Virginia · Nonprofit
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION
THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION (Virginia) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,118,675 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($641,549). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.4M
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $37M
What The George Washington Foundation does
Mission
The mission of The George Washington Foundation is to enhance the public understanding of the lives, values, and legacies of george washington, fielding and betty washington lewis and their family members, particularly in the broader context of the culture of the fredericksburg, virginia area.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The archaeology department is responsible for conducting archaeological excavations at ferry farm and kenmore. It also conducts historical research and studies the recovered material goods left behind by others including the washington family and their enslaved workers, native americans, participants in the battle of fredericksburg, and others. The research conducted by the department informs exhibits, the foundation's web page, publications, public talks and educational programming.
$475,456 spent24% of program spendingThe education department provides educational programs for learners of all ages and abilities by offering daily tours for visitors to the properties, station-based field trips for school groups, special events for the general public, and summer camps for young learners. The department also offers programs to make the museum accessible and a more enriching learning experience to all.
$781,636 spent40% of program spendingThe curatorial department documents, researches, conserves and interprets the foundation's collections of 18th and 19th century objects and manuscripts, the most important of which is kenmore, the georgian house built by betty and fielding lewis in the 18th century. As such, the curatorial department is also responsible for any preservation-based maintenance, repair or restoration necessary at kenmore, including the monitoring of the interior environmental control systems. These responsibilities are carried out in consultation with the properties department.
$240,871 spent12% of program spendingThe garden and historic landscape department maintains the formal gardens at kenmore under the agreement with the restoration committee guidelines of the garden club of virginia. The department provides special garden tours to visitors interested in the history of kenmore gardens and landscapes. The department also routinely canvasses all properties for any landscape issues that may occur and designs and maintains seasonal interpretive gardens at ferry farm.
$455,874 spent23% of program spendingOther expenses to support the mission of The George Washington Foundation.
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,953,837.
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 2021 to 2022, from $39M to $35M (−10%).
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: 2020 14% · 2021 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
47% of THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Board chair
Ronald E Davis
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $56k → $330k.
13 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 58% 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 GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 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 GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
61% 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 GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 27% · 2018 51% · 2019 28% · 2020 33% · 2021 14% · 2022 22% · 2023 33% — growing more concentrated.
“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
46% of THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
58% of THE GEORGE WASHINGTON 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 $885k that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 15 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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 GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half 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
Organizations like THE GEORGE WASHINGTON 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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
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 THE GEORGE WASHINGTON 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 THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION?
- THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION (Virginia) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,118,675 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($641,549). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $2,118,675 in grants to THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE GEORGE WASHINGTON FOUNDATION?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $641,549 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE GEORGE WASHINGTON 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 George Washington →
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 37 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