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Virga Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Virga 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.

$669k
Granted FY2024still arriving
52
Grants FY2024still arriving
12
States reached
$62k
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, FY2022 to 2024.

Environment$255kArts & Culture$135kCivil Rights$70kInternational$42kHuman Services$35kEducation$30kPhilanthropy$30kYouth Development$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 52 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k23 grants · $97k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $460k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $112k
$10,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$9.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GRAND CANYON TRUST INC$62,400
MAKE THE ROAD NEW YORK$50,000
RESOURCES LEGACY FUND$35,000
FRIENDS OF CEDAR MESA$35,000
THE HOPI FOUNDATION LOMASUMINAGWTUKWSIUMANI$35,000
NACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORK$30,000
FLOWER HILL INSTITUTE$25,000
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SERVICES FOR DINE BIKEYAH INC$25,000
COMMUNITY RADIO PROJECT$25,000
MONTEZUMA LAND CONSERVANCY$20,000
MANCOS COMMON PRESS INC$20,000
BORDERLANDS RESTORATION NETWORK$20,000
INDIAN COUNTRY GRASSROOTS SUPPORT$15,000
CHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA$15,000
THE PINON PROJECT$15,000
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 (FY22–24, $61k) land where the poverty rate runs at 21%, 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%ATABEY OUTDOORS: $10k → 11%THE HOPI FOUNDATION LOMASUMINAGWTUKWSIUMANI: $35k → 26%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $500 → 10%THE PINON PROJECT: $15k → 15%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
NY
MA
OR
CA
UT
CO
VA
AZ
NM
DC
GA
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.

19%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$129k · 6 repeat orgs$551k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 42 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
8

Total granted

$129k
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+79%

Still filing today

100%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $537k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’24
EnvironmentArts & CultureInternationalHuman ServicesCrime & LegalEducationOther
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

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF CEDAR MESA
    2× · 2022–2024 · $40k · revenue +157%
  • CR
    COMMUNITY RADIO PROJECT INC KSJD
    2× · 2022–2024 · $40k · revenue +30%
  • OA
    ONWARD A LEGACY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $13k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • TC
    THE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +3%
  • SC
    Saigon Childrens Charity USAgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +263%
  • UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue -21%
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
Cuenca Los Ojos

Cuenca los ojos works to preserve and restore the biodiversity of the us/mexican borderlands through land protection, habitat restoration and wildlife reintroduction.

Environment
2
Greater Yellowstone Coalition

Greater yellowstone coalition works with all people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the greater yellowstone ecosystem, now and for future generations.

Environment
3
Conservation Legacy

Conservation legacy engages future leaders who protect, restore, and enhance our nation's lands through community-based service.in 2024, conservation legacy engaged 2,524 participants who completed over 1.5 million service hours on public…

Youth Development
4
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

Protecting our shrub-steppe and connecting people to this vanishing landscape.

—
5
Water Protector Legal Collective

The water protector legal collective is an indigenous-led legal nonprofit that provides support and advocacy for indigenous peoples and original nations, the earth, and climate justice movements.

Crime & Legal
6
Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initative

Empowering indigenous communities to reconnect with, regenerate, and conserve their sacred peyote medicine.

Religion
7
Rocky Mountain Wild

Rocky mountain wild works to protect, connect, and restore wildlife and wild lands in the southern rocky mountain region. we work to secure the biodiversity of the mountains, plains, and desert ecosystems of colorado, wyoming, utah, and…

Environment
8
Nature for Justice

To empower frontline communities to lead nature-based solutions that advance climate justice, ecosystem restoration, and resilient livelihoods through connecting locally-led initiatives to funding, markets, and technical support.

Environment
9
Nature and Culture International

Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.

Environment
10
Boulder Watershed Collective

The Boulder Watershed Collective is a 501c3 non-profit stakeholder-driven organization established to address forested watershed health,resiliency and stewardship. We have three program areas: ClimateAdaptation and Resilience Watershed…

Environment
11
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
12
Western Conservation Foundation

Building leaders to protect the west's land, air, and water.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Indian Country Grassroots Support; the most unlike its peers is Youth Empowerment Services for Dine Bikeyah 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

54 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. 54 of the 58 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
52/54
Grantees still filing
22/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE GRAND CANYON TRUST INC: $62,400 · EnvironmentTHE GRAND CANYON TRUST INCRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $35,000 · EnvironmentRESOURCES LEGACY FUNDMONTEZUMA LAND CONSERVANCY: $23,000 · EnvironmentMONTEZUMA LAND CONSERVANCYBORDERLANDS RESTORATION NETWORK: $20,000 · EnvironmentBORDERLANDS RESTORATION NET…PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $10,000 · EnvironmentPROTECT OUR WINTERS+5 more: $22,000 · Environment+5 moreCOMMUNITY RADIO PROJECT INC KSJD: $40,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITY RADIO PR…FLOWER HILL INSTITUTE: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFLOWER HILL INSTIT…Mancos Common Press Inc: $20,000 · Arts & CultureMancos Common Pres…Heritage Lands Collective: $10,000 · Arts & CultureHeritage Lands Col…KUTE INC DBA KSUT PUBLIC RADIO: $10,000 · Arts & CultureKUTE INC DBA KSUT …INDIGENOUS LIFEWAYS: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFORGE PROJECT ASSOCIATION: $4,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureMake the Road New York: $50,000 · Crime & LegalMake the Road…YOUTH EMPOWERMENT SERVICES FOR DINE BIKEYAH INC: $25,000 · Crime & LegalYOUTH EMPOWER…VERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $7,000 · Crime & LegalVERA INSTITUT…FRIENDS OF CEDAR MESA: $40,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF CEDAR MESASAIGON CHILDRENS CHARITY USA: $10,000 · OtherSAIGON CHILDRENS CHARITY USACORTEZ CENTER INC DBA CORTEZ CULTURAL CENTER: $10,000 · OtherCORTEZ CENTER INC DBA CORTEZ …MYRIAD USA INC: $10,000 · OtherMYRIAD USA INCThe Center for Media Justice DBA MediaJustice: $10,000 · OtherThe Center for Media Justice …THE RECONCILIATION CENTER INC: $10,000 · OtherTHE RECONCILIATION CENTER INCINDIAN COUNTRY GRASSROOTS SUPPORT: $15,000 · OtherINDIAN COUNTRY GRASSROOTS SUP…EVLoves LLC: $10,000 · OtherEVLoves LLCTHE BRIDGE EMERGENCY SHELTER: $11,500 · OtherTHE BRIDGE EMERGENCY SHELTERNAVAJO HEALTH FOUNDATION - SAGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL INC: $10,000 · OtherNAVAJO HEALTH FOUNDATION - SA…+17 more: $46,500 · Other+17 moreTHE HOPI FOUNDATION LOMASUMI'NANGWTUKWSIWMANI: $35,000 · Human ServicesTHE HOPI …The Pinon Project: $15,000 · Human ServicesThe Pinon…Atabey Outdoors: $10,000 · Human ServicesAtabey Ou…+1 more: $500 · Human ServicesNACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORK: $30,000 · EducationONWARD A LEGACY FOUNDATION: $12,500 · EducationTO NIZHONI ANI: $10,000 · EducationCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $20,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER GOOD CHARITIES: $15,000 · PhilanthropyTHE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Environment$172,400Arts & Culture$114,500Crime & Legal$82,000Other$183,000Human Services$60,500Education$52,500Philanthropy$45,000

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 budgetTHE GRAND CANYON TRUST INC: $62,400 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMake the Road New York: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF CEDAR MESA: $40,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY RADIO PROJECT INC KSJD: $40,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetTHE HOPI FOUNDATION LOMASUMI'NANGWTUKWSIWMANI: $35,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNACA-INSPIRED SCHOOLS NETWORK: $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTH EMPOWERMENT SERVICES FOR DINE BIKEYAH INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetFLOWER HILL INSTITUTE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMONTEZUMA LAND CONSERVANCY: $23,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetBORDERLANDS RESTORATION NETWORK: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMancos Common Press Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetINDIAN COUNTRY GRASSROOTS SUPPORT: $15,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetThe Pinon Project: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER GOOD CHARITIES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONWARD A LEGACY FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BRIDGE EMERGENCY SHELTER: $11,500 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetTO NIZHONI ANI: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAtabey Outdoors: $10,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetMYRIAD USA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHeritage Lands Collective: $10,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetNAVAJO HEALTH FOUNDATION - SAGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCORTEZ CENTER INC DBA CORTEZ CULTURAL CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetKUTE INC DBA KSUT PUBLIC RADIO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPROTECT OUR WINTERS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEVLoves LLC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetThe Center for Media Justice DBA MediaJustice: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE RECONCILIATION CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDolores River Boating Advocates: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetINDIGENOUS LIFEWAYS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE INTEROOTS INITIATIVE: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetOUTDOOR AFRO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOUR CORNERS RISING: $5,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetFORGE PROJECT ASSOCIATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUR CORNERS FOOD COALITION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCYCLE KIDS INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMancos Valley Resources: $3,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetAmerican Whitewater: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLACKHAT HUMANE SOCIETY: $1,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetFOR PETS SAKE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTEZUMA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 over 1y, 0.9% 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.

El Pomar FoundationPatagoniaorgBallantine Family FundThe Colorado Health F…Onward a Legacy Found…The Wilderness SocietyColorado Gives Founda…Rocky Mountain Health…Gates Family Foundati…The Schmidt Family Fo…Tides FoundationAmalgamated Charitabl…
El Pomar FoundationCO22.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: El Pomar Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Ballantine Family Fund · The Colorado Health Foundation · Onward a Legacy Foundation · The Wilderness Society · Colorado Gives Foundation · Rocky Mountain Health Foundation · Gates Family Foundation · The Schmidt Family Foundation · Tides Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • American Whitewater: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
19report 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 58 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 Virga’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