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The Robinson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robinson Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$75k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$25k
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.

Food & Nutrition$153kHousing & Shelter$113kHealth$112kHuman Services$45kAnimals$28kEducation$26kPublic Safety & Disaster$21kInternational$17kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $35k
$5,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$1.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK$25,000
UPSTREAM USA$10,000
BETHLEHEM INN$7,500
HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC$5,000
BIENVENIDOS OUTREACH INC$5,000
END HUNGER IN CALVERT COUNTY$5,000
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF$5,000
FRIENDSHIP PLACE$5,000
RELEASE RECOVERY FOUNDATION INC$3,500
LIFEFLIGHT FOUNDATION$3,000
BINDER PARK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$1,000
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 (FY17–25, $58k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $7k → 19%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $5k → 19%THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $4k → 17%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $5k → 19%THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $3k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $5k → 14%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $4k → 19%THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $2k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $2k → 14%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $3k → 19%THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $2k → 17%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $3k → 19%THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $4k → 17%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $3k → 19%THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $3k → 17%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $3k → 19%HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $2k → 19%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

ME
WA
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
PA
NJ
CA
MD
NM
TN
SC
DC
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$552k · 27 repeat orgs$39k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against -13% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
11

Total granted

$552k
$39k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
-13%

Still filing today

89%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthFood & NutritionHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterArts & CultureAnimalsOther
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

  • CA
    CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC
    7× · 2018–2025 · $89k · revenue +30%
  • TH
    THE HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $34k · revenue +26%
  • FF
    FAMILIES FORWARD
    8× · 2017–2024 · $29k · revenue +148%

Funded once

  • PC
    PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • UI
    URBAN INITIATIVES INC
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
  • F
    FARESTART
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue -25%
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
Citizens Inn Inc

The organization's mission is to prevent and end hunger and homelessness by providing integrated services that promote long-term stability, health, and independence. (see schedule o for full description)

Housing & Shelter
2
Umom New Day Centers Inc

To end family homelessness by restoring hope and rebuilding lives, so no child will ever have to sleep on the streets.

Housing & Shelter
3
Chicago House & Social Service Agency

Provides housing and support services to individuals and families impacted by hiv/aids

Health
4
The Maryland Food Bank Inc

The maryland food bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization dedicated to feeding people, strengthening communities, and ending hunger for more marylanders.

—
5
Interval House

The mission of the organization is to ensure safety and stability for people who are battered, abused, homeless or at risk; to create public awareness about the epidemic of violence; and to mobilize the community to prevent violence and…

Human Services
6
Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Fort Wayne Inc

To serve homeless families by uniting faith community volunteers and local agencies in a cooperative effort to provide shelter, meals and compassionate ongoing support to our guests.

Human Services
7
San Francisco Food Bank

To end hunger in san francisco and marin counties by soliciting food donations nationally, distributing this food to qualifying public service agencies and neighborhood pantries, advocating for improved government food programs, and…

—
8
Family Service Association of Bucks County

Mission: we listen, care and help. every day. vision: a community where anyone can achieve their full potential. programs: our services treat mental health issues; reduce substance use; shelter, feed, educate and seek permanent housing for…

Human Services
9
Northern Virginia Family Services Inc

The mission of northern virginia family service (nvfs) is "to empower individuals and families to improve their quality of life, and to promote community cooperation and support in responding to family needs." nvfs was established in 1924…

Human Services
10
Shelter House Community Shelter and Transition Services

Through shelter and housing, advocacy and supportive services, our mission is to prevent and end homelessness in our community.

—
11
The Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

The brien center provides a continuum of care for children, adolescents, adults and families living with significant and persistent mental health and substance use disorders. we are guided by the belief that everyone in berkshire county…

Health
12
Preble Street

To provide accessible barrier-free services to empower people experiencing problems with homelessness, housing, hunger, and poverty and to advocate for solutions to those problems.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Families Forward; the most unlike its peers is The Family Effect. 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

30 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. 30 of the 39 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/30
Grantees still filing
23/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $28,800 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFAMILIES FORWARD: $28,700 · OtherFAMILIES FORWARDBIENVENIDOS OUTREACH INC: $24,833 · OtherBIENVENIDOS OUTREACH INCSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF EAST TENNESSEE: $16,701 · OtherSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF EAST …BRYN MAWR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $16,000 · OtherBRYN MAWR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF: $6,000 · OtherORANGE COUNTY'S UNITED WAY: $15,000 · OtherORANGE COUNTY'S UNITED WAYTHE FAMILY EFFECT: $9,300 · Other+10 more: $34,400 · Other+10 moreCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $89,000 · Food & NutritionCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK IN…End Hunger in Calvert County Inc: $23,000 · Food & NutritionEnd Hunger in Calvert Cou…Philabundance: $20,500 · Food & NutritionPhilabundance+1 more: $4,000 · Food & NutritionISLAND HEALTH & WELLNESS FOUNDATION: $27,834 · HealthISLAND HEALTH & WELLNE…Rush University Medical Center: $27,000 · HealthRush University Medica…LifeFlight Foundation: $18,100 · HealthLifeFlight FoundationUpstream USA Inc: $18,000 · HealthUpstream USA IncMEMORIAL AMBULANCE CORPS: $17,800 · HealthMEMORIAL AMBULANCE COR…HOPEWELL CANCER SUPPORT: $7,200 · HealthHOPEWELL CANCER SUPPOR…THE RELEASE RECOVERY FOUNDATION INC: $7,033 · HealthTHE RELEASE RECOVERY F…THE HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $34,034 · Human ServicesTHE HOUSE O…THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $17,267 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDRE…NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $7,000 · Human ServicesNORTHWESTER…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $3,000 · Human ServicesBETHLEHEM INN: $25,900 · Housing & ShelterBETHLEHEM …Friendship Place: $25,500 · Housing & ShelterFriendship…FAMILY PROMISE INC: $4,000 · Housing & ShelterFAMILY PRO…Binder Park Zoological Society Inc: $26,100 · AnimalsIRVINE BARCLAY THEATRE OPERATING CO: $12,500 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $11,500 · Arts & Culture
Other$179,734Food & Nutrition$136,500Health$122,967Human Services$61,301Housing & Shelter$55,400Animals$26,100Arts & Culture$24,000

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 budgetCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $89,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC: $34,034 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILIES FORWARD: $28,700 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetISLAND HEALTH & WELLNESS FOUNDATION: $27,834 over 7y, 3.7% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $27,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBinder Park Zoological Society Inc: $26,100 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetBETHLEHEM INN: $25,900 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetFriendship Place: $25,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBIENVENIDOS OUTREACH INC: $24,833 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetEnd Hunger in Calvert County Inc: $23,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPhilabundance: $20,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLifeFlight Foundation: $18,100 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetUpstream USA Inc: $18,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEMORIAL AMBULANCE CORPS: $17,800 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $17,267 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF EAST TENNESSEE: $16,701 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetORANGE COUNTY'S UNITED WAY: $15,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetIRVINE BARCLAY THEATRE OPERATING CO: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FAMILY EFFECT: $9,300 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHOPEWELL CANCER SUPPORT: $7,200 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE RELEASE RECOVERY FOUNDATION INC: $7,033 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFARESTART: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMANNA FOOD CENTER INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetN STREET VILLAGE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHEPHERDS CLINIC INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHELPING UP MISSION INC: $1,500 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.

  • Who funds CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HOUSE OF RUTH MARYLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILIES FORWARD ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND HEALTH & WELLNESS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Rush University Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds Binder Park Zoological Society Inc ↗
  • Who funds BETHLEHEM INN ↗
  • Who funds Friendship Place ↗
  • Who funds BIENVENIDOS OUTREACH INC ↗
  • Who funds End Hunger in Calvert County Inc ↗
  • Who funds Philabundance ↗
  • Who funds LifeFlight Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Upstream USA Inc ↗
  • Who funds MEMORIAL AMBULANCE CORPS ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF EAST TENNESSEE ↗
  • Who funds ORANGE COUNTY'S UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds IRVINE BARCLAY THEATRE OPERATING CO ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds THE FAMILY EFFECT ↗
  • Who funds HOPEWELL CANCER SUPPORT ↗
  • Who funds THE RELEASE RECOVERY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FARESTART ↗
  • Who funds MANNA FOOD CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY PROMISE INC ↗
  • Who funds N STREET VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds SHEPHERDS CLINIC INC ↗
  • Who funds HELPING UP MISSION INC ↗

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.

Ge Aerospace Foundati…Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…Network for GoodMorgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Ge Aerospace FoundationCT12.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ge Aerospace Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Network for Good · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Robinson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robinson 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • The House of Ruth Maryland Inc: 19% of income from government
  • End Hunger in Calvert County Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Helping Up Mission Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Upstream Usa Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Family Promise Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Manna Food Center Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Bethlehem Inn: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
10report 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.

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 39 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 Robinson’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