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The Richard Vague Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Richard Vague 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.

$3k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Education$158kArts & Culture$99kScience & Tech$75kHealth$58kFood & Nutrition$50kCivil Rights$25kPublic Benefit$20kHousing & Shelter$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$97k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PACT$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 88% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY: $3k → 11%MIGHTY WRITERS: $18k → 22%CUREDUCHENNE: $3k → 10%PACT: $3k → 14%MAKE THE WORLD BETTER: $3k → 9%ORPHAN DISEASE PATHWAY PROJECT: $25k → 11%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $10k → 13%UPLIFT SOLUTIONS INC: $25k → 8%TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: $25k → 11%VIRGINIA FOUNDATION FOR THE HUMANITIES: $2k → 8%MIGHTY WRITERS: $18k → 22%MAKE THE WORLD BETTER: $3k → 9%UPLIFT SOLUTIONS INC: $25k → 8%MIGHTY WRITERS: $5k → 22%MIGHTY WRITERS: $5k → 22%BALLETX: $5k → 22%PHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES: $10k → 22%PLAYPENN: $5k → 22%THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $35k → 22%CHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIATIVE: $29k → 22%THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $20k → 22%THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $20k → 22%CHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIATIVE: $19k → 22%THE PHILADELPHIA CITIZEN: $6k → 22%CHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIATIVE: $5k → 22%THE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $5k → 22%PHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $5k → 22%THE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $3k → 22%THE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $3k → 22%NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $2k → 22%PHILADELPHIA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS: $10k → 22%THE COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY: $10k → 22%TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: $5k → 22%COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY: $5k → 22%DREXEL UNIVERSITY: $25k → 22%BEARDED LADIES CABARET: $3k → 22%PHILADELPHIA POLICE FOUNDATION: $3k → 22%ASSOCIATED SERVICES FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $13k → 22%THE WILMA THEATER: $1k → 22%FRINGEARTS: $25k → 22%INDEPENDENCE HISTORICAL TRUST: $10k → 22%THE CARPENTERS' COMPANY: $10k → 22%FRINGEARTS: $10k → 22%CENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $5k → 22%FEDERAL DONUTS: $5k → 22%DELAWARE RIVER WATERFRONT CORPORATION: $2k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
PA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
DC
GA
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.

52%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$238k · 7 repeat orgs$218k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +123% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
25

Total granted

$238k
$216k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+123%
+28%

Still filing today

86%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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 & CultureHealthEducationCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TF
    THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
    3× · 2017–2022 · $75k · revenue +31%
  • MIGHTY WRITERS
    4× · 2017–2024 · $46k · revenue +521%
  • COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY
    2× · 2019–2022 · $15k · revenue +123%

Funded once

  • TO
    TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
  • DU
    DREXEL UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +10%
  • AL
    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +28%
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
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Pidc plans and implements economic development initiatives (see schedule o) which enhance the competitive environment, generate jobs and produce higher tax ratables throughout philadelphia.

Community Improvement
2
Pidc Development Management Corporation

Pidc dmc administers and coordinates various development projects for the city and other not-for-profit entities.

Community Improvement
3
Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Visit philadelphia is our name and our mission. as the region's official tourism marketing agency, we build greater philadelphia's image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

Community Improvement
4
Artphilly

The mission of artphilly is to amplify philadelphia's arts and culture by commissioning, presenting, producing, and promoting art of all kinds for local audiences and the world. its vision is to spotlight(continued on schedule o)the city…

Arts & Culture
5
Pidc Local Development Corporation

See schedule o.pidc-ldc administers, as a subrecipient of the city of philadelphia, various federally funded grant programs, including community development block grants, housing and urban development loans, and economic development…

Community Improvement
6
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
7
Association for Public Art

The association for public art (apa, formerly the fairmount park art association) commissions, preserves, interprets and promotes public art in philadelphia. dedicated to creating a museum without walls that informs, engages and inspires…

Arts & Culture
8
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…

—
9
Philadelphia Contemporary

We connect the people and places of philadelphia through art and partnership. the organization is a free-standing platform that endeavors to show forward-thinking, high-quality contemporary visual and performance art in the city. the…

Human Services
10
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

Founded in 1827, the pennsylvania horticultural society (phs) uses horticulture to advance the health and well-being of the greater philadelphia region. (continued in sch o)phs's work focuses on four impact priorities: creating healthy…

Environment
11
Central Philadelphia Development Corporation C/O Center City District

To strengthen the competitiveness of center city philadelphia as an attractive place to work, to visit, and to live to enhance center city as the vibrant hub of the greater philadelphia region through research, planning, advocacy, and…

Arts & Culture
12
Philadelphia Works Inc

Philadelphia works, inc. develops and manages smart workforce solutions that respond to business needs and increases economic opportunity for all philadelphia residents.

Employment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Philadelphia Citizen; the most unlike its peers is Temple University Hospital 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

28 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. 28 of the 34 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
23/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $75,000 · Arts & CultureTHE FRANKLIN INSTITUTEFRINGEARTS: $35,000 · Arts & CultureFRINGEARTSPHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INC: $10,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES …CARPENTERS' COMPANY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA: $10,000 · Arts & CultureCARPENTERS' COMPANY OF THE CITY AN…THE PHILADELPHIA CITIZEN: $6,250 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $16,000 · Arts & Culture+5 moreCHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIATIVE: $52,758 · EducationCHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIAT…MIGHTY WRITERS: $45,693 · EducationMIGHTY WRITERSDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · EducationDREXEL UNIVERSITYTRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF PRINCET…ASSOCIATED SERVICES FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $13,000 · OtherASSOCIATED SERVICES…INDEPENDENCE HISTORICAL TRUST: $10,000 · OtherINDEPENDENCE HISTOR…PHILADELPHIA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS INC: $10,000 · OtherPHILADELPHIA FESTIV…Individual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant re…MAKE THE WORLD BETTER: $5,000 · OtherMAKE THE WORLD BETT…CENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherCENTER CITY DISTRIC…PHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $5,000 · OtherPHILADELPHIA YOUTH …+5 more: $10,500 · Other+5 moreUPLIFT SOLUTIONS INC: $50,000 · Food & NutritionUPLIFT SOLU…THE ORPHAN DISEASE PATHWAY PROJECT: $25,000 · HealthTHE ORPHA…AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 · HealthAMERICAN …Temple University Hospital Inc: $5,000 · HealthTemple Un…CURE DUCHENNE: $2,500 · HealthCURE DUCH…ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $25,000 · Civil RightsCOMMITTEE OF SEVENTY: $15,000 · Civil RightsTHE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$152,250Education$123,451Other$88,500Food & Nutrition$50,000Health$42,500Civil Rights$40,000Philanthropy$10,000

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 budgetTHE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S LITERACY INITIATIVE: $52,758 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUPLIFT SOLUTIONS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetMIGHTY WRITERS: $45,693 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFRINGEARTS: $35,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ORPHAN DISEASE PATHWAY PROJECT: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCOMMITTEE OF SEVENTY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $10,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINDEPENDENCE HISTORICAL TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPHILADELPHIA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetCARPENTERS' COMPANY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE PHILADELPHIA CITIZEN: $6,250 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPLAYPENN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTemple University Hospital Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBALLETX: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPHILADELPHIA POLICE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPACT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCURE DUCHENNE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDELAWARE RIVER WATERFRONT CORPORATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILMA THEATER: $1,000 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.

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 William Penn Foun…The Philadelphia Foun…Independence Foundati…Future Standard Found…The Barra Foundation …Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…Connelly FoundationThe Leslie Miller and…The Neubauer Family F…The Philadelphia Cult…The Snider FoundationThe Lida Foundation
The William Penn FoundationPA33.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The William Penn Foundation · The Philadelphia Foundation · Independence Foundation · Future Standard Foundation · The Barra Foundation Inc · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · Connelly Foundation · The Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation · The Neubauer Family Foundation · The Philadelphia Cultural Fund Inc · The Snider Foundation · The Lida 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 Richard Vague Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Richard Vague Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%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
    1get no government money at all
    7report 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 34 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 Richard Vague’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