Virginia · Nonprofit
ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION
ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION (Virginia) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $117,528 to it, the largest being CHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($63,075). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 68% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $163k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $118k
- Net assets
- $184k
What Rockfish Valley Foundation does
Mission
The mission of the Rockfish Valley Foundation is to preserve the natural, historical, ecological and agricultural resources of the Rockfish Valley. We accomplish this with an education process that uses the following resources: the Nelson Scenic Loop, Spruce Creek Park, the Natural History Center, six miles in the Rockfish Valley Trail System, and lands associated with them. The mission further supports conservation, recreation, preservation, agricultural and environmental education, and promotes a rural tourism experience in the Rockfish Valley of Nelson County, Virginia. We aim to inspire a healthy lifestyle by offering hiking trails, a public park, programs and events. We support all students whether in Nelson public schools, home schools or private schools. The lands serve as our outdoor laboratory for students, the community and visitors, alike. Our vision is to enhance environmental literacy and create better stewards. We are the nature guys and Nature is our game.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
ROCKFISH RIVER TRAILS, CHILDREN'S NATURE TRAIL AND SPRUCE CREEK PARK OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE AND VISITATION. All facilities were open and RVF celebrated 20 years of operations. Grounds maintenance and repairs continue to be a major focus. Hurricane Helene that occurred in Sept 2024 continued to require efforts to repair a lot of washouts along trails, parking and entrances along with some erosion. Weather is getting more impactful. Volunteer Work Days with Master Naturalists and RVF volunteers continued into 2025 to be a focus. The wonderful educational learning Pavilion that was designed and constructed with contractors and volunteers became a central focus. There was focus on the need to increase maintenance budget, create reserves and enhance our contact numbers and information for volunteers, donors and visitors. The capacity needs become more evident. As a result, the 2025 budget goal was increased to $130,000. RVF facilities and operations have grown significantly since just before COVID. The budget has grown from $25,000 about 6 years ago to $130,000.
$24,196 spentof which $5,895 as grants72% of program spendingCOMMUNITY NATURE PROGRAMS. RVF is the nature guys, as big as all outdoors and holds education of the community as its top objective. Rockfish Valley Foundation's Natural History Center continued to have its focus on being open more to the public. We say come visit "when the flags are flying". In 2025 RVF celebrated 20 years and there were several enhancements to exhibits. Volunteers including members of the Nelson Hispanic community maintained the translation in Spanish of the self-guided tour in the museum. Another volunteer continued the creation of a Monacan Nation exhibit in two large cases and their surrounds with the install of new lighting. Visitation continues to increase. This is the first such exhibit outside their own headquarters. Further promotion of our Lending Library was seen in 2024 and into 2025.
$1,869 spent6% of program spendingPLANTS & EDUCATION -Environmental literacy education project began in 2018 with a grant form VA Department of Conservation and Recreation. The grant was completed in December 2024, and the program was dedicated to the public on May 2nd. ENLIT is a recreational trails project that creates accessible educational content thru QR code activated modules that support a fun experience for different age levels to enhance environmental literacy. It is displayed thru signage, website and devices with digital connectivity along the trails and in the park. We created digital connectivity using Firefly fiber optic taken from existing electric lines and existing Verizon cellular. Teaching aids and devices that relate to water, rocks, plants, animals, culture and history are installed as well. The control of invasive and support for the previous and current planting of natives was major. Install of native and invasive plant signs with QR codes was a created as a resource along the South Fork of the Rockfish River trails. There is an outdoor learning pavilion. In 2025 we maintained trailside amenities such as benches, picnic tables and dealt with the challenge of pet waste. Walk Talks and…
$7,655 spent23% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $33,720.
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 2020 to 2021, from $121k to $171k (+41%).
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.
100% of ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $15k → $27k.
3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 68% 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 ROCKFISH VALLEY 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
ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 54% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
68% 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 ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 97% · 2021 98% · 2022 92% · 2023 42% — 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
68% of ROCKFISH VALLEY 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 $37k that is directly attributable, 94% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 2 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $80k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like ROCKFISH VALLEY 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.
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ROCKFISH VALLEY 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 ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION?
- ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION (Virginia) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $117,528 to it, the largest being CHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($63,075). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 68% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $117,528 in grants to ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ROCKFISH VALLEY FOUNDATION?
- CHARLOTTESVILLE AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $63,075 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ROCKFISH VALLEY 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 Rockfish Valley →
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 6 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