FundersVirginia

The Houff Family Foundation

Mount Sidney, VA · EIN 81-4490534. Reported 194 grants totalling $944,500 to 63 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$3,000median grant
$944,500granted, 2021-2024
63organizations funded
88%of grantees funded again the next year
$5,293,140assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. The Houff Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,500 and $7,500; the smallest was $500 and the largest $30,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
3 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
122 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
29 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
36 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Samariton's PurseBoone, NC$80,000442024
Augusta Christian AcademyFishersville, VA$50,000222024
Alice Lloyd CollegePippa Passes, KY$45,000332024
Blue Ridge Community CollegeWeyers Cave, VA$45,000442024
Bridgewater CollegeBridgewater, VA$40,000442024
Bridgewater Healthcare FoundationBridgewater, VA$40,000442024
Hope DistributedHarrisonburg, VA$40,000442024
Redeemer Classical SchoolHarrisonburg, VA$40,000442024
CompassGlen Allen, VA$37,500442024
Central Valley Habitat for HumanityBridgewater, VA$35,000442024
Young LifePrescott, AZ$32,500442024
Blue Ridge Christian SchoolBridgewater, VA$30,000442024
Blue Ridge Free ClinicHarrisonburg, VA$25,000442024
Intervarsity Christian Fellowship USAMadison, WI$22,000442024
Open DoorsHarrisonburg, VA$18,000442024
Isaiah 61 Ministries IncWaynesboro, VA$17,000442024
Third ChurchRichmond, VA$15,000222022
CASA for ChildrenStaunton, VA$14,500442024
Harrisonburg First Church of the NazareneBridgewater, VA$14,500332024
Pleasant Valley Church of the BrethrenWeyers Cave, VA$14,500442024
Warm ShelterWaynesboro, VA$14,000332024
New CreationHarrisonburg, VA$13,000222024
Wingfield MinistriesHarrisonburg, VA$12,500112021
Boys' Home of VirginiaCovington, VA$12,000442024
Fort Defiance High SchoolFt Defiance, VA$12,000442024
Mercy HouseHarrisonburg, VA$12,000442024
Village to Village IncWeyers Cave, VA$11,500442024
Virginia FFA Foundation IncWeyers Cave, VA$11,000442024
Advancing Native MissionsAfton, VA$10,500442024
Blue Ridge Area Food BankVerona, VA$10,500442024
Explore More Discovery Childrens Museum of HarrisonburgHarrisonburg, VA$10,000442024
Fellowship of Christian AthletesKansas City, MO$10,000112021
Isaiah 117 HouseElizabethton, TN$10,000112024
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Harrisonburg & Rockingham CountyHarrisonburg, VA$9,500442024
Appalachia Service Project IncJohnson City, TN$9,000332024
Weyers Cave Recreation AssociationWeyers Cave, VA$9,000112021
Augusta ExpoFishersville, VA$8,000442024
Equipping the SaintsWeyers Cave, VA$8,000442024
Rmh FoundationHarrisonburg, VA$8,000442024
Skyline LiteracyHarrisonburg, VA$6,500332023
Still Meadows Enrichment Center and CampLinville, VA$6,000442024
Way to Go IncMassanutten, VA$6,000442024
Agriculture in the ClassroomRichmond, VA$5,500442024
National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyGlen Allen, VA$5,500442024
Brethern & Mennonite Heritage CenterHarrisonburg, VA$5,000112024
Help (health Equipment Loan Program Inc)Churchville, VA$5,000112021
Mental Health America of AugustaStaunton, VA$5,000442024
The Family Foundation of VirginiaRichmond, VA$5,000442024
For RichmondRichmond, VA$4,000332024
National FFA Foundation IncIndianapolis, IN$4,000442024
Oasis ChurchRadford, VA$3,500112022
Sonshine MinistriesHarrisonburg, VA$3,500332023
Augusta County Fair AssociationVerona, VA$3,000332024
Camp Brethern WoodsKeeztletown Va, VA$3,000222024
Appalachian Christian SchoolWaynesboro, VA$2,500112022
Friendship IndustriesHarrisonburg, VA$2,500112021
Martha Jefferson HospitalCharlottesville, VA$2,500112021
Wmra National Public RadioHarrisonburg, VA$2,500442024
Augusta County Sheriff's Office FoundationVerona, VA$2,000222022
Brain Injury Connections of the Shenandoah ValleyHarrisonburg, VA$2,000222022
National Child Safety Council & Local Law EnforcementJackson, MI$2,000222024
Generations CrossingRockingham, VA$1,000112022
Valley Mission IncStaunton, VA$1,000112021

51 of 63 (81%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 88%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 96 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
22 grants
Religion
17 grants
Education
16 grants
Health Care
10 grants
Recreation & Sports
7 grants
Diseases & Disorders
6 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Housing & Shelter
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202150$235,500$2,750
202248$221,250$3,000
202348$220,750$3,000
202448$267,000$3,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 77% of this one's giving went to organizations in Virginia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Virginia
$730K
North Carolina
$80K
Kentucky
$45K
Arizona
$32K
Wisconsin
$22K
Tennessee
$19K
Missouri
$10K
Indiana
$4K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg18 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund16 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc16 shared recipientsSentara Health11 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation10 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program10 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Virginia.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in VirginiaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Houff Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 3006 Lee Hwy, Mount Sidney, VA, 24467. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 81-4490534 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.