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The Ross Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ross Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$239k
Granted FY2025still arriving
109
Grants FY2025still arriving
12
States reached
$26k
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$302kEducation$264kReligion$211kPhilanthropy$201kHuman Services$78kHealth$76kEnvironment$48kInternational$27kOther$0
02FY2025 · 109 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k102 grants · $137k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $102k
$900
Median grant
12
States reached
$3.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
United Way Lackawanna & Wayne Counties$25,500
First United Methodust Church of Germantown$18,000
WVIA Public TV & Radio$15,000
Covenant Presbyterian Church$13,000
Columbia University$10,000
Keystone College$10,000
Philharmonic Society of NE PA$10,000
United Way of SE PA$7,500
Planned Parenthood of Northeast PA$6,500
Massachusetts Institute of Technology$6,000
Johnson College$6,000
Countryside Conservancy$5,000
Everhart Museum$5,000
Boy Scouts of America NE PA Council$4,200
Food Bank of Larimer County$4,000
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 (FY20–25, $40k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Presbyterian Senior Living: $500 → 9%Second Harvest: $500 → 11%Greater Scranton YMCA: $3k → 13%Greater Scranton YMCA: $2k → 13%Greater Scranton YMCA: $2k → 13%Greater Scranton YMCA: $2k → 13%Greater Scranton YMCA: $2k → 13%Greater Scranton YMCA: $2k → 13%Family Promise of Philadelphia: $1k → 22%Family Promise of Philadelphia: $1k → 22%Family Promise of Philadelphia: $1k → 22%Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network: $1k → 22%Family Promise of Philadelphia: $1k → 22%Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network: $500 → 22%Outreach Center for Community Resources: $3k → 13%Outreach Center for Community Resources: $3k → 13%Outreach Center for Community Resources: $3k → 13%Outreach Center for Community Resources: $3k → 13%Outreach Center for Community Resources: $3k → 13%Outreach Center for Community Resources: $3k → 13%Friendship House: $750 → 13%Friendship House: $700 → 13%Friendship House: $650 → 13%Friendship House: $650 → 13%Friendship House: $600 → 13%Friendship House: $600 → 13%Jewish Community Center: $100 → 13%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

MN
IL
NY
MA
IA
PA
CT
CO
WV
VA
MD
SC
DC
AL
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.
$1.1M · 112 repeat orgs$57k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

112 repeat relationships: 96 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

112
20

Total granted

$1.1M
$49k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+4%

Still filing today

63%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k 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 & CultureEducationInternationalHuman ServicesCrime & LegalHealthOther
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

  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF LACKAWANNA WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES
    5× · 2021–2025 · $118k · revenue +25%
  • QT
    QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $95k · revenue +241%
  • PS
    PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF NEPA
    6× · 2020–2025 · $45k · revenue +95%

Funded once

  • UW
    United Way Lackawanna County
    one grant, 2020 · $24k
  • PM
    PLYMOUTH MEETING FRIENDS SCHOOL
    one grant, 2023 · $8k · revenue -16%
  • PP
    Planned Parenthood of Northeastern PA
    one grant, 2023 · $4k
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
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
2
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
3
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg college is a residential, undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
4
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
5
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
6
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…

—
7
Boston Architectural College

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

—
8
Albright College

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

Education
9
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The western pennsylvania conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. the conservancy…

Environment
10
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
11
Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium Inc

To support education and research at college, university, and research libraries.

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Philadelphia Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Exodus Prison & Aftercare Ministries. 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

92 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. 92 of the 145 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
90/92
Grantees still filing
73/92
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITED WAY OF LACKAWANNA WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES: $118,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF LACKAWANNA WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIESFirst United Methodust Church of Germantown: $109,900 · OtherFirst United Methodust Church of GermantownKEYSTONE COLLEGE: $75,500 · OtherKEYSTONE COLLEGECovenant Presbyterian Church: $75,350 · OtherCovenant Presbyterian ChurchUnited Way of SE PA: $38,000 · OtherWVIA Public TV & Radio: $28,750 · Other+83 more: $349,559 · Other+83 moreQUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC: $95,000 · Arts & CultureQUINTESSENCE THEAT…PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF NEPA: $45,000 · Arts & CulturePHILHARMONIC SOCIE…EVERHART MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY SCIENCE AND ART: $25,250 · Arts & CultureEVERHART MUSEUM OF…WHYY INC: $10,500 · Arts & Culture+14 more: $36,185 · Arts & Culture+14 moreTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $57,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF …Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $36,000 · EducationMassachusetts In…JOHNSON COLLEGE: $29,500 · EducationJOHNSON COLLEGEGEISINGER COMMONWEALTH SCH OF MED: $20,500 · EducationGEISINGER COMMON…University of Scranton: $9,200 · EducationMarywood University: $8,900 · EducationIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $8,900 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $7,300 · Education+6 more: $14,550 · Education+6 moreOUTREACH - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY RESOURCES: $17,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Scranton: $12,250 · Human ServicesFAMILY PROMISE OF PHILADELPHIA: $5,750 · Human ServicesFRIENDSHIP HOUSE: $3,950 · Human Services+3 more: $1,100 · Human ServicesCOUNTRYSIDE CONSERVANCY: $31,100 · EnvironmentLACKAWANNA RIVER CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION INC: $4,900 · EnvironmentWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $1,800 · Environment+1 more: $510 · EnvironmentFINCA INTERNATIONAL INC: $5,600 · InternationalCHILDFUND INTERNATIONAL USA: $3,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,700 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $2,043 · InternationalUnitarian Universalist Service Committee Inc: $2,000 · InternationalJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF NEPA INC: $2,000 · InternationalCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $1,086 · International+1 more: $500 · InternationalALLIED SERVICES FOUNDATION: $8,300 · HealthNORTHEAST REGIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE: $5,000 · HealthGEISINGER CLINIC: $2,750 · Health+2 more: $1,000 · Health
Other$795,059Arts & Culture$211,935Education$191,850Human Services$40,050Environment$38,310International$18,929Health$17,050

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF LACKAWANNA WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES: $118,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetQUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC: $95,000 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetKEYSTONE COLLEGE: $75,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $57,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF NEPA: $45,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $36,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNTRYSIDE CONSERVANCY: $31,100 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetJOHNSON COLLEGE: $29,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEVERHART MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY SCIENCE AND ART: $25,250 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetWRC INC: $24,450 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetGEISINGER COMMONWEALTH SCH OF MED: $20,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetOUTREACH - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY RESOURCES: $17,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSCRANTON AREA FOUNDATION INC: $13,350 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Scranton: $12,250 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWHYY INC: $10,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE POOR: $10,400 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetUniversity of Scranton: $9,200 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMarywood University: $8,900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $8,900 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetABINGTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $8,800 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetALLIED SERVICES FOUNDATION: $8,300 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $7,300 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF NORTHEASTERN PA INC: $7,200 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY: $7,050 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWellesley College: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF PHILADELPHIA: $5,750 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFINCA INTERNATIONAL INC: $5,600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Food Bank for Larimer County: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEAST REGIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLACKAWANNA RIVER CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION INC: $4,900 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetJACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL INC: $4,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION: $4,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLACKAWANNA COLLEGE: $4,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUCHEALTH NORTHERN COLORADO FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLACKAWANNA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $4,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDSHIP HOUSE: $3,950 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $3,350 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc: $3,300 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $3,210 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWAVERLY COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $3,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PENNSYLVANIA BALLET ASSOCIATION: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWSKG PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $3,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCLARKS SUMMIT FIRE CO NO1 INC: $3,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDFUND INTERNATIONAL USA: $3,000 over 6y, 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 UNITED WAY OF LACKAWANNA WAYNE AND PIKE COUNTIES ↗
  • Who funds QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds KEYSTONE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF NEPA ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds COUNTRYSIDE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds JOHNSON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds EVERHART MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY SCIENCE AND ART ↗
  • Who funds WRC INC ↗
  • Who funds GEISINGER COMMONWEALTH SCH OF MED ↗
  • Who funds OUTREACH - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY RESOURCES ↗
  • Who funds SCRANTON AREA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Scranton ↗
  • Who funds WHYY INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE POOR ↗
  • Who funds University of Scranton ↗
  • Who funds Marywood University ↗
  • Who funds IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ABINGTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds ALLIED SERVICES FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PLYMOUTH MEETING FRIENDS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS OF NORTHEASTERN PA INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds SMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE 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.

The Hawk Family Found…Moses Taylor Foundati…Robert H Spitz Founda…Scranton Area Foundat…Walter L Schautz Foun…Margaret Briggs Found…Eureka FoundationWilliam G McGowan Cha…Northeastern Pennsylv…Allone FoundationThe Cigna Group Found…Ppl Foundation
The Hawk Family FoundationPA47.1× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Hawk Family Foundation · Moses Taylor Foundation Inc · Robert H Spitz Foundation · Scranton Area Foundation Inc · Walter L Schautz Foundation · Margaret Briggs Foundation · Eureka Foundation · William G McGowan Charitable Fund · Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation · Allone Foundation · The Cigna Group Foundation · Ppl 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 Ross Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ross Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Archaeological Institute of America: 1% of income from government
  • Wellesley College: 1% of income from government
  • Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
24report 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 Ross Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Ross Family 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 145 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 Ross Family’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