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The Lipman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Lipman Foundation

Its FY2018 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$13M
Granted FY2017
36
Grants FY2017
1
States reached
$2.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

99% of The Lipman Foundation’s FY2018 grant dollars went to The Community Foundation Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2018 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2017, the last year The Lipman Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 21 organizations, $13M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

21
’17
0
’18

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2018.

Education$3.5MHealth$3.4MArts & Culture$1.9MHuman Services$1.8MEnvironment$1.0MPhilanthropy$400kAnimals$275kFood & Nutrition$250kOther$0
02FY2017 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2017

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k20 grants · $1.9M
  • $250k+14 grants · $11M
$185,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$665k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MCV FOUNDATION$2,535,000
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND SCHOOL OF LAW$2,500,000
JSRCC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$1,000,000
LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN$1,000,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES$1,000,000
VMFA FOUNDATION$850,000
MAYMONT FOUNDATION$500,000
THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$250,000
CONGREGATION BETH AHABAH$250,000
FAISON CENTER$250,000
PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER$250,000
VIRGINIA VOICE$250,000
DOORWAYS$250,000
VIRGINIA HOLOCAUST MUSUEM$250,000
RICHMOND SPCA$200,000
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 (FY17–17, $1.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $1.0M → 22%VIRGINIA VOICE: $250k → 9%ST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $50k → 9%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $250k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER RICHMOND: $150k → 22%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 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
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
2
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
3
Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities

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

Civil Rights
4
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

Working within the faith community to educate and mobilize citizen to create systemic social change for low income Virginians.

—
5
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
6
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
7
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
8
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
9
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
10
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
11
Mcv Associated Physicians

The mission of the organization is to provide physicians and other healthcare professionals to support the needs of the community, as well as the academic mission of the vcu school of medicine.

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 Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; the most unlike its peers is Free Clinic of Powhatan 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

22 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. 22 of the 36 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
18/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND SCHOOL OF LAW: $2,500,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND SCHOOL OF LAWJSRCC EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · OtherJSRCC EDUCATION FOUNDATIONVMFA FOUNDATION: $851,000 · OtherVMFA FOUNDATIONCONGREGATION BETH AHABAH: $250,000 · OtherDOORWAYS: $250,000 · Other+15 more: $1,160,000 · Other+15 moreMEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA FOUNDATION: $2,535,000 · EducationMEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA F…THE FAISON CENTER INC: $250,000 · EducationTHE FAISON CENTER INCJewish Family Services Inc: $1,000,000 · Human ServicesJewish Family …PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesPETER PAUL DEV…Virginia Voice Inc: $250,000 · Human ServicesVirginia Voice…Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $150,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Ch…+1 more: $50,000 · Human ServicesLEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $1,000,000 · EnvironmentMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $500,000 · Arts & CultureThe Virginia Holocaust Museum: $250,000 · Arts & CultureHANOVER TAVERN FOUNDATION: $185,000 · Arts & CultureART 180 Inc: $50,000 · Arts & CultureTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 · PhilanthropyLEGAL INFORMATION NETWORK FOR CANCER: $200,000 · HealthTHE CROSS-OVER MINISTRY INC: $100,000 · HealthFREE CLINIC OF POWHATAN INC: $50,000 · Health
Other$6,011,000Education$2,785,000Human Services$1,700,000Environment$1,000,000Arts & Culture$985,000Philanthropy$400,000Health$350,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA FOUNDATION: $2,535,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetJewish Family Services Inc: $1,000,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetLEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTHE FAISON CENTER INC: $250,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetThe Virginia Holocaust Museum: $250,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetPETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $250,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetVirginia Voice Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 70% of budgetLEGAL INFORMATION NETWORK FOR CANCER: $200,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetFEED MORE INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRICHMOND SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $200,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetHANOVER TAVERN FOUNDATION: $185,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $150,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE CROSS-OVER MINISTRY INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetFriends of Barnabas Foundation Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetRICHMOND ANIMAL LEAGUE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetFREE CLINIC OF POWHATAN INC: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetELK HILL FARM INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetART 180 Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 4.8% 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.

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.

The Community Foundat…Dominion Energy Chari…Carmax FoundationRobert G Cabell III a…Herndon FoundationThe Mary Morton Parso…Peachtree House Found…Shelton H Short Jr Tr…Richmond Memorial Hea…Richard S Reynolds Fo…The Anne C Robins & W…Windsor Fdn Trust Uw …
The Community Foundation IncVA33.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation Inc · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Carmax Foundation · Robert G Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation · Herndon Foundation · The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation · Peachtree House Foundation · Shelton H Short Jr Trust · Richmond Memorial Health Foundation · Richard S Reynolds Foundation · The Anne C Robins & Walter R Robins Jr Foundation · Windsor Fdn Trust Uw Quincy Cole

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 Lipman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Lipman Foundation. 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
    11report 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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Lipman Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Lipman 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 36 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 2017, released 2017. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lipman’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