Skip to content
The Rock Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Rock 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.

$106k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$18k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$293kHealth$91kHuman Services$53kEducation$35kEnvironment$35kPublic Benefit$20kScience & Tech$18kAnimals$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $74k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $33k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$854k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VCU Foundation$17,500
John Marshall Center at VA Museum History & Culture$15,000
World Pediatrics$7,500
Culture Works$7,500
Elijah House Academy$6,000
Free Clinic of Powhatan$5,000
CancerLinc$5,000
Soar365$5,000
Captial Trees$5,000
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Foundation$5,000
Richmond Symphony League$5,000
Hanover Tavern Foundation$5,000
Richmond Ballet$5,000
Atlas Partnership$5,000
Maymont Foundation$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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $48k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Operation Healing Forces: $5k → 12%Operation Healing Forces: $5k → 12%Commonwealth Catholic Charities: $5k → 9%Commonwealth Catholic Charities: $5k → 9%Commonwealth Catholic Charities: $5k → 9%Full Circle Grief Center: $5k → 22%Commonwealth Catholic Charities: $5k → 9%Full Circle Grief Center: $3k → 22%Commonwealth Catholic Charities: $5k → 9%YMCA of Greater Richmond: $5k → 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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$408k · 26 repeat orgs$197k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
24

Total granted

$408k
$140k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+1%

Still filing today

65%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $58k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthEducationEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • MF
    MAYMONT FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2025 · $34k · revenue +168%
  • CC
    Commonwealth Catholic Charities
    5× · 2020–2024 · $25k · revenue +49%
  • EH
    ELIJAH HOUSE ACADEMY
    4× · 2020–2025 · $22k · revenue +72%

Funded once

  • KQ
    King & Queen Co Historical Society
    one grant, 2024 · $13k
  • FC
    FORE CHILDREN INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -22%
  • BS
    Bon Secours Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
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
The Richmond Symphony

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

Arts & Culture
2
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.

—
3
Washington Heritage Museums

The mission of washington heritage museums is to preserve, promote and maintain its five 18th century properties in fredericksburg, virginia and develop dynamic educational resources and programs to engage and inspire the intrest of…

Arts & Culture
4
Richmond Shakespeare Fka Quill Theatre

We produce vital works of classical and contemporary theatre, with Shakespeare as our foundation. We approach this work boldly with a resolve to ignite spirits, educate minds and defy expectation.

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
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
7
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
8
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
9
The Richmond Forum

To present powerful voices so richmond can learn. to empower local voices so richmond can lead.

—
10
The Valentine Museum

The mission of the valentine is to engage, educate and challenge a diverse audience by collecting, preserving and interpreting richmond's history.

Arts & Culture
11
Community Memorial Hospital

To provide excellence in the delivery of healthcare.

Health
12
The Virginia Air & Space Center

To serve as the region's leading source of informational science education through interactive science demonstrations, hands-on education programs and outreach programs.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg; the most unlike its peers is Free Clinic of Powhatan 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

38 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. 38 of the 57 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/38
Grantees still filing
22/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $40,000 · OtherVIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTSVCU Arts: $30,000 · OtherVCU ArtsELIJAH HOUSE ACADEMY: $22,000 · OtherELIJAH HOUSE ACADEMYCultureWorks Inc: $21,500 · OtherCultureWorks IncVCU Foundation: $17,500 · OtherVCU FoundationJohn Marshall Center at VA Museum History & Culture: $15,000 · OtherBon Secours Richmond Healthcare Foundation: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherKing & Queen Co Historical Society: $12,500 · OtherLongwood Center for the Visual Arts: $12,500 · Other+21 more: $120,185 · Other+21 moreMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $34,000 · Arts & CultureMAYMONT FOUNDATIONWOODROW WILSON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureWOODROW WILSON PRESIDEN…THE RICHMOND BALLET: $15,000 · Arts & CultureTHE RICHMOND BALLETATLAS PARTNERSHIP: $10,000 · Arts & CultureATLAS PARTNERSHIPVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $8,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOC…Children's Museum of Richmond: $7,500 · Arts & CultureChildren's Museum of Ri…RICHMOND PERFORMING ARTS ALLIANCE: $6,000 · Arts & CultureASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VA ANTIQUITIES: $6,000 · Arts & CultureHANOVER TAVERN FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureVIRGINIA WAR MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureCommonwealth Catholic Charities: $25,000 · Human ServicesOPERATION HEALING FORCES INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesFULL CIRCLE GRIEF CENTER: $8,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $5,000 · Human ServicesFREE CLINIC OF POWHATAN INC: $20,000 · HealthLEGAL INFORMATION NETWORK FOR CANCER: $15,000 · HealthILLUME FAMILY RECOVERY INC: $5,000 · HealthCAPITAL TREES: $15,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY: $15,000 · EnvironmentROSE GROUP FOR CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTAND: $15,000 · InternationalWORLD PEDIATRICS: $7,500 · InternationalTHE VISUAL ARTS CENTER OF RICHMOND: $11,000 · EducationMEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationNORTHSTAR ACADEMY INC: $3,500 · Education
Other$321,185Arts & Culture$123,500Human Services$48,000Health$40,000Environment$30,000International$22,500Education$19,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMAYMONT FOUNDATION: $34,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCommonwealth Catholic Charities: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetELIJAH HOUSE ACADEMY: $22,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCultureWorks Inc: $21,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetFREE CLINIC OF POWHATAN INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetWOODROW WILSON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetTHE RICHMOND BALLET: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCAPITAL TREES: $15,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetLEGAL INFORMATION NETWORK FOR CANCER: $15,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetROSE GROUP FOR CROSS-CULTURAL UNDERSTAND: $15,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetFRIENDS OF HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY: $15,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE VISUAL ARTS CENTER OF RICHMOND: $11,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFORE CHILDREN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetATLAS PARTNERSHIP: $10,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetOPERATION HEALING FORCES INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetRICHMOND ANIMAL LEAGUE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFULL CIRCLE GRIEF CENTER: $8,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetChildren's Museum of Richmond: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD PEDIATRICS: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRICHMOND PERFORMING ARTS ALLIANCE: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VA ANTIQUITIES: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MENOKIN FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVIRGINIA WAR MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetILLUME FAMILY RECOVERY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetSACRED HEART CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JOHN'S CHURCH FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Richmond (6769): $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHSTAR ACADEMY INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREADING AND EDUCATION FOR ADULT DEVELOPMENT: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER RICHMOND & PETERSBURG: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCADENCE THEATRE COMPANY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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 Foundat…The Anne C Robins & W…Peachtree House Found…Dominion Energy Chari…Herndon FoundationThe Mary Morton Parso…Windsor Fdn Trust Uw …Richard S Reynolds Fo…Robins FoundationShelton H Short Jr Tr…Tesco FoundationThe Pauley Family Fou…
The Community Foundation IncVA55.4× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation Inc · The Anne C Robins & Walter R Robins Jr Foundation · Peachtree House Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Herndon Foundation · The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation · Windsor Fdn Trust Uw Quincy Cole · Richard S Reynolds Foundation · Robins Foundation · Shelton H Short Jr Trust · Tesco Foundation · The Pauley Family 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 Rock Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Rock Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%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
    9report 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 Rock Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Rock 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 57 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 Rock’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