Skip to content
Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
37
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$50k
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 2024.

Environment$1.5MEducation$1.1MArts & Culture$920kYouth Development$385kHuman Services$305kHealth$255kRecreation & Sports$125kCivil Rights$80kOther$0
02FY2024 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k29 grants · $681k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $400k
$25,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$17M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN TRUST$50,000
CHILDREN'S ART GUILD$50,000
EVERYBODY MATTERS$50,000
MIGHTY WRITERS$50,000
AUSBON SARGENT LAND PRESERVATION TRUST$50,000
HEALTHY HUMOR$50,000
READING TEAM$50,000
FRENCH & PICKERING CREEK CONSERVATION TRUST INC$50,000
JENKINS ARBORETUM & GARDENS$41,498
CAPITOL HILL ARTS WORKSHOP$40,000
INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE$40,000
LITERACY LAB$40,000
PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND$37,500
THEATRE BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS$35,000
BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER$35,000
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, $510k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%EVERYBODY MATTERS: $50k → 11%KEN CREST: $25k → 7%EVERYBODY MATTERS: $50k → 11%EVERYBODY MATTERS: $50k → 11%EVERYBODY MATTERS: $35k → 11%EVERYBODY MATTERS: $35k → 11%READING TEAM: $50k → 17%READING TEAM: $50k → 17%READING TEAM: $40k → 17%READING TEAM: $40k → 17%READING TEAM: $40k → 17%REACH INCORPORATED: $25k → 14%BEACON HOUSE COMMUNITY MINISTRY INC: $20k → 14%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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.5M · 40 repeat orgs$320k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

40 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
11

Total granted

$4.5M
$240k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+14%

Still filing today

83%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k 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
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHuman ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentHealthOther
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

  • EM
    EVERYBODY MATTERS INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $220k · revenue +56%
  • NG
    NEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS TRUST
    5× · 2020–2024 · $215k · revenue +198%
  • IF
    INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $200k · revenue +137%

Funded once

  • LS
    LAKE SUNAPEE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $45k · revenue +66%
  • SP
    SPARK PROGRAM
    one grant, 2020 · $30k
  • REACH EDUCATION INC
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -64%
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 Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
2
Center Stage Associates Inc

See schedule o.inspired by our home city, baltimore center stage acts as a cultural catalyst for all communities to access theater in every form and engage in compelling conversations. programming: capture the collective imagination and…

Arts & Culture
3
Association for Public Art

The association for public art (apa, formerly the fairmount park art association) commissions, preserves, interprets and promotes public art in philadelphia. dedicated to creating a museum without walls that informs, engages and inspires…

Arts & Culture
4
Springboard Collaborative

Springboard collaborative combines targeted student instruction with parent training in an incentivized system that closes the literacy gap, by transferring the summer from a barrier into a springboard for financially disadvantaged…

Human Services
5
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…

—
6
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
7
Stages

Stages makes plays and tells stories that invite everyone to live more deeply and love more boldly.

Arts & Culture
8
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
9
Public Trust

Public Trust is a non-profit organization on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania that fosters learning, creativity, and collaboration in support of justice and equality.

Arts & Culture
10
New York City Center Inc

The mission of new york city center is to be new york city's leading center for dance and musical theater. dedicated to making the arts accessible to the broadest possible audience, city center seeks to create a welcoming environment and…

Arts & Culture
11
Wonders Early Learning Extended Day

To create and advance high quality, diverse educational communities that teach children the foundations of life-long learning and social responsibility.

—
12
Philadelphia Contemporary

We connect the people and places of philadelphia through art and partnership. the organization is a free-standing platform that endeavors to show forward-thinking, high-quality contemporary visual and performance art in the city. the…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Urban Dove Inc; the most unlike its peers is Naptown Philharmonic Orchestra. 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

45 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. 45 of the 55 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/45
Grantees still filing
29/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AUSBON SARGENT LAND PRESERVATION TRUST: $250,000 · EnvironmentAUSBON SARGENT LAND PRESE…NEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS TRUST: $215,000 · EnvironmentNEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS TRUS…FRENCH AND PICKERING CREEKS CONSERVATION TRUST INC: $200,000 · EnvironmentFRENCH AND PICKERING CREE…JENKINS ARBORETUM & GARDENS: $161,498 · EnvironmentJENKINS ARBORETUM & GARDE…Natural Lands Trust Inc: $150,000 · EnvironmentNatural Lands Trust IncSOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS: $50,000 · EnvironmentLAKE SUNAPEE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $45,000 · Environment+1 more: $20,000 · EnvironmentPHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $100,000 · OtherPHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND SC…Individual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTWW INC: $80,000 · OtherTWW INCRosemount Center: $65,000 · OtherCAPITOL HILL ARTS WORKSHOP: $60,000 · OtherBEACON HOUSE: $60,000 · OtherOLNEY THEATRE CENTER: $60,000 · OtherSOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NH FORESTS: $50,000 · OtherFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $50,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $200,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELI…NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC: $125,000 · OtherNATIONAL AQUARIUM INCSMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE INC: $125,000 · OtherSMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & P…+8 more: $185,000 · Other+8 moreTHE LITERACY LAB: $200,000 · EducationTHE LITERACY LA…MIGHTY WRITERS: $190,000 · EducationMIGHTY WRITERSBEHIND THE BOOK INC: $110,000 · EducationBEHIND THE BOOK…SPARK THE JOURNEY: $90,000 · EducationSPARK THE JOURN…THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY FOUNDATION INC: $52,500 · EducationTHE COMMUNITY C…CHILDRENS ARTS GUILD: $240,000 · Arts & CultureCHILDRENS ART…Capital Fringe Inc: $65,000 · Arts & CultureCapital Fring…FRINGEARTS: $60,000 · Arts & CultureFRINGEARTSNaptown Philharmonic Orchestra: $60,000 · Arts & CultureNaptown Philh…SHOUTMOUSEPRESSINC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureSHOUTMOUSEPRE…PHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INC: $40,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA …THE PENNSYLVANIA BALLET ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Arts & CulturePERFORMANCE GARAGE INC: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $20,000 · Arts & CultureREADING TEAM INC: $220,000 · Human ServicesREADING TEA…EVERYBODY MATTERS INC: $220,000 · Human ServicesEVERYBODY M…REACH EDUCATION INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesKENCREST SERVICES: $25,000 · Human ServicesBEACON HOUSE COMMUNITY MINISTRY INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesTHE PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND: $132,500 · Youth DevelopmentTHE URBAN DOVE INC: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentCritical Exposure Inc: $80,000 · Youth DevelopmentPROJECT CREATE: $70,000 · Youth DevelopmentHEALTHY HUMOR INC: $210,000 · HealthTHEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP: $145,000 · HealthTHE BARN AT SPRING BROOK FARM INC: $20,000 · Health
Environment$1,091,498Other$1,260,000Education$642,500Arts & Culture$570,000Human Services$510,000Youth Development$382,500Health$375,000

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 budgetAUSBON SARGENT LAND PRESERVATION TRUST: $250,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetCHILDRENS ARTS GUILD: $240,000 over 5y, 41% of budgetREADING TEAM INC: $220,000 over 5y, 8.3% of budgetEVERYBODY MATTERS INC: $220,000 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS TRUST: $215,000 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetHEALTHY HUMOR INC: $210,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $200,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTHE LITERACY LAB: $200,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFRENCH AND PICKERING CREEKS CONSERVATION TRUST INC: $200,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetMIGHTY WRITERS: $190,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetJENKINS ARBORETUM & GARDENS: $161,498 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetNatural Lands Trust Inc: $150,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP: $145,000 over 5y, 9.1% of budgetTHE PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND: $132,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetSMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE INC: $125,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetNATIONAL AQUARIUM INC: $125,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBEHIND THE BOOK INC: $110,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetTHE URBAN DOVE INC: $100,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSPARK THE JOURNEY: $90,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCritical Exposure Inc: $80,000 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetPROJECT CREATE: $70,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCapital Fringe Inc: $65,000 over 5y, 4.0% of budgetRosemount Center: $65,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetCAPITOL HILL ARTS WORKSHOP: $60,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetFRINGEARTS: $60,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNaptown Philharmonic Orchestra: $60,000 over 4y, 25% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY FOUNDATION INC: $52,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLAKE SUNAPEE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION: $45,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetSHOUTMOUSEPRESSINC: $45,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREACH EDUCATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetKENCREST SERVICES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBEACON HOUSE COMMUNITY MINISTRY INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHE BARN AT SPRING BROOK FARM INC: $20,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetTHE PENNSYLVANIA BALLET ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPERFORMANCE GARAGE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCONNECTICUT RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetARTS FOR LEARNING MARYLAND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTRELLIS FOR TOMORROW: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetYoung Playwrights Theater: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% 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 AUSBON SARGENT LAND PRESERVATION TRUST ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS ARTS GUILD ↗
  • Who funds READING TEAM INC ↗
  • Who funds EVERYBODY MATTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD GARDENS TRUST ↗
  • Who funds HEALTHY HUMOR INC ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE ↗
  • Who funds THE LITERACY LAB ↗
  • Who funds FRENCH AND PICKERING CREEKS CONSERVATION TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds MIGHTY WRITERS ↗
  • Who funds JENKINS ARBORETUM & GARDENS ↗
  • Who funds Natural Lands Trust Inc ↗
  • Who funds THEATER BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS CORP ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds SMITH MEMORIAL PLAYGROUND & PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC ↗
  • Who funds BEHIND THE BOOK INC ↗
  • Who funds THE URBAN DOVE INC ↗
  • Who funds SPARK THE JOURNEY ↗
  • Who funds Critical Exposure Inc ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT CREATE ↗
  • Who funds Capital Fringe Inc ↗
  • Who funds Rosemount Center ↗
  • Who funds CAPITOL HILL ARTS WORKSHOP ↗
  • Who funds FRINGEARTS ↗
  • Who funds Naptown Philharmonic Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF BALTIMORE COUNTY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS ↗
  • Who funds FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LAKE SUNAPEE PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SHOUTMOUSEPRESSINC ↗
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS ADVOCATES INC ↗
  • Who funds BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS THE RIVER 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 Morris and Gwendo…Greater Washington Co…Clark-Winchcole Found…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…The William Penn Foun…Nora Roberts Foundati…Dimick Foundation Joh…Humanities Council of…United Way of the Nat…Corina Higginson Trus…Harman Family Foundat…Philip L Graham Fund …
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz FoundationDC25.3× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · Greater Washington Community Foundation · Clark-Winchcole Foundation · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · The William Penn Foundation · Nora Roberts Foundation · Dimick Foundation John M Lynham Jr Trustee · Humanities Council of Washington DC · United Way of the National Capital Area · Corina Higginson Trust Co Laura Ford Trustee · Harman Family Foundation · Philip L Graham Fund co Graham Holdings Company

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc: 40% of income from government
  • Arts for Learning Maryland Inc: 1% of income from government
  • National Aquarium Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Virginia Cretella Mars Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Virginia Cretella Mars 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 55 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 Virginia Cretella Mars’ 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