focusing on the southeasthern united…

Environment
11
Community Health Center of Richmond Inc

The organization's mission is to sustain a vibrant, healthy and strong community through affordable, culturally competent, quality primary health care.

Health
12
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lowcountry Land Trust Inc; the most unlike its peers is Lacuna 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

110 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. 110 of the 186 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
30
Early backer (in before they grew)
105/110
Grantees still filing
75/110
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Nature Conservancy of SC: $465,000 · OtherThe Nature Conservancy of SCNuvance Health Network: $315,000 · OtherNuvance Health NetworkCharleston Library Society: $220,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF DRAYTON HALL NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION: $220,000 · OtherFENNELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $215,000 · OtherWESTERN CT HEALTH NETWORK: $200,000 · OtherNemours Wildlife Foundation: $165,000 · Other+104 more: $2,920,500 · Other+104 moreLacuna Corporation: $730,000 · EnvironmentLacuna CorporationOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC: $580,000 · EnvironmentOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE IN…LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC: $491,000 · EnvironmentLOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST I…South Carolina Coastal Conservation League Inc: $66,000 · Environment+7 more: $110,000 · Environment+7 moreCAROLINA ART ASSOCIATION DBA GIBBES MUSEUM OF ART: $335,000 · Arts & CultureCAROLINA ART …TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART: $205,000 · Arts & CultureTAUBMAN MUSEU…OPERA ROANOKE: $190,000 · Arts & CultureOPERA ROANOKESCIENCE MUSEUM OF WESTERN VIRGINIA: $140,000 · Arts & CultureSCIENCE MUSEU…ROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $60,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $40,000 · Arts & CultureMILL MOUNTAIN PLAYHOUSE CO INC DBA MILL MOUNTAIN THEATRE: $40,000 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $121,500 · Arts & Culture+11 moreCOMMUNITY SCHOOL: $152,500 · EducationCOMMUNITY …TRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC: $140,000 · EducationTRUSTEES O…BLUE RIDGE LITERACY: $140,000 · EducationBLUE RIDGE…RUMSEY HALL SCHOOL INC: $100,000 · EducationRUMSEY HAL…HOLLINS UNIVERSITY CORPORATION: $92,000 · EducationHOLLINS UN…THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL: $64,179 · EducationTHE HOTCHK…ST STEPHEN'S AND ST AGNES SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationST STEPHEN…+7 more: $110,500 · Education+7 moreSIMPLY SMILES INC: $80,000 · Human ServicesFOXFIELD FARM CORPORATION: $52,500 · Human ServicesSAINT FRANCIS SERVICE DOGS: $40,000 · Human ServicesANNS PLACE INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesREGIONAL YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN CONNECTICUT INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesADULT CARE CENTER OF ROANOKE VALLEY INC: $27,500 · Human ServicesGRACE HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OF BOCA GRANDE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesSafe Harbor Center Inc: $15,000 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $115,000 · HealthGOOD SAMARITAN HOSPICE INC: $45,000 · HealthKEVINS COMMUNITY CENTER INC ATTN DINA SABIA: $32,500 · HealthCarilion Clinic Foundation: $27,500 · HealthBEAUFORT MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $20,000 · HealthBARRIER ISLANDS FREE MEDICAL CLINIC: $18,000 · HealthAddy Grace Foundation: $12,500 · Health+9 more: $55,238 · HealthFOOD EQUALITY INITIATIVE INC: $60,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & EDUCATION INC: $50,000 · Food & NutritionLOAVES AND FISHES NEW HAVEN INC: $40,000 · Food & NutritionEAST COOPER MEALS ON WHEELS INC: $18,000 · Food & NutritionHARRY CHAPIN FOOD BANK OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionSOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AGRICULTURE PROJECT INC: $10,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$4,720,500Environment$1,977,000Arts & Culture$1,131,500Education$849,179Human Services$330,000Health$325,738Food & Nutrition$193,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLacuna Corporation: $730,000 over 4y, 97% of budgetOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC: $580,000 over 5y, 23% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC: $491,000 over 7y, 17% of budgetCAROLINA ART ASSOCIATION DBA GIBBES MUSEUM OF ART: $335,000 over 8y, 3.1% of budgetCharleston Library Society: $220,000 over 8y, 4.6% of budgetTAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART: $205,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetOPERA ROANOKE: $190,000 over 8y, 9.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY SCHOOL: $152,500 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $145,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC: $140,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSCIENCE MUSEUM OF WESTERN VIRGINIA: $140,000 over 6y, 8.1% of budgetBLUE RIDGE LITERACY: $140,000 over 8y, 12% of budgetFRIENDS OF CAROLINE HOSPICE OF BEAU: $135,000 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $115,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Preservation Society of Charleston Inc: $115,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetRUMSEY HALL SCHOOL INC: $100,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetHOLLINS UNIVERSITY CORPORATION: $92,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBoys Farm Inc: $90,000 over 9y, 1.7% of budgetCHILD HEALTH INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP DBA CHIP OF ROANOKE VALLEY: $85,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetSIMPLY SMILES INC: $80,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetSouth Carolina Coastal Conservation League Inc: $66,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $65,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL: $64,179 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD EQUALITY INITIATIVE INC: $60,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $60,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetFOXFIELD FARM CORPORATION: $52,500 over 7y, 37% of budgetAMOS HOUSE INC: $50,000 over 6y, 12% of budgetFOOD ALLERGY RESEARCH & EDUCATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetST STEPHEN'S AND ST AGNES SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSouth Carolina Aquarium: $50,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetGOOD SAMARITAN HOSPICE INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCONNECTICUT BURNS CARE FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetSAINT FRANCIS SERVICE DOGS: $40,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMILL MOUNTAIN PLAYHOUSE CO INC DBA MILL MOUNTAIN THEATRE: $40,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetLOAVES AND FISHES NEW HAVEN INC: $40,000 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetDavis Love III Foundation: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetANNS PLACE INC: $40,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetNATIONAL DEER ASSOCIATION: $35,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetKEVINS COMMUNITY CENTER INC ATTN DINA SABIA: $32,500 over 5y, 11% of budgetREGIONAL YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN CONNECTICUT INC: $30,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLORD BERKELEY CONSERVATION TRUST: $30,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetBLUE RIDGE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA INC DBA MILL MOUNTAIN ZOO: $30,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetADULT CARE CENTER OF ROANOKE VALLEY INC: $27,500 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetCarilion Clinic Foundation: $27,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetALMADA LODGE TIMES FARM CAMP CORPORATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetA BETTER CHANCE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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 Lacuna Corporation ↗
  • Who funds OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds CAROLINA ART ASSOCIATION DBA GIBBES MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds Charleston Library Society ↗
  • Who funds TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds OPERA ROANOKE ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds SCIENCE MUSEUM OF WESTERN VIRGINIA ↗
  • Who funds BLUE RIDGE LITERACY ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CAROLINE HOSPICE OF BEAU ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc ↗
  • Who funds RUMSEY HALL SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds HOLLINS UNIVERSITY CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Boys Farm Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILD HEALTH INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP DBA CHIP OF ROANOKE VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds SIMPLY SMILES INC ↗
  • Who funds South Carolina Coastal Conservation League Inc ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds FOOD EQUALITY INITIATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds ROANOKE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗

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.

Community Foundation Serving Western VirginiaVA47.1× affinity21 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia · Cartledge Charitable Foundation Inc · Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina Inc · The Beirne Carter Foundation · Carilion Medical Center · Edgar a Thurman Fdn Children Nect · Robertson Family Foundation Inc · The Joanna Foundation · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · Sam & Marion Golden Helping Hand Foundation · Evelyn F James Foundation · The Newbern 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 Ceres Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ceres Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 180%6%25%56%100%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
    18get no government money at all
    38report 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.

    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 186 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

    Play a game based on Ceres’ filings →

    More from the funding graph