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· Private foundation

The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$9.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
71
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
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 2024.

Education$14MArts & Culture$14MHousing & Shelter$7.1MHealth$5.9MHuman Services$5.4MEnvironment$3.7MYouth Development$2.2MRecreation & Sports$2.0MOther$0
02FY2024 · 71 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k26 grants · $410k
  • $50k–250k22 grants · $2.2M
  • $250k+16 grants · $6.9M
$50,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$138M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS$1,000,000
Individual grant recipient$750,000
CROSS-OVER MINISTRY$605,000
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF RICHMOND$500,000
VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE$500,000
BETTER HOUSING COALITION$500,000
LIBERATION VETERAN SERVICES INC$500,000
CARITAS$365,000
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION$320,000
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE$300,000
VIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC$300,000
BRIDGEWATER COLLEGE$250,000
VERITAS SCHOOL$250,000
PCS FOR PEOPLE$250,000
VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF HISTORY & CULTURE$250,000
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 (FY17–24, $4.2M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PCS FOR PEOPLE: $250k → 14%KOVAR CORPORATION: $50k → 8%NEXTUP RVA: $610k → 9%RAPPAHANNOCK TRIBE: $50k → 14%EASTERN SHORE COALITION AGAINST DV: $50k → 16%READY KIDS: $50k → 8%WINGS OF HOPE RANCH: $64k → 5%NEXT UP RVA: $115k → 9%ATLANTIC OUTREACH INCORPORATED: $50k → 9%CAMERON K GALLAGHER FOUNDATION: $35k → 6%NEXT UP RVA: $30k → 9%NEXT UP RVA: $25k → 9%NEXT UP RVA: $25k → 9%HOMEWARD: $100k → 7%NEXT UP RVA: $20k → 9%ENCIRCLE: $10k → 9%HOMEWARD: $50k → 7%ENCIRCLE: $10k → 9%NEXT UP RVA: $10k → 9%CAPITAL AREA PARTNERSHIP UPLIFTING PEOPLE: $50k → 22%ST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $750k → 9%WESTMINSTER CANTERBURY: $300k → 9%LITTLE HANDS VIRGINIA INC: $50k → 9%VIRGINIA VOICE: $49k → 9%VIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS & GIRLS: $200k → 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $40k → 22%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $260k → 9%REESTABLISH RICHMOND: $45k → 22%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $20k → 9%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $15k → 9%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $10k → 9%RE-ESTABLISH RICHMOND: $5k → 22%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $10k → 9%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $10k → 9%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $10k → 9%HEART HAVENS INC: $50k → 22%PETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $10k → 9%YMCA OF GREATER RICHMOND: $500k → 22%FAMILY LIFELINE: $75k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $50k → 22%FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN: $50k → 22%URBAN BABY BEGINNINGS: $20k → 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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 7% of The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 99% of the giving stays in VA; by stated purpose, 93%.

The Mary Morton Parsons Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.3% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

44%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 66 repeat orgs$34M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

66 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2024, 24 since wound down; 28 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

66
236

Total granted

$26M
$29M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+12%

Still filing today

74%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 44% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5.1M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BH
    BETTER HOUSING COALITION
    3× · 2020–2024 · $2.1M · revenue +186%
  • NR
    NEXTUP RVA
    7× · 2018–2024 · $835k · revenue +102%
  • RM
    RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF RICHMOND
    2× · 2023–2024 · $750k · revenue +144%

Funded once

  • LG
    LEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC
    one grant, 2023 · $750k · revenue -1%
  • SJ
    ST JOSEPH'S VILLAgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $750k · revenue +27%
  • SM
    SCIENCE MUSEUM OF VIRGINIA
    one grant, 2023 · $510k
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
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
The Richmond Symphony

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

Arts & Culture
4
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
5
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
6
New Schools for Virginia

New schools for virginia works with parents, students, educators and the community to improve educational outcomes by designing new schools and by supporting existing schools to improve outcomes.

Education
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
Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce

Chamberrva is the trusted voice for modern business in the richmond virginia region. we are change agents, rallying to do the hard things that will create a more connected, prosperous, health and equitable community.

—
9
Virginia Conservation Network

Vcn is a facilitator of strategic action, a resource for network partners statewide, and a constant preservation presence in richmond. playing a unique role in virginia's conservation community, vcn helps the community speak with one…

Environment
10
University of Virginia Investment Management Company

The university of virginia investment management company (uvimco) is organized to invest funds on behalf of the rector and visitors of the university of virginia (the university or uva) and university-associated organizations (uaos).

Education
11
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
12
Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation

The mission of vt-arc is to extend the impact of the virginia tech research and innovation enterprise, delivering superior analytic and technology solutions to government and non-government customers.

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Historic Richmond Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Southampton County Historical Society. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

244 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. 244 of the 332 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.

15
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
55
Early backer (in before they grew)
238/244
Grantees still filing
155/244
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $1,410,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIAVCU RICE RIVERS CENTER: $1,020,000 · OtherYWCA: $1,000,000 · OtherVCU MASSEY CANCER CENTER: $1,000,000 · OtherVIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $1,000,000 · Other+91 more: $18,978,500 · Other+91 moreTHE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $610,000 · EducationTHE COLLEGIATE SC…Cristo Rey Richmond High School Inc: $530,000 · EducationCristo Rey Richmo…ST CHRISTOPHER'S SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $515,000 · EducationST CHRISTOPHER'S …VIRGINIA STUDENT AID FOUNDATION INC: $510,000 · EducationVIRGINIA STUDENT …BRIDGEWATER COLLEGE: $500,000 · EducationBRIDGEWATER COLLE…VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE FDN: $400,000 · EducationTRINITY EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: $380,000 · EducationWashington and Lee University: $300,000 · EducationHAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $300,000 · EducationSt Andrew's School: $300,000 · EducationVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $300,000 · Education+25 more: $3,907,000 · Education+25 moreVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,000,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA HISTORI…THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM: $750,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN CIV…Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: $655,000 · Arts & CultureColonial William…THE VALENTINE MUSEUM: $555,000 · Arts & CultureTHE VALENTINE MU…ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VA ANTIQUITIES: $550,000 · Arts & CultureASSOCIATION FOR …VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE: $505,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA REPERTO…THE RICHMOND BALLET: $350,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED: $300,000 · Arts & CultureMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $300,000 · Arts & CultureThe Byrd Theatre Foundation: $280,000 · Arts & Culture+22 more: $2,680,000 · Arts & Culture+22 moreBETTER HOUSING COALITION: $2,100,000 · Housing & ShelterBETTER HOU…CARITAS: $1,395,000 · Housing & ShelterCARITASELDERHOMES CORPORATION: $550,000 · Housing & ShelterELDERHOMES…LIBERATION VETERAN SERVICES INC: $500,000 · Housing & ShelterLIBERATION…THE MAGGIE WALKER COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $300,000 · Housing & ShelterTHE MAGGIE…HOUSING FAMILIES FIRST: $250,000 · Housing & Shelter+2 more: $225,000 · Housing & ShelterNEXTUP RVA: $835,000 · Human ServicesST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $750,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $500,000 · Human ServicesPETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $345,000 · Human ServicesWESTMINSTER CANTERBURY CORPORATION: $300,000 · Human ServicesPCS FOR PEOPLE: $250,000 · Human ServicesVIRGINIA HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS: $200,000 · Human ServicesHOMEWARD: $150,000 · Human Services+3 more: $239,000 · Human ServicesRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF RICHMOND: $750,000 · HealthTHE CROSS-OVER MINISTRY INC: $620,000 · HealthSHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $500,000 · HealthGoochlandCares: $400,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital of the King's Daughters: $250,000 · HealthVIRGINIA LEAGUE FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD INCORPORATED: $250,000 · Health+1 more: $75,000 · HealthLEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $750,000 · EnvironmentCAPITAL REGION LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $500,000 · EnvironmentJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $300,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY: $300,000 · EnvironmentNORFOLK BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $250,000 · EnvironmentDucks Unlimited Inc: $205,000 · EnvironmentCHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC: $159,000 · EnvironmentCAPITAL TREES: $100,000 · EnvironmentTHE GARDEN CLUB OF VIRGINIA INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $100,000 · Environment
Other$24,408,500Education$8,552,000Arts & Culture$7,925,000Housing & Shelter$5,320,000Human Services$3,569,000Health$2,845,000Environment$2,764,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetBETTER HOUSING COALITION: $2,100,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetCARITAS: $1,395,000 over 5y, 7.4% of budgetVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,000,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetNEXTUP RVA: $835,000 over 7y, 17% of budgetLEWIS GINTER BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $750,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF RICHMOND: $750,000 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetST JOSEPH'S VILLA: $750,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetTHE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR MUSEUM: $750,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetColonial Williamsburg Foundation: $655,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CROSS-OVER MINISTRY INC: $620,000 over 4y, 4.8% of budgetTHE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL: $610,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetFEED MORE INC: $575,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetTHE VALENTINE MUSEUM: $555,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VA ANTIQUITIES: $550,000 over 2y, 5.6% of budgetSupportWorks Housing: $550,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetELDERHOMES CORPORATION: $550,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCristo Rey Richmond High School Inc: $530,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO RICHMOND: $530,000 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetST CHRISTOPHER'S SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $515,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetVIRGINIA STUDENT AID FOUNDATION INC: $510,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetVIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE: $505,000 over 2y, 9.2% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $500,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBRIDGEWATER COLLEGE: $500,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSHELTERING ARMS CORPORATION: $500,000 over 1y, 44% of budgetLIBERATION VETERAN SERVICES INC: $500,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetCAPITAL REGION LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $500,000 over 2y, 70% of budgetVIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE FDN: $400,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetTRINITY EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: $380,000 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $365,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RICHMOND BALLET: $350,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetPETER PAUL DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $345,000 over 8y, 10% of budgetRICHMOND SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $335,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetJAMES RIVER ASSOCIATION: $300,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetWashington and Lee University: $300,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY: $300,000 over 2y, 32% of budgetTHE CHRYSLER MUSEUM INCORPORATED: $300,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetHAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE: $300,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSt Andrew's School: $300,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetTHE MAGGIE WALKER COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $300,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetWESTMINSTER CANTERBURY CORPORATION: $300,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $300,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE STEWARD SCHOOL: $300,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetST MICHAEL'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL INC: $295,100 over 8y, 3.9% of budgetThe Byrd Theatre Foundation: $280,000 over 6y, 35% of budgetNORTHSTAR ACADEMY INC: $270,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetChildren's Hospital of the King's Daughters: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPCS FOR PEOPLE: $250,000 over 1y, 0.9% 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 Foundation IncVA185.5× affinity139 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation Inc · Robert G Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation · Herndon Foundation · Robins Foundation · Richard S Reynolds Foundation · The Pauley Family Foundation · Virginia Nonprofit Housing Coalition · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Townebank Foundation · Richmond Memorial Health Foundation · Shelton H Short Jr Trust · The William H - John G - Emma Scott 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 Mary Morton Parsons Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
74report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Mary Morton Parsons 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 332 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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