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The Ray Charles Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ray Charles Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$4.7MHealth$3.1MArts & Culture$2.3MEmployment$550kPublic Safety & Disaster$500kCommunity Improvement$170kReligion$50kCivil Rights$48kOther$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $98k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.5M
$20,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$39M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION$1,000,000
CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPA$500,000
JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC$25,000
REID TEMPLE AME CHURCH$25,000
BOULE FOUNDATION$20,000
ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN$15,000
PUBLIC COUNSEL'S CHILDREN RIGHTS PR$12,500
CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS$5,000
HAMPTON UNIVERSITY$5,000
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%SCHOOL ON WHEELS: $25k → 10%NEW VILLAGE ARTS INC: $250k → 11%HENRY E HUNTINGTON LIBRARY ART GALL: $25k → 14%JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 17%BOULE FOUNDATION: $20k → 10%HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $10k → 18%RIVER FRONT DEVELOPMENT GROUP: $10k → 12%MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $2.0M → 13%MARTIN UNIVERSITY: $25k → 16%HAMPTON UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPA: $500k → 13%DILLARD UNIVERSITY: $1.0M → 23%REID TEMPLE AME CHURCH: $25k → 11%SCHOOL ON WHEELS: $13k → 10%LAPD COMMUNITY YOUTH WELFARE EDUCAT: $1.0M → 14%JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 17%BOULE FOUNDATION: $20k → 10%THE BOULE FOUNDATION: $15k → 13%UNITED SCHOOLS OF INDIANAPOLIS: $25k → 16%HAMPTON UNIVERSITY: $8k → 14%DILLARD UNIVERSITY: $25k → 23%REID TEMPLE AME CHURCH: $25k → 11%COMMUNITY PARTNERS: $150k → 14%JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 17%MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $1.0M → 13%HAMPTON UNIVERSITY: $8k → 14%GAILEN CATHY REEVERS COMMUNITY CENT: $15k → 14%LOS ANGELES URBAN LEAGUE: $10k → 14%TRIUMPH FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%TRIUMPH FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%TRIUMPH FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%YES2JOBS: $525k → 14%YES2JOBS: $25k → 14%GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 14%GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 14%EDUCATING YOUNG MINDS: $120k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $25k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $25k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $23k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $22k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $20k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $15k → 14%ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $13k → 14%PUBLIC COUNSEL'S CHILDREN RIGHTS PR: $13k → 14%CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $1.0M → 14%CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $1.0M → 14%BLIND CHILDRENS CENTER: $100k → 14%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

MI
NY
NV
IN
NJ
CA
MO
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
LA
AL
GA
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.1M · 15 repeat orgs$2.3M to everyone else

15 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
18

Total granted

$9.1M
$1.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+34%

Still filing today

80%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $518k 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
EducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementHealthCrime & LegalPhilanthropyOther
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

  • MC
    MOREHOUSE COLLEGE
    2× · 2017–2020 · $3.0M · revenue +69%
  • GM
    GRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $2.0M · revenue +6%
  • CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
    2× · 2019–2023 · $2.0M · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • LC
    LAPD COMMUNITY YOUTH WELFARE EDUCAT
    one grant, 2017 · $1.0M
  • NV
    NEW VILLAGE ARTS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue +10%
  • CP
    COMMUNITY PARTNERSgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $150k · revenue +32%
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
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
2
Columbia College Chicago

The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.

Education
3
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
4
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
5
Spelman College

Spelman college, a historically black college and global leader in the education of women of african descent, is dedicated to the academic excellence of its students.

Education
6
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
7
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
8
Mitchell College

Mitchell college educates students through a highly individualized educational approach that brings forward each student's potential, reveals their strengths, and fosters personal growth.

Education
9
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
10
Occidental College

See schedule othe mission of occidental college is to provide a gifted and diverse group of students with a total educational experience of the highest quality - one that prepares them for leadership in an increasingly complex,…

Education
11
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
12
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Defense Fund; the most unlike its peers is Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery. 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

26 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. 26 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/26
Grantees still filing
21/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $3,025,000 · EducationMOREHOUSE COLLEGEDILLARD UNIVERSITY: $1,025,000 · EducationDILLARD UNIVERSITY+7 more: $337,500 · Education+7 moreGRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC: $2,000,000 · Arts & CultureGRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATI…NEW VILLAGE ARTS INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureNEW VILLAGE ARTS INC+1 more: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $2,000,000 · HealthCEDARS-SINAI MEDICA…+1 more: $5,000 · HealthLAPD COMMUNITY YOUTH WELFARE EDUCAT: $1,000,000 · OtherLAPD COMMUNITY YOUT…CITY OF NORTH LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPA: $500,000 · OtherCITY OF NORTH LAS V…Educating Young Minds: $120,058 · OtherEducating Young Min…JACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 · Other+14 more: $267,500 · Other+14 moreYES2JOBS: $550,000 · EmploymentCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $150,000 · Community ImprovementRiver Front Development Corp: $10,000 · Community ImprovementTriumph Foundation: $75,000 · Philanthropy
Education$4,387,500Arts & Culture$2,275,000Health$2,005,000Other$1,962,558Employment$550,000Community Improvement$160,000Philanthropy$75,000

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 budgetMOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $3,025,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetGRAMMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC: $2,000,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $2,000,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDILLARD UNIVERSITY: $1,025,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetYES2JOBS: $550,000 over 2y, 93% of budgetNEW VILLAGE ARTS INC: $250,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN: $142,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetThe Blind Childrens Center Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetTriumph Foundation: $75,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetJACKIE ROBINSON FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRole Models For The Future Foundation: $28,000 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetHENRY E HUNTINGTON LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARTIN UNIVERSITY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBOULE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES URBAN LEAGUE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPower Access Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetLeMoyne-Owen College: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFULCRUM ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWELLSPRING: $5,000 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.

California Community …Sempra FoundationCharities Aid Foundat…Enterprise Holdings F…American Endowment Fo…The Blackbaud Giving …Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…
California Community FoundationCA17.3× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · Sempra Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Ray Charles Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ray Charles 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Ray Charles Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Ray Charles 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ray Charles’ 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