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The Imperial Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

The Imperial Charitable Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$2.3M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$2.6MArts & Culture$183kPhilanthropy$60kYouth Development$32kHuman Services$27kEnvironment$23kHealth$22kFood & Nutrition$9kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k28 grants · $44k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $69k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.3M
$1,700
Median grant
6
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE ICT DAFGIVING360 FUND$2,267,880
UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON PATRICK C GRANEY III MEMORIAL FUND$50,000
VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES$18,500
VIRGINIA EPISCOPAL SCHOOL$10,000
COKER UNIVERSITY$10,000
DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST$10,000
ACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS$10,000
UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA$10,000
NC BOTANICAL GARDEN FOUNDATION INC$5,000
THE CORPORATION FOR JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE LYNCHBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY$2,900
WEST VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES$2,500
EWVCF$2,500
CENTRA HEALTH FOUNDATION$2,500
VIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS$2,500
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 (FY20–25, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 20%YMCA OF KANAWHA VALLEY: $5k → 18%PATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 20%PATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 20%PATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES: $1k → 20%YMCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $2k → 13%YMCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $2k → 13%YMCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $2k → 13%YMCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $2k → 13%YMCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $1k → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $450 → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $350 → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $250 → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $200 → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $100 → 13%PARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION: $100 → 13%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.

22%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$658k · 41 repeat orgs$2.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against -11% for those funded once.

41 repeat relationships: 34 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
7

Total granted

$658k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
-11%

Still filing today

68%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 5% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentOther
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

  • VF
    VA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES
    6× · 2020–2025 · $111k · revenue +138%
  • AC
    ACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $67k · revenue +250%
  • TD
    THE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST
    6× · 2020–2025 · $60k · revenue +86%

Funded once

  • YO
    YMCA OF KANAWHA VALLEY INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -11%
  • LF
    LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF KANAWHA COUNTY INC
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue -55%
  • CA
    COMMONWEALTH ALLIANCE FOR RURAL COLLEGES
    one grant, 2024 · $2k
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 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
2
Central Virginia Foundation for Economic Education&Improvement Inc

Furtherance of economic growth, education, training and development

—
3
Voices for Virginia's Children

The mission of voices for virginia's children is to champion public policies and legislation that achieve positive and equitable outcomes for young people.

Civil Rights
4
Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia Inc

Foster and promote the progress and general welfare of its member colleges, with special concern for the pluralistic nature of the system of higher education in virginia.

—
5
Virginia Community Food Connections

Our mission is to ensure the availability, access, and affordability of locally produced food by connecting local farmers and all members of the community through programs, awareness, and advocacy.

Food & Nutrition
6
University of Lynchburg

The mission of the University is to inspire independent thinkers who become trustworthy, effective leaders that shape caring communities. The vision of the University of Lynchburg is to cultivate a world that is innovative, authentic, and…

Education
7
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
8
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
9
Virginia Foundation for Agriculture Innovation and Rural Sustainability

To assist rural virginians in developing and advancing their agricultural, economic and social interests to enhance their quality of life.

Environment
10
Laurel Ridge Community College Educational Foundation Inc

The mission of laurel ridge community college is to provide a positive, caring and dynamic learning environment that inspires student success, values diversity and promotes community vitality. in support of that mission, the laurel ridge…

—
11
Southside Virginia Community College Foundation Inc

To foster and promote the growth, progress and general welfare of the southside virginia community college and the virginia college system.

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Va Foundation for Independent Colleges; the most unlike its peers is Coker University. 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, 2017–2026.

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. 32 of the 50 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
16/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE ICT DAFGIVING360 FUND: $2,267,880 · OtherTHE ICT DAFGIVING360 FUND+27 more: $287,200 · Other+27 moreVA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES: $110,500 · EducationCOKER UNIVERSITY: $40,000 · EducationWEST VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES INC: $15,000 · EducationTHE VIRGINIA COLLEGE FUND: $6,000 · Education+2 more: $6,000 · EducationACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC: $66,500 · Arts & CultureTHE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST: $60,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST: $35,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS: $15,000 · Arts & CultureCENTRA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $15,000 · HealthFREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC: $7,100 · HealthTHE UP FOUNDATION: $1,000 · HealthNORTH CAROLINA BOTANICAL GARDEN FOUNDATION: $22,500 · Environment+1 more: $100 · EnvironmentYWCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $9,000 · Human ServicesYMCA OF KANAWHA VALLEY INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesPATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES INC: $4,000 · Human ServicesPARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION INC: $1,450 · Human ServicesEPISCOPAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT: $1,400 · Human ServicesLYNCHBURG GROWS: $6,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER LYNCHBURG: $6,000 · Youth Development
Other$2,555,080Education$177,500Arts & Culture$176,500Health$23,100Environment$22,600Human Services$20,850Youth Development$12,000

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 budgetVA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES: $110,500 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC: $66,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTHE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST: $60,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCOKER UNIVERSITY: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST: $35,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA BOTANICAL GARDEN FOUNDATION: $22,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCENTRA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWEST VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetVIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS: $15,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetYWCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $9,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC: $7,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLYNCHBURG CITY SCHOOLS EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $6,650 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL VA: $6,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE VIRGINIA COLLEGE FUND: $6,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetJAMES RIVER DAY SCHOOL INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLYNCHBURG GROWS: $6,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER LYNCHBURG: $6,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetLYNCHBURG BEACON OF HOPE INC: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetYMCA OF KANAWHA VALLEY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE LYNCHBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY: $3,700 over 6y, 3.1% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF VIRGINIA SKYLINE COUNCIL INC: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLIBRARY FOUNDATION OF KANAWHA COUNTY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBOONSBORO VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE COMPANY INC: $1,850 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPARK VIEW COMMUNITY MISSION INC: $1,450 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEPISCOPAL RELIEF AND DEVELOPMENT: $1,400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EDUCATION ALLIANCE-BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UP FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetLYNCHBURG HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $100 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 VA FOUNDATION FOR INDEPENDENT COLLEGES ↗
  • Who funds ACADEMY CENTER OF THE ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE DECORATIVE ARTS TRUST ↗
  • Who funds COKER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA BOTANICAL GARDEN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CENTRA HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WEST VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA CENTER FOR THE CREATIVE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds YWCA OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA ↗
  • Who funds FREE CLINIC OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds LYNCHBURG CITY SCHOOLS EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL VA ↗
  • Who funds THE VIRGINIA COLLEGE FUND ↗
  • Who funds JAMES RIVER DAY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds LYNCHBURG GROWS ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER LYNCHBURG ↗
  • Who funds LYNCHBURG BEACON OF HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds YMCA OF KANAWHA VALLEY INC ↗
  • Who funds PATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE LYNCHBURG PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF VIRGINIA SKYLINE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF KANAWHA COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds BOONSBORO VOLUNTEER FIRE & RESCUE COMPANY 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.

Greater Lynchburg Com…The Al Stroobants Fou…Centra Health IncSchewel Charitable Fo…Easley Char Irr Tua 5…Liberty University IncThe Harry D Forsyth F…The Community Foundat…Old Dominion Box Co F…M4k Lynchburg IncFoster FoundationAmerican Electric Pow…
Greater Lynchburg Community FoundationVA42.9× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation · The Al Stroobants Foundation · Centra Health Inc · Schewel Charitable Foundation · Easley Char Irr Tua 5019004715 · Liberty University Inc · The Harry D Forsyth Foundation · The Community Foundation Inc · Old Dominion Box Co Foundation Inc · M4k Lynchburg Inc · Foster Foundation · American Electric Power 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 Imperial Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Imperial Charitable Trust. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report 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 50 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 Imperial’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