Skip to content
The Rob Walton Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Rob Walton Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$107M
Granted FY2024still arriving
61
Grants FY2024still arriving
15
States reached
$34M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Environment$126MRecreation & Sports$85MEducation$60MAnimals$20MReligion$6.7MPhilanthropy$4.5MArts & Culture$3.8MScience & Tech$1.8MOther$0
02FY2024 · 61 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k22 grants · $443k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $985k
  • $250k+22 grants · $106M
$50,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$441M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation$33,863,725
Conservation International Foundation$24,572,723
Wildlife Conservation Society$9,328,315
Arizona State University Foundation for A New American University$8,000,000
African Parks Foundation of America$5,000,000
African Parks Foundation of America$4,805,998
Conservation International Foundation$4,625,913
African Parks Foundation of America$3,500,000
Conservation International Foundation$3,267,348
Emory University$1,500,000
Individual grant recipient$1,326,207
African Parks Foundation of America$1,110,080
Climate Leadership Council Inc$900,000
Tides Center$750,000
Frankfurt Zoological Society - US Inc$657,103
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 (FY20–24, $3.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YMCA of Southern Arizona: $7k → 15%Tides Center: $750k → 10%Act Foundation USA Inc: $25k → 6%YMCA of Southern Arizona: $6k → 15%Tides Center: $750k → 10%YMCA of Southern Arizona: $6k → 15%Tides Center: $500k → 10%Tides Center: $500k → 10%Divine Love World Charity Inc: $100k → 17%Divine Love World Charity Inc: $100k → 17%Arizona Foundation for Women Inc: $10k → 11%Arizona Foundation for Women Inc: $10k → 11%Valley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $25k → 11%Valley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $25k → 11%Valley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $25k → 11%Valley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $25k → 11%Valley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $25k → 11%Fresh Start Women's Foundation: $2k → 11%Fresh Start Women's Foundation: $2k → 11%Childhelp Inc: $50k → 11%Childhelp Inc: $25k → 11%Childhelp Inc: $25k → 11%Phoenix Indian Center: $8k → 11%Phoenix Indian Center: $3k → 11%Phoenix Indian Center: $2k → 11%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
ND
IL
NY
MA
WY
OH
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
AZ
KS
AR
TN
DC
HI
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$294M · 85 repeat orgs$15M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

85 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2024, 42 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

85
51

Total granted

$294M
$15M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+1%

Still filing today

91%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyArts & CultureEnvironmentOther
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

  • CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $89M · revenue +94%
  • TR
    THEODORE ROOSEVELT PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2020–2024 · $44M · revenue +85% · 57% of their budget
  • ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $9.9M · revenue +93%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $9.6M
  • TR
    The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
    one grant, 2021 · $1.4M
  • Northwestern University
    one grant, 2021 · $1.0M · revenue +14%
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
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

See schedule ouniversity corporation for atmospheric research (ucar), on behalf of, and in cooperation with its member university members, is engaged in the management of long-term atmospheric and related research and educational…

Science & Tech
2
University of Arizona Foundation

The university of arizona foundation is committed to supporting and enhancing the vision, mission and values of the university of arizona through the development and management of private support.

Education
3
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
4
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
5
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
6
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
7
Lodestar Charitable Foundation

To perform the functions of, or to carry out the purposes of the arizona community foundation, an az nonprofit corporation, so long as the arizona community foundation, inc. remains a qualified organization.

—
8
American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona

To assist member firms in achieving higher professional, ethical business and economic standards, enabling member firms to provide quality consulting and engineering services for their clients and the public.

—
9
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
10
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
11
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
12
American Foreign Service Association

American foreign service association (afsa) is both the principal advocate for the long-term institutional wellbeing of the professional career foreign service and responsible for safeguarding the interest of afsa members. (continued on…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is African Parks Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in. 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

131 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. 131 of the 150 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
128/131
Grantees still filing
86/131
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $88,985,760 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATIO…Clean Future Forum Inc: $5,993,669 · EnvironmentClean Future Forum IncCLIMATE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL INC: $4,050,000 · Environment+7 more: $2,282,550 · EnvironmentAFRICAN PARKS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $81,100,463 · Recreation & SportsAFRICAN PARKS FOUNDATION OF AM…+11 more: $4,157,000 · Recreation & SportsTHEODORE ROOSEVELT PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $43,915,170 · EducationTHEODORE ROOSEVELT PR…ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $9,862,862 · EducationARIZONA STATE UNIVERS…Emory University: $3,829,206 · EducationEmory University+14 more: $1,983,600 · EducationIndividual grant recipient: $10,600,000 · OtherIndividual gra…Individual grant recipient: $9,618,000 · OtherIndividual gra…Individual grant recipient: $3,662,076 · OtherIndividual gra…B'nai Levy Foundation: $2,363,501 · OtherB'nai Levy Fou…The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: $1,393,812 · OtherTIDES CENTER: $2,500,000 · OtherTIDES CENTER+89 more: $8,505,196 · Other+89 moreWildlife Conservation Society: $9,833,315 · AnimalsArizona Humane Society: $5,010,000 · AnimalsFRANKFURT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY - US INC: $3,166,499 · Animals+1 more: $500 · AnimalsDIOCESAN COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL DIOCESE PHOENIX: $6,270,000 · ReligionTHE PHOENIX THEATRE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARY: $1,220,000 · Arts & CultureARIZONA AEROSPACE FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · Arts & CultureARIZONA SCIENCE CENTER: $398,000 · Arts & CultureMUSIC ASSOCIATES OF ASPEN INC: $220,000 · Arts & CulturePHOENIX ART MUSEUM: $120,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $146,000 · Arts & Culture
Environment$101,311,979Recreation & Sports$85,257,463Education$59,590,838Other$38,642,585Animals$18,010,314Religion$6,270,000Arts & Culture$3,104,000

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 budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $88,985,760 over 5y, 12% of budgetAFRICAN PARKS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $81,100,463 over 5y, 79% of budgetTHEODORE ROOSEVELT PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $43,915,170 over 3y, 57% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $9,862,862 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $9,833,315 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetDIOCESAN COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL DIOCESE PHOENIX: $6,270,000 over 5y, 6.3% of budgetClean Future Forum Inc: $5,993,669 over 4y, 20% of budgetArizona Humane Society: $5,010,000 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetCLIMATE LEADERSHIP COUNCIL INC: $4,050,000 over 5y, 30% of budgetEmory University: $3,829,206 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFRANKFURT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY - US INC: $3,166,499 over 2y, 22% of budgetTIDES CENTER: $2,500,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PHOENIX THEATRE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARY: $1,220,000 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetMCPHERSON COLLEGE: $1,125,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc: $1,000,000 over 2y, 5.7% of budgetHONORHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetARIZONA AEROSPACE FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetTHE WESTERN STOCK SHOW ASSOCIATION: $1,000,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetNorthwestern University: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION TO COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION CAUCUS FOUNDATION: $910,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetNIA TERO FOUNDATION: $899,600 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetUNITED STATES OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC FOUNDATION: $755,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetTEAM AFRICA RISING INC: $700,000 over 3y, 67% of budgetBRIDGE2RWANDA INC: $625,000 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetLiberty Wildlife Inc: $510,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUSA CYCLING INC: $400,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetARIZONA SCIENCE CENTER: $398,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS INC: $300,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetMUSIC ASSOCIATES OF ASPEN INC: $220,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS - ARIZONA CACTUS-PINE COUNCIL INC: $210,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $205,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDIVINE LOVE WORLD CHARITY INC: $200,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetWINDWARD FUND: $200,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $162,950 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetHUALALAI OHANA FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $150,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBARROW NEUROLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $130,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER: $130,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetValley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $125,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPHOENIX ART MUSEUM: $120,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetDSU HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $117,100 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetCHILDHELP INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVALLEYWISE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetUSA CYCLING DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetMIRAGLO FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetTheodore Roosevelt Association: $95,000 over 4y, 18% 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.

Virginia G Piper Char…Arizona Community Fou…Thunderbirds CharitiesMoreno Family Foundat…The Diane and Bruce H…The Foundation for Co…Garcia Family Foundat…Phoenix Suns Charitie…Penner Family Foundat…Arizona Cardinals Fou…BHHS Legacy FoundationNina Mason Pulliam Ch…
Virginia G Piper Charitable TrustAZ44× affinity20 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust · Arizona Community Foundation · Thunderbirds Charities · Moreno Family Foundation · The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation · The Foundation for Community and Health Advancement · Garcia Family Foundation · Phoenix Suns Charities Inc · Penner Family Foundation Inc · Arizona Cardinals Foundation · BHHS Legacy Foundation · Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust

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 Rob Walton Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Rob Walton Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Governor Dummer Academy the Governor's Academy: 1% of income from government
  • Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation Incorporated: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
23report 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 Rob Walton Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Rob Walton 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 150 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 Rob Walton’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