Skip to content
The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial 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.

$5.6M
Granted FY2025still arriving
58
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$1.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Arts & Culture$30MEducation$3.5MHealth$2.5MPublic Benefit$1.7MYouth Development$785kHuman Services$420kRecreation & Sports$250kCrime & Legal$240kOther$0
02FY2025 · 58 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $600k
  • $50k–250k22 grants · $1.8M
  • $250k+5 grants · $3.3M
$40,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$66M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION$1,130,000
METROPOLITAN OPERA ASSOCIATION INC$750,000
Individual grant recipient$650,000
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART$479,050
CHARLOTTESVILLE OPERA$250,000
THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION$175,000
ST BARTHOLOMEW'S CONSERVANCY INC$150,000
CHARLOTTESVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY$125,000
CHARLOTTESVILLE BALLET$110,000
ARC OF THE PIEDMONT$100,000
PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC$100,000
THE PARAMOUNT THEATER FOUNDATION INC$100,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA$100,000
HOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT$100,000
VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES AND PUBLIC POLICY$75,000
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, $665k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 37% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $50k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA: $25k → 8%UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $50k → 17%UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $50k → 17%UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $50k → 17%UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $50k → 17%UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $25k → 17%UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $20k → 17%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $10k → 8%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $10k → 8%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $10k → 8%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $10k → 8%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $10k → 8%GEORGIA'S FRIENDS: $10k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION INC: $5k → 8%PIEDMONT FAMILY YMCA INC: $5k → 8%ARC OF THE PIEDMONT: $100k → 8%ARC OF THE PIEDMONT: $100k → 8%ARC OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $75k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
NY
MA
PA
CT
VA
MD
AZ
NM
NC
DC
MS
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$36M · 86 repeat orgs$4.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

86 repeat relationships: 46 still active in FY2025, 40 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

86
42

Total granted

$36M
$2.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+27%

Still filing today

74%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.1M 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 & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyRecreation & 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

  • Metropolitan Opera Association Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $3.9M · revenue +3%
  • CO
    CHARLOTTESVILLE OPERA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.0M · revenue +67% · 43% of their budget
  • TJ
    THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC
    7× · 2017–2025 · $2.0M · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ARTS (ADER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER)
    one grant, 2022 · $1.0M
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA - FRALIN MUSEUM OF ARTS
    one grant, 2017 · $300k
  • MC
    MILLER CENTER AT UVA
    one grant, 2023 · $200k
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
Charleston Symphony Orchestra

The charleston symphony's mission is to inspire and engage the community through exceptional musical performances and educational programs.

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
The Richmond Symphony

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

Arts & Culture
4
Foundation for Modern Opera
—
5
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
6
Vanguard Concerts
—
7
Chicago Opera Theater

Chicago opera theater expands the tradition of opera as a living art form by engaging lovers of music and storytelling through innovative experiences, predominantly of new and rarely performed works.

Arts & Culture
8
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The huntington library, art museum, and botanical gardens shares its world-renowned collections to support scholarship, foster learning, inspire creativity, and offer transformative experiences for diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
9
Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

To be a sustainable musical institution that brings the intimate experience of a world-class chamber orchestra performance to the greater philadelphia area,enriching the musical life of the city and region by the integrity and excellence…

Arts & Culture
10
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
11
Apollo Theater Foundation Inc

The apollo theater is a commissioner and presenter; catalyst for new artists, audiences, and creative workforce; and partner in the projection of the african american narrative and its role in the development of american and global…

Arts & Culture
12
The Phillips Collection

The phillips collection is the oldest museum of modern and contemporary art in the u.s. in addition to presentation of works from the permanent collection and special exhibitions, the museum maintains active educational, academic,…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Charlottesville Opera; the most unlike its peers is Martha Jefferson Hospital Foundation. 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

85 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. 85 of the 140 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.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
84/85
Grantees still filing
62/85
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WNET: $4,725,000 · Arts & CultureWNETMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $3,900,000 · Arts & CultureMetropolitan Opera Association IncCHARLOTTESVILLE OPERA: $2,050,000 · Arts & CultureCHARLOTTESVILLE OPERATHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $2,025,000 · Arts & CultureTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INCMONTPELIER FOUNDATION: $1,425,000 · Arts & CultureMONTPELIER FOUNDATIONTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $1,065,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: $835,000 · Arts & Culture+43 more: $5,260,550 · Arts & Culture+43 moreTHE MILLER CENTER FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 · OtherTHE MILLER CENTER FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ARTS (ADER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER): $1,000,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ARTS (ADER PERF…FRALIN MUSEUM OF ART AT UVA: $950,000 · OtherFRALIN MUSEUM OF ART AT UVAUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL: $880,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVALUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $844,700 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIAFRALIN MUSEUM OF ART AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $700,000 · OtherHOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $675,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $650,000 · OtherCHARLOTTESVILLE SYMPHONY AT UVA: $625,000 · OtherCOLLEGE FOUNDATION OF UVA: $525,000 · OtherTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION (MONTICELLO): $500,000 · OtherTHE MILLER CENTER: $500,000 · Other+64 more: $4,324,350 · Other+64 moreMARTHA JEFFERSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $690,000 · HealthFOCUSED ULTRASOUND FOUNDATION: $400,000 · HealthConexus: $300,000 · HealthUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION: $1,130,000 · EducationWEDNESDAY MUSIC CLUB: $55,000 · EducationLITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ALBEMARLE: $50,000 · EducationTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $50,000 · Education+3 more: $45,000 · EducationTHE COLLEGE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $670,000 · PhilanthropyLENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $300,000 · PhilanthropyST BARTHOLOMEW'S CONSERVANCY INC: $950,000 · EnvironmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $775,000 · Youth Development
Arts & Culture$21,285,550Other$13,674,050Health$1,390,000Education$1,330,000Philanthropy$970,000Environment$950,000Youth Development$775,000

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 budgetWNET: $4,725,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $3,900,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE OPERA: $2,050,000 over 9y, 43% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $2,025,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetTHE MILLER CENTER FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 over 6y, 18% of budgetMONTPELIER FOUNDATION: $1,425,000 over 7y, 6.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION: $1,130,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $1,065,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetST BARTHOLOMEW'S CONSERVANCY INC: $950,000 over 9y, 26% of budgetVIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: $835,000 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA: $775,000 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetHOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $675,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetTHE COLLEGE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $670,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetCharlottesville Ballet: $655,000 over 9y, 8.8% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $554,050 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFOCUSED ULTRASOUND FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetTHE PARAMOUNT THEATER FOUNDATION IN F/K/A THE PARAMOUNT THEATER INC: $350,000 over 4y, 34% of budgetColonial Williamsburg Foundation: $325,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC: $310,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetConexus: $300,000 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetLENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $300,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetLIGHT HOUSE STUDIO INC: $290,000 over 8y, 20% of budgetOPERA AMERICA INC: $275,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetTHE ARC OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $275,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetUNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION INC: $245,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY: $225,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VA ANTIQUITIES: $225,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetTHE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST: $215,000 over 7y, 2.3% of budgetThe Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc: $190,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetARTSMART: $175,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetFIVE POINTS CENTER FOR THE VISUAL ARTS INC: $140,000 over 6y, 4.7% of budgetTHE PARAMOUNT THEATER OF CHARLOTTESVILLE INC: $137,500 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetWOMEN'S PRISON ASSOCIATION AND HOME: $130,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetVirginia Chamber Music Foundation: $125,500 over 8y, 9.2% of budgetCAMP HOLIDAY TRAILS: $125,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetBENNETT'S VILLAGE INC: $125,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetTHE ORATORIO SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA: $112,500 over 7y, 12% of budgetGEORGIA'S FRIENDS INC: $110,000 over 7y, 6.6% of budgetNATIONAL JEWISH THEATER FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 over 7y, 62% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $100,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FOCUS INC: $100,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetYOUTH ORCHESTRAS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA INC: $80,000 over 5y, 23% of budgetVirginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation: $75,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPIEDMONT CASA INC: $70,000 over 8y, 2.8% of budgetDOCUMENTARY FILM FUND: $65,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetTHE MUNICIPAL BAND OF CHARLOTTESVILLE INC: $60,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetWEDNESDAY MUSIC CLUB: $55,000 over 6y, 21% of budgetFARMINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $52,500 over 5y, 23% 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 WNET ↗
  • Who funds Metropolitan Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE OPERA ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MILLER CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MONTPELIER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE SANTA FE OPERA ↗
  • Who funds ST BARTHOLOMEW'S CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES AND PUBLIC POLICY ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL VIRGINIA ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COLLEGE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ↗
  • Who funds Charlottesville Ballet ↗
  • Who funds Museum of Modern Art ↗
  • Who funds FOCUSED ULTRASOUND FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE PARAMOUNT THEATER FOUNDATION IN F/K/A THE PARAMOUNT THEATER INC ↗
  • Who funds Colonial Williamsburg Foundation ↗
  • Who funds PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Conexus ↗
  • Who funds LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LIGHT HOUSE STUDIO INC ↗
  • Who funds OPERA AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ARC OF THE PIEDMONT INC ↗
  • Who funds UNION SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHARLOTTESVILLE SYMPHONY SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VA ANTIQUITIES ↗

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 …Caplin FoundationManning Family Founda…Perry Foundation IncThe J & E Berkley Fou…The Genan FoundationOakwood Foundation Ch…The Community Foundat…Janet Stone Jones Fou…The Jefferson Legacy …The Rimora FoundationS&P Global Foundation…
Charlottesville Area Community FoundationVA77.1× affinity38 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · Caplin Foundation · Manning Family Foundation · Perry Foundation Inc · The J & E Berkley Foundation · The Genan Foundation · Oakwood Foundation Charitable Trust · The Community Foundation Inc · Janet Stone Jones Foundation · The Jefferson Legacy Foundation Sydney N Stokes Jr Chairman · The Rimora Foundation · S&P Global Foundation Fka the McGraw-Hill Research 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 Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Five Points Center for the Visual Arts Inc: 75% of income from government
  • Boston Lyric Opera Company: 3% of income from government
  • Peabody Essex Museum Inc: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
32report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation 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 140 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 Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial’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