The Ruffin Family Foundation
Virginia Beach, VA · EIN 47-4359594. Reported 85 grants totalling $866,379 to 60 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk Academy | Norfolk, VA | $400,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Cleveland Clinic Foundation | Cleveland, OH | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fact | Chicago, IL | $35,819 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| An Acheivable Dream | Newport News, VA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Heart Association | Virginia Beach, VA | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Vb Court Appointed Special Advocates | Virginia Beach, VA | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Virginia Gentleman Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Champions for Kids | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Club Blue of the Hampton Roads | Norfolk, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Equi Kids Therapeutic | Virginia Beach, VA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Virginia Tech Foundation | Blacksburg, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Virginia Aquarium Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $4,250 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Vibe Creative District | Virginia Beach, VA | $3,700 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Equi-Kids | Virginia Beach, VA | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Risevb | Virginia Beach, VA | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Wreaths Across America | Portsmouth, VA | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| An Achievable Dream | Newport News, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Charles Barker's Champions for Kids | Virginia Beach, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chick's for Charity | Virginia Beach, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fight Cf Foundation | Bethesda, MD | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| World Wide Women Group | Suffolk, VA | $1,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| 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 |
14 of 60 (23%) 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 36%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 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 - American Heart Association
To Build Healthier Lives Fee of Cardiovascular Diseases and Strokes - 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. - 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 recipient's own IRS classification, for the 38 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
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 |
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. 60% 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.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- 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 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
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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