Virginia · Nonprofit
THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST
THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST (Virginia) receives grants from 46 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,012,730 to it, the largest being ROBERT G CABELL III AND MAUDE MORGAN CABELL FOUNDATION ($300,000). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 46
- Grants received
- $2.0M
- Net assets
- $19M
What The Corporation for Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest does
Mission
To preserve thomas jefferson's personal retreat and plantation, to inspire exploration of his enduring legacy, and to tell the stories of the free and enslaved people who lived and worked at poplar forest.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Investigation and restoration of jefferson-designed buildings and other historic structures at his retreat (1806). Includes costs other than those capitalized.
$379,754 spent27% of program spendingArchaeological investigation of jefferson's ornamental and plantation landscape; including structures that housed the enslaved community.
$258,849 spent18% of program spendingEducational services to the public, including guided tours, hands-on programs for school children, field schools for adults, and public programs
$787,345 spent$446,658 earned by the program55% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,425,948.
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 2023 to 2024, from $19M to $21M (+6%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 1% · 2018 3% · 2019 3% · 2020 13% · 2021 8% · 2022 5% · 2023 14% · 2024 23%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Alyson M Ramsey
President and CEO
Board chair
Francis B Teague Iii
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 19 funders, grant income fell $394k → $105k.
10 of 46 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 32% 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 THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 46 funders by total. 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
THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
35% 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 THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 76% · 2018 34% · 2019 36% · 2020 22% · 2021 57% · 2022 36% · 2023 20% — 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
52% of THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
79% of THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST's grant income comes from Virginia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $652k 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
THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $158k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$148k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$9k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST
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
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
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 THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST: 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 THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST?
- THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST (Virginia) receives grants from 46 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,012,730 to it, the largest being ROBERT G CABELL III AND MAUDE MORGAN CABELL FOUNDATION ($300,000). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST have?
- IRS filings report 46 organizations giving $2,012,730 in grants to THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST, 26 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST?
- ROBERT G CABELL III AND MAUDE MORGAN CABELL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CORPORATION FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON'S POPLAR FOREST 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 Corporation for Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 46 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