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· Private foundation

The Charles Fund Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$584k
Granted FY2025still arriving
80
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$65k
Largest
01What it funds
0197% 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$2.4MHuman Services$866kHealth$512kEducation$255kEnvironment$224kPhilanthropy$174kScience & Tech$140kHousing & Shelter$61kOther$0
02FY2025 · 80 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k62 grants · $44k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $255k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $285k
$500
Median grant
3
States reached
$8.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROCHESTER MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER$65,000
MONTPELIER FOUNDATION$60,000
GENESEE COUNTRY VILLAGE & MUSEUM$60,000
AMERICAN FRONTIER CULTURAL FOUNDATION$50,000
HILLSIDE FAMILY OF AGENCIES$50,000
JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING$30,000
SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK TRUST$30,000
THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION$25,000
UNCOMMON SCHOOLS ROCHESTER PREP$25,000
MARTHA JEFFERSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$25,000
CHILD HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INC$20,000
HOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT$20,000
MADISON HOUSE$15,000
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPLORATORY CENTER$15,000
WOODROW WILSON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY GRANT$15,000
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, $451k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 12% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%HILLSIDE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%LEARNING ALLY: $500 → 11%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $2k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%WESTIMINSTER CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $1k → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $1k → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $750 → 8%SHELTER FOR HELP & EMERGENCY: $500 → 8%SHELTER FOR HELP & EMERGENCY: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%ARC OF THE PIEDMONT: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA: $500 → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $15k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $15k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $15k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $15k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $15k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $15k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $11k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $11k → 8%MADISON HOUSE: $10k → 8%JEFFERSON SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $35k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $30k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $500 → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING: $25k → 8%JEFFERSON SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $500 → 8%TOY LIFT CHARITIES: $500 → 8%TWICE IS NICE: $500 → 8%READYKIDS: $1k → 8%JEFFERSON SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $500 → 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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 98 repeat orgs$54k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

98 repeat relationships: 77 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

98
9

Total granted

$4.7M
$54k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+27%

Still filing today

62%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $250 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
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationAnimalsEnvironmentOther
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

  • MF
    MONTPELIER FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $505k · revenue +80%
  • GC
    GENESEE COUNTRY MUSEUM
    9× · 2017–2025 · $352k · revenue +37%
  • TJ
    THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $280k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • HF
    HILLSIDE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue +134%
  • LO
    LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +263%
  • OO
    ON OUR OWN CHARLOTTESVILLE VA INC
    one grant, 2021 · $1k · revenue -6%
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
Virginia Community Action Partnership Inc

Virginia community action partnership (vacap) is the statewide membership association for virginia's thirty-one non-profit and public community action agencies. vacaps mission is to build the capacity and competencies of virginias…

Human Services
2
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
3
Virginia Association of Museums

The virginia association of museums is a statewide network serving the museum community. the association's mission statement is "the virginia association of museums helps our museum community succeed".

Arts & Culture
4
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities

VCIC works with schools, businesses, and communities to achieve success through inclusion.

Civil Rights
5
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
6
The Commonwealth Institute for

To use policy, research, and analysis to advance the well-being of Virginia communities, and improve the economic security and social opportunities of all Virginians.

Public Benefit
7
Virginia Commonwealth University Intellectual Property Foundation

The foundation determines the patentability and obtains patents on virginia commonwealth university (vcu) inventions and markets and licenses such inventions to commerical entities. the foundation's activities promote research efforts at…

Health
8
Vpm Media Corporation

To use the power of media to educate, entertain and inspire, using public television and public radio to make a positive impact on the communities throughout central virginia, charlottesville, the shenandoah valley, the northern neck and…

Arts & Culture
9
Association for the Preservation of Va Antiquities

To preserve, promote and serve as an advocate for virginia's irreplaceable historic places for cultural, economic and educational benefits for everyone.

Arts & Culture
10
Virginia Poverty Law Center Inc

Virginia poverty law center uses advocacy, education, and litigation to break down systemic barriers that keep low-income virginians in the cycle of poverty.

Crime & Legal
11
Central Virginia Health Services Inc

Central virginia health services, inc. (organization) is a non-profit health care organization with locations in bowling green, charles city, new canton, charlotte court house, farmville, alberta, petersburg, aylett, hopewell, montross,…

Health
12
Vcu Health Tappahannock Hospital

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

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee 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

73 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 73 of the 110 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)
28
Early backer (in before they grew)
69/73
Grantees still filing
55/73
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER: $550,000 · Arts & CultureROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTERMONTPELIER FOUNDATION: $505,000 · Arts & CultureMONTPELIER FOUNDATIONGENESEE COUNTRY MUSEUM: $352,200 · Arts & CultureGENESEE COUNTRY MUSEUMTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $280,000 · Arts & CultureTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INCVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $80,500 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $17,650 · Arts & CultureHILLSIDE FAMILY OF AGENCIES: $410,000 · OtherHILLSIDE FAMILY OF AGENCIESAMERICAN FRONTIER CULTURAL FOUNDATION: $385,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRONTIER CULTURAL FOUNDATIONHOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $165,000 · OtherHOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INCCHILD HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INC: $150,000 · OtherCHILD HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INCLEWIS AND CLARK EXPLORATORY CENTER: $140,000 · OtherLEWIS AND CLARK EXPLORATORY CENTERWOODROW WILSON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY GRANT: $115,000 · OtherWOODROW WILSON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY GRANTVA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES: $75,500 · Other+58 more: $327,950 · Other+58 moreJEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING INC: $240,000 · Human ServicesJEFFERSON …Madison House: $122,000 · Human ServicesMadison Ho…HILLSIDE FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Human ServicesHILLSIDE F…+13 more: $44,150 · Human Services+13 moreUNCOMMON SCHOOLS INC: $135,000 · EducationTHE VIRGINIA COLLEGE FUND: $89,000 · Education+3 more: $4,250 · EducationSHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK TRUST: $205,000 · Environment+2 more: $4,500 · EnvironmentMARTHA JEFFERSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $170,000 · Health+6 more: $18,750 · HealthUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTESVILLE: $165,000 · PhilanthropyCHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,350 · Philanthropy+2 more: $4,900 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$1,785,350Other$1,768,450Human Services$456,150Education$228,250Environment$209,500Health$188,750Philanthropy$176,250

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 budgetROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER: $550,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetMONTPELIER FOUNDATION: $505,000 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetHILLSIDE FAMILY OF AGENCIES: $410,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetGENESEE COUNTRY MUSEUM: $352,200 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $280,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetJEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING INC: $240,000 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetSHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK TRUST: $205,000 over 9y, 2.4% of budgetHOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $165,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTESVILLE: $165,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetCHILD HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INC: $150,000 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetUNCOMMON SCHOOLS INC: $135,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMadison House: $122,000 over 9y, 3.4% of budgetTHE VIRGINIA COLLEGE FUND: $89,000 over 7y, 2.8% of budgetVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $80,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetHILLSIDE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCOMPUTERS4KIDS: $36,500 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE TOMORROW: $30,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetALBEMARLE CHARLOTTESVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetWESTMINSTER-CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE: $10,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL AID JUSTICE CENTER: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetALBEMARLE SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS INC: $8,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,350 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC: $6,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC: $6,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC: $6,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $5,750 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA INC: $5,250 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetSENIOR CENTER INC: $5,250 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetREADYKIDS INC: $5,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetJEFFERSON SCHOOL AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER INC: $5,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetVirginia Law Foundation: $5,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN ALBEMARLE RESCUE SQUAD: $5,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE-ALBEMARLE RESCUE SQUAD: $4,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetALBEMARLE COUNTY ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 9y, 4.3% of budgetALL BLESSINGS FLOW INC: $4,250 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPEOPLE AND CONGREGATIONS ENGAGED IN MINISTRY: $4,250 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $4,250 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetJEFFERSON SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetTHE HAVEN INC: $3,250 over 8y, 13% of budgetCAMP HOLIDAY TRAILS: $3,150 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPIEDMONT VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIDGE MINISTRY INC: $3,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Neighbors Inc: $2,750 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSHELTER FOR HELP IN EMERGENCY INC: $2,750 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetIVY CREEK FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetLearning Ally Inc: $2,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARC OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $2,500 over 9y, 0.0% 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 ROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MONTPELIER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HILLSIDE FAMILY OF AGENCIES ↗
  • Who funds GENESEE COUNTRY MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds JEFFERSON AREA BOARD FOR AGING INC ↗
  • Who funds SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK TRUST ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER CHARLOTTESVILLE ↗
  • Who funds CHILD HEALTH PARTNERSHIP INC ↗
  • Who funds UNCOMMON SCHOOLS INC ↗
  • Who funds Madison House ↗
  • Who funds THE VIRGINIA COLLEGE FUND ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds HILLSIDE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COMPUTERS4KIDS ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE TOMORROW ↗
  • Who funds ALBEMARLE CHARLOTTESVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds WESTMINSTER-CANTERBURY OF THE BLUE RIDGE ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL AID JUSTICE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds ALBEMARLE SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS INC ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds LOAVES & FISHES FOOD PANTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds BLUE RIDGE AREA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds SERVICE DOGS OF VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds SENIOR CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds READYKIDS 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 Community FoundationVA102.5× affinity51 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · Perry Foundation Inc · The J & E Berkley Foundation · The Genan Foundation · Caplin Foundation · S&P Global Foundation Fka the McGraw-Hill Research Foundation · Manning Family Foundation · Oakwood Foundation Charitable Trust · The Oak Hill Fund · The Watterson Foundation · Whitney and Anne Stone Foundation · United Way of Greater Charlottesville

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 Charles Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Charles Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Learning Ally Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
28report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Charles Fund Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Charles Fund 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 110 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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