Virginia · Nonprofit
AFF FOUNDATION
AFF FOUNDATION (Virginia) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,376,000 to it, the largest being NEW VENTURE FUND ($7,100,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $4.1M
What Aff Foundation does
Mission
America's frontier fund was created as a mission-driven platform to ensure america is the best place for innovators to reach for new frontiers.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2024, Aff Foundation (aff) focused its activities on (1) "new frontiers" - building regional innovation ecosystems across the united states through policy implementation support, innovation strategy consulting, upskilling and workforce development activities, research, and thought leadership; (2) "global frontiers" - supporting the tech diplomacy efforts of the u.s. Government by fostering international relationships through the quad investors network which includes representatives from india, japan, australia, and the united states, and solving challenges that disproportionately affect the global south via the partnership for digital access in africa (pdaa); and (3) "endless frontiers" - convening events, (continued schedule o) (continued from part iii) competitions, media activities, and other initiatives that promote collaboration between industry executives, policymakers, scientists, funders, and investors focused on the intersection of frontier technology and the national interest.
$2,706,071 spent$1,863,849 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,706,071.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $193k to $4.8M (+2378%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
54% of AFF FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Gilman Louie
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Sam Palmisano
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 12 funders, grant income fell $7.3M → $4.9M.
10 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AFF FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AFF FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
81% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AFF FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 97% · 2023 41% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
80% of AFF FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.2M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $13M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AFF FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,607 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,607 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like AFF FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
59% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- America's Frontier Management LLC · disregarded
- America's Frontier Fund Gp LLC · disregarded
- Frontier Fund I Alpha Gp LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AFF FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AFF FOUNDATION?
- AFF FOUNDATION (Virginia) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,376,000 to it, the largest being NEW VENTURE FUND ($7,100,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does AFF FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $16,376,000 in grants to AFF FOUNDATION, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AFF FOUNDATION?
- NEW VENTURE FUND is the largest funder on record, with $7,100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AFF FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Aff →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 21 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing