The Ruffin Family Foundation
Virginia Beach, VA · EIN 47-4359594. Reported 99 grants totalling $1,096,956 to 65 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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 Ruffin 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,500; the smallest was $173 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk Academy | Norfolk, VA | $500,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Cleveland Clinic Foundation | Cleveland, OH | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cleveland Clinic | Cleveland, OH | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Fact | Chicago, IL | $38,819 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| An Acheivable Dream | Newport News, VA | $33,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| American Heart Association | Virginia Beach, VA | $15,027 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Vb Court Appointed Special Advocates | Virginia Beach, VA | $12,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Virginia Gentleman Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Virginia Aquarium Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,250 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Champions for Kids | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Club Blue of the Hampton Roads | Norfolk, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Charles Barker's Champions for Kids | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Equi Kids Therapeutic | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Risevb | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The Virginia Tech Foundation | Blacksburg, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Va Beach Police Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $4,800 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Vibe Creative District | Virginia Beach, VA | $3,700 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Equi-Kids | Virginia Beach, VA | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wreaths Across America | Portsmouth, VA | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| An Achievable Dream | Newport News, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chick's for Charity | Virginia Beach, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fight Cf Foundation | Bethesda, MD | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fight Cf Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Kaizxen Adaptive Athletics | Virginia Beach, VA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| 31 Heroes | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,700 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters | Norfolk, VA | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| River Ellis Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| World Wide Women Group | Suffolk, VA | $1,250 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Virginia Beach Rescue Squad Foundatoin | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,030 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Aspen Hope Center | Aspen, CO | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chkd - Lighting the Way | Norfolk, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cycle for Survival | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Go Fund Me Miss Liz & Sawyer Relief Fund | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hospice House of Hampton Roads | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Leanne Dungan Fund | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Norfolk Collegiate | Norfolk, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sugar Plum Inc | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Als Association Greater New York Chapter | New York, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Gleason Initiative Foundation | New Orleans, LA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Small Cell Ovarian Cancer Foundation | Draper, UT | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The DDX3X Foundation | Wilmington, DE | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Untamed Spirit Therapeutic Program | Va Beach, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Va Gentlemen Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Baylake Pines Methodist Church | Virginia Beach, VA | $750 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Corolla Wild Horse Fund | Corolla, NC | $516 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cancer Care Foundation | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cots | Burlington, VT | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chesapeake Schools Educational Foundatoin | Chesapeake, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Dr James Harris Fund | Wichita, KS | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hola | Virginia Beach, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hope and Dreams for Als | Virginia Beach, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Chinese Community Associtation | Virginia Beach, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Uncommon Schools | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Virginia Beach United Methodist Church | Virginia Beach, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Virginia Beach SPCA | Virginia Beach, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Virginia Beach Rescue Squad Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $408 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Proverbs 31 Ministries | Matthews, NC | $265 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New Kent Humane Society | Providence Forge, VA | $260 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cancer Research Institute | New York, NY | $258 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | New York, NY | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Blackwater Baptist Church | Virginia Beach, VA | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Orion Hunter Elite Fastpitch | Chesapeake, VA | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Mary's School | Richmond, VA | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Jude's Children's Hospital | Memphis, TN | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lift Fitness Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $173 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
16 of 65 (25%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 36%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- An Acheivable Dream
TO HELP DEVELOP INDEPENDENT, PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS THROUGH A SOCIAL, ACADEMIC, AND MORAL EDUCATION. - Fact
TO PROMOTE HUMANE FARMING AND FOOD SAFETY - Virginia Gentleman Foundation
TO SUPPORT ORGANIZATION'S MISSION - Vb Court Appointed Special Advocates
recruits, trains and supervises competent volunteers dedicated to advocating for the needs of abused and neglected children currently in court proceedings. - American Heart Association
To Build Healthier Lives Free of Cardiovascular Diseases and Strokes - Champions for Kids
TO HELP PROVIDE KIDS IN THE COMMUNITY WITH THE RESOURCES THEY NEED TO THRIVE.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 43 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | $153,658 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 20 | $140,250 | $1,000 |
| 2023 | 21 | $338,008 | $1,000 |
| 2024 | 19 | $234,463 | $1,000 |
| 2025 | 14 | $230,577 | $2,750 |
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
59% of its giving went to organizations in Virginia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Virginia.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Ruffin Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 300 32ND Street Suite 301, Virginia Beach, VA, 23451. 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 47-4359594 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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