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The Helen G Gifford Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Helen G Gifford Foundation

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.

$183k
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$38k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% 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$1.0MEducation$199kReligion$97kHousing & Shelter$86kCommunity Improvement$69kEnvironment$47kFood & Nutrition$38kPhilanthropy$38kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k25 grants · $95k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $88k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF TIDEWATER$37,500
VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL$20,000
VIRGINIA OPERA ASSOCIATION$10,000
THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INC$10,000
VIRGINIA SYMPHONY$10,000
FORKIDS INC$9,000
FRIENDS OF CHEVRA THELIM$7,500
NORFOLK BOTANICAL GARDEN INC$7,500
HOPE HOUSE FOUNDATION$7,000
THE HURRAH PLAYERS INC$5,000
OHEF SHOLOM TEMPLE$5,000
YOUNG AUDIENCES OF VIRGINIA INC$5,000
VIRGINIA MUSICAL THEATRE INC$5,000
GOVERNORS MAGNET SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS FOUNDATION$5,000
RICHMOND BALLET$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 (FY17–25, $21k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 77% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF TIDEWATER: $3k → 10%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF TIDEWATER: $2k → 10%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS SENIOR CENTERS: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $2k → 19%PRIMEPLUS NORFOLK SENIOR CENTER: $500 → 19%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.
$1.6M · 36 repeat orgs$20k to everyone else

36 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
5

Total granted

$1.6M
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
+68%

Still filing today

78%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k 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 & CultureCommunity ImprovementEducationHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TV
    THE VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $180k · revenue +113%
  • VS
    VIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $173k · revenue +18%
  • TC
    THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED
    9× · 2017–2025 · $90k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • TI
    THE INHEIRITANCE PROJECT LTDgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +86%
  • VW
    VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $3k · revenue +68%
  • TC
    TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +67%
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
The Richmond Symphony

The richmond symphony performs, teaches and champions music to inspire and unite our communities.

Arts & Culture
2
Roanoke Symphony Orchestra

The Roanoke Symphony Orchestra provides a professional symphony orchestra of artistic excellence and integrity to enrich lives, to educate, and to entertain diverse audiences in western Virginia with the highest quality instrumental and…

Arts & Culture
3
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

Vcca's mission is to provide time and space for national and international writers, visual artists, and composers of talent and promise to bring forth their finest works, because the arts are vital, diversity is a strength, and creativity…

Arts & Culture
4
Vocal Arts Society

to support the performance and understanding of the vocal art song repertoire through presenting a season of vocal recitals, commissioning new repertoire and performances in schools and other local venues.

Arts & Culture
5
Virginia Avenue Project

To inspire at-risk children to think creatively, courageously and critically about their life goals and choices by providing free theater arts and creative writing programs, in conjunction with in-depth mentoring, throughout their growing…

—
6
Richmond Shakespeare Fka Quill Theatre

We produce vital works of classical and contemporary theatre, with Shakespeare as our foundation. We approach this work boldly with a resolve to ignite spirits, educate minds and defy expectation.

Arts & Culture
7
Opera Roanoke

Opera production, appreciation and outreach

Arts & Culture
8
Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia

Provide professional training to young musicians.

Arts & Culture
9
Virginia Choral Society Inc

Choral Performances in the Tidewater Area

Arts & Culture
10
Hawaii Symphony Orchestra

To present the highest-quality performances of great music, bringing national and international distinction to the orchestra and its community; to delight and educate audiences of all ages and backgrounds, and enhance the cultural vitality…

Arts & Culture
11
Virginia Repertory Theatre

Virginia repertory theatre is a nonprofit professional theater based in richmond, virginia. virginia rep's mission is to entertain, challenge, and uplift our communities through the power of live theatre.

Arts & Culture
12
Charlottesville Opera

To produce high quality opera and musicals at affordable prices; to provide training opportunities and experience for young artists and interns; to provide educational nourishment for all sectors of the community; and to enrich the…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Virginia Stage Company; the most unlike its peers is Plaza Vol Fire Co & Rescue Squad. 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

35 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. 35 of the 45 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
29/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL INC: $180,000 · Arts & CultureTHE VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL INCVIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $173,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAVIRGINIA OPERA ASSOCIATION INC: $105,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA OPERA ASSOCIATION INCTHE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED: $90,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATEDVIRGINIA STAGE COMPANY: $73,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA STAGE COMPANYFRIENDS OF CHEVRA T'HELIM: $54,500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF CHEVRA T'HELIMTHE HURRAH PLAYERS INC: $42,000 · Arts & CultureSANDLER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHE RICHMOND BALLET: $37,000 · Arts & CultureFELDMAN CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY INC: $33,500 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $75,500 · Arts & Culture+5 moreUJFT: $129,987 · OtherUJFTOHEF SHOLOM TEMPLE: $50,400 · OtherOHEF SHOLOM TEMPLEGOVERNORS MAGNET SCHOOL: $42,000 · OtherGOVERNORS MAGNET SCHOOLMARILYN AND MARVIN SIMON FAMILY JEWISH CENTER: $41,500 · OtherMARILYN AND MARVIN SIMON FAMILY…Virginia Chorale: $24,500 · OtherVirginia ChoraleBRITEPATHS INC: $15,500 · OtherUNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF TIDEWATER: $37,500 · OtherUNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF TID…THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC: $28,500 · OtherTHE ACADEMY OF MUSICPRIMEPLUS SENIOR CENTERS: $16,500 · Other+15 more: $71,900 · Other+15 moreFORKIDS INC: $85,500 · Housing & ShelterHOPE HOUSE FOUNDATION: $63,000 · Community ImprovementViBe District Virginia Beach: $6,000 · Community ImprovementYOUNG AUDIENCES OF VIRGINIA INC: $49,000 · Youth DevelopmentNORFOLK BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $46,500 · EnvironmentFOODBANK OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA: $38,316 · Food & Nutrition
Arts & Culture$903,500Other$458,287Housing & Shelter$85,500Community Improvement$69,000Youth Development$49,000Environment$46,500Food & Nutrition$38,316

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 budgetTHE VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL INC: $180,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetVIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $173,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetVIRGINIA OPERA ASSOCIATION INC: $105,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED: $90,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFORKIDS INC: $85,500 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetVIRGINIA STAGE COMPANY: $73,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetHOPE HOUSE FOUNDATION: $63,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CHEVRA T'HELIM: $54,500 over 9y, 13% of budgetYOUNG AUDIENCES OF VIRGINIA INC: $49,000 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetNORFOLK BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $46,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HURRAH PLAYERS INC: $42,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetSANDLER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetFOODBANK OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA: $38,316 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF TIDEWATER: $37,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE RICHMOND BALLET: $37,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFELDMAN CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY INC: $33,500 over 9y, 7.3% of budgetTHE ACADEMY OF MUSIC: $28,500 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetVIRGINIA MUSICAL THEATRE INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetVirginia Chorale: $24,500 over 9y, 4.0% of budgetTIDEWATER ARTS OUTREACH: $24,000 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetZEIDERS AMERICAN DREAM THEATER: $21,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetPRIMEPLUS SENIOR CENTERS: $16,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetBRITEPATHS INC: $15,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPLAZA VOL FIRE CO & RESCUE SQUAD: $12,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetSYMPHONICITY-THE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF VIRGINIA BEACH: $10,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetOLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetViBe District Virginia Beach: $6,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetTHE GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF TIDEWATER INC: $4,900 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHAMPTON ROADS EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INHEIRITANCE PROJECT LTD: $2,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetVIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetChildren's Hospital of the King's Daughters: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEBREW ACADEMY OF TIDEWATER STRELITZ INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY: $1,400 over 1y, 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 THE VIRGINIA ARTS FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA OPERA ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds FORKIDS INC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA STAGE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds HOPE HOUSE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CHEVRA T'HELIM ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG AUDIENCES OF VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds NORFOLK BOTANICAL GARDEN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HURRAH PLAYERS INC ↗
  • Who funds SANDLER CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FOODBANK OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA ↗
  • Who funds UNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF TIDEWATER ↗
  • Who funds THE RICHMOND BALLET ↗
  • Who funds FELDMAN CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA MUSICAL THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds Virginia Chorale ↗
  • Who funds TIDEWATER ARTS OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds ZEIDERS AMERICAN DREAM THEATER ↗
  • Who funds PRIMEPLUS SENIOR CENTERS ↗
  • Who funds BRITEPATHS INC ↗
  • Who funds PLAZA VOL FIRE CO & RESCUE SQUAD ↗
  • Who funds SYMPHONICITY-THE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF VIRGINIA BEACH ↗
  • Who funds OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ViBe District Virginia Beach ↗
  • Who funds THE GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF TIDEWATER INC ↗
  • Who funds HAMPTON ROADS EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE INHEIRITANCE PROJECT LTD ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ↗

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.

Hampton Roads Communi…Business Consortium f…United Way of South H…Dominion Energy Chari…Townebank FoundationTidewater Jewish Foun…Goode Family Foundati…The Barr FoundationPatricia and Douglas …Sentara HealthThe Dalis FoundationLafayette River Found…
Hampton Roads Community FoundationVA47.8× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hampton Roads Community Foundation · Business Consortium for Arts Support · United Way of South Hampton Roads · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Townebank Foundation · Tidewater Jewish Foundation Inc · Goode Family Foundation · The Barr Foundation · Patricia and Douglas Perry Foundation DBA The Perry Family Foundation · Sentara Health · The Dalis Foundation · Lafayette River 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 Helen G Gifford Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Helen G Gifford Foundation. 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 45 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 Helen G Gifford’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