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W Russell and Norma Ramsey Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

W Russell and Norma Ramsey Foundation Inc

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.

$753k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Education$1.4MCommunity Improvement$320kHealth$216kYouth Development$150kArts & Culture$133kHuman Services$132kPhilanthropy$129kRecreation & Sports$122kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $135k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $109k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$15,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE POTOMAC SCHOOL$500,000
ROBIN HOOD$109,000
MONUMENTAL SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT FOUNDATION$25,000
PGA TOUR FIRST TEE FOUNDATION INC$25,000
DON BOSCO CRISTO REY HIGH SCHOOL$20,000
FIRST TEE - GREATER WASHINGTON DC$20,000
THE WASHINGTON BALLET$15,000
UMD COLLEGE PARK$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA$10,000
COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET$10,000
ELS FOR AUTISM$5,000
BETHESDA COMMUNITY BASEBALL CLUB$2,500
NICHOLAS BARTON MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$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 (FY20–20, $17k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%FIGHT FOR CHILDREN: $17k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
MA
NV
WY
CT
CA
VA
MD
DE
TN
NC
DC
FL
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.

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 17 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
37

Total granted

$1.6M
$938k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+16%

Still filing today

71%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $219k 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
EducationHealthPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsArts & CultureInternationalOther
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

  • TP
    The Potomac School
    7× · 2017–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +31%
  • BC
    BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC
    2× · 2017–2022 · $75k · revenue +4%
  • CR
    CAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2020–2023 · $40k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • GW
    GREATER WASHINGTON PARTNERSHIP
    one grant, 2021 · $320k · revenue -41%
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +16%
  • CO
    COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -6%
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
2
Harvard Club of Washington Dc

To inform and enrich the intellectual lives of 20,000 alumni of harvard university in the washington, dc area and to assist harvard university with respect to applicants and undergraduates from the dc area.

Education
3
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
4
University of Maryland Physicians Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
5
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
6
Boston Architectural College

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

—
7
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…

—
8
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
10
University of Maryland Facultyphysicians Inc

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland, school of medicine, administrative support services are provided to the physician practices of the university of maryland, including but not limited to information technology,…

Health
11
The Leadership Foundation

The leadership foundation, inc. (the foundation), established in 1990, is the mechanism by which iwf members advance the next generation of women leaders. the foundation accelerates the careers of top-performing women by offering…

—
12
Columbia College

Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fight for Children Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. 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

44 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. 44 of the 63 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/44
Grantees still filing
25/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Potomac School: $1,127,000 · EducationThe Potomac School+8 more: $121,757 · Education+8 moreBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE: $100,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF…DON BOSCO CRISTO REY HIGH SCHOOL: $80,000 · OtherDON BOSCO CRISTO REY HI…CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $75,750 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIESJOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY & MEDICINE: $50,000 · OtherJOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY…THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERISTY: $25,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $20,000 · OtherANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $30,000 · OtherMARTHA'S TABLE INC: $25,000 · Other+22 more: $173,300 · Other+22 moreGREATER WASHINGTON PARTNERSHIP: $320,000 · Recreation & SportsGREATER WASHINGT…USTA PLAYER DEVELOPMENT INCORPORATED: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsUSTA PLAYER DEVE…PGA TOUR FIRST TEE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsPGA TOUR FIRST T…THE FIRST TEE OF GREATER WASHINGTON DC LANGSTON GOLF COURSE: $20,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $109,000 · PhilanthropyMONUMENTAL SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT FOUNDATION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyBLUE ANGELS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $10,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $4,400 · PhilanthropyCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $50,000 · InternationalJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $50,000 · InternationalHELLENIC INITIATIVE INC: $25,000 · InternationalNELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND: $10,000 · InternationalWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $110,000 · Arts & CultureTHE WASHINGTON BALLET: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $3,000 · Arts & CultureBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $75,000 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $10,000 · HealthOUR MINDS MATTER: $10,000 · HealthINOVA HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Health
Education$1,248,757Other$579,050Recreation & Sports$395,000Philanthropy$188,400International$135,000Arts & Culture$128,000Health$110,000

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 Potomac School: $1,127,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetGREATER WASHINGTON PARTNERSHIP: $320,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $110,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER WASHINGTON AND AFFILIATE: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC: $39,757 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUSTA PLAYER DEVELOPMENT INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 91% of budgetMONUMENTAL SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHELLENIC INITIATIVE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE ACCESS PROGRAM: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FIRST TEE OF GREATER WASHINGTON DC LANGSTON GOLF COURSE: $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFIGHT FOR CHILDREN INC: $17,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetBLUE ANGELS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTHE WASHINGTON BALLET: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEADERSHIP GREATER WASHINGTON: $13,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTHE FAMILY TREE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBPS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOUR MINDS MATTER: $10,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANNE ARUNDEL COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetINOVA HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYouth Invest Partners Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetThe George Washington University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKAPPA DELTA FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $6,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNorthern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBETHESDA COMMUNITY BASE BALL CLUB: $5,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGREAT FALLS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: $5,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS IN UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOOLS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetELS FOR AUTISM FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYELLOW RIBBON FUND INC: $4,400 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMCLEAN PROJECT FOR THE ARTS: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE UNISON PRESERVATION SOCIETY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $1,000 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.

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.

Greater Washington Co…The Ayco Charitable F…Mody FoundationThe Carl M Freeman Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…T Rowe Price Program …The Scott and Patrice…Clark Charitable Foun…The Morris and Gwendo…National Philanthropi…The Northrop Grumman …Annie E Casey Foundat…
Greater Washington Community FoundationDC22.9× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Washington Community Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Mody Foundation · The Carl M Freeman Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · The Scott and Patrice Brickman Family Foundation · Clark Charitable Foundation Inc Dba a James & Alice B Clark Foundation · The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Northrop Grumman Foundation · Annie E Casey 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 W Russell and Norma Ramsey Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from W Russell and Norma Ramsey Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Cal Ripken Sr Foundation Inc: 12% of income from government
  • The Family Tree Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Yellow Ribbon Fund Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get 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 · 0–25%
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 W Russell and Norma Ramsey Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to W Russell and Norma Ramsey Foundation Inc 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 63 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 W Russell and Norma Ramsey’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