Virginia · Nonprofit
FOOTHILLS FORUM
FOOTHILLS FORUM (Virginia) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,161,415 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($287,400). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $384k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $467k
What Foothills Forum does
Mission
Foothills Forum is a community-supported nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the residents of Rappahannock County, Virginia, through the creation and dissemination of deeply researched, well-sourced independent local journalism. Since 2014, Foothills Forum has earned -- through the production of its original, authoritative reporting and its distribution through the respected, century-old weekly broadsheet Rappahannock News and through virtual and social media platforms -- substantial backing throughout its rural county in the Virginia Piedmont.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
1. Journalism - Foothills Forum journalists produced a record number of outstanding deep-dive stories during 2025. Some of the top stories for Foothills Forum during 2025 emphasized issues of importance to the residents of Rappahannock County including the county budget and options being considered for a new county courthouse. In addition, stories addressed the continued expansion of data centers in neighboring counties, and the impact of federal budget cuts on the county. In the Virginia Press Association annual competition, Foothills Forum journalists won 30 awards, and together with our partners at the Rappahannock News, won a combined 46 awards, including the Grand Sweepstakes award as the top news organization of its size in Virginia for the fifth consecutive year. Over half of these awards were first place and many were in "open" competition, meaning they were from all news organizations including the Washington Post and Virginia's other major news outlets.
$211,034 spentof which $12,000 as grants83% of program spending2. Community Outreach - In 2025, Foothills Forum offered the first Ethics Palooza, which was an entertaining evening event intended to demonstrate the ethical decisions faced by journalists when researching and writing stories. The event engaged about 70 people from the community, placing them in groups of 8 and presenting them with scenarios based on historical facts. Led by a facilitator, the groups presented and discussed their suggestions. Additionally, our Annual Meeting in October 2025 was well attended and featured a short presentation followed by a question-and-answer session with national journalist Judy Woodruff, with the primary topic of discussion being local journalism.
$29,497 spent12% of program spending3. Youth and Journalism - Foothills Forum continued to offer and expand a countywide "Storytelling Contest." As in past years, a record number of local high school and middle school students (from public and private schools) submitted entries (written, digital, musical, artistic, etc.) telling stories about themselves and their community. In addition, Foothills Forum worked with the local public high school to develop a journalism class. The class has been offered during the first semester of 2026.
$14,889 spent6% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $255,420.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2022 to 2023, from $305k to $385k (+26%).
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.
95% of FOOTHILLS FORUM’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 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
Emily A Oaks
Executive Director
Board chair
Andrew Alexander
Board Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $26k → $201k.
5 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 FOOTHILLS FORUM’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
FOOTHILLS FORUM has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
75% 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 FOOTHILLS FORUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 52% · 2018 59% · 2019 47% · 2020 65% · 2021 39% · 2022 29% · 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.
How long its funders stay
86% of FOOTHILLS FORUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 77% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
92% of FOOTHILLS FORUM's grant income comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $574k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
FOOTHILLS FORUM holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FOOTHILLS FORUM
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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
54%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FOOTHILLS FORUM: 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 FOOTHILLS FORUM?
- FOOTHILLS FORUM (Virginia) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,161,415 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($287,400). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FOOTHILLS FORUM have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,161,415 in grants to FOOTHILLS FORUM, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FOOTHILLS FORUM?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $287,400 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FOOTHILLS FORUM 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 13 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing