The Kris Rockwell Foundation
Pittsburgh, PA · EIN 47-1440025. Reported 130 grants totalling $16.8M to 86 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 Kris Rockwell 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $35,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $4,080,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Morris University | Moon Township, PA | $12.2M | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Aspinwall Riverfront Park Inc | Pittsburgh, PA | $750,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Sk Rockwell Conservation Fund | Pittsburgh, PA | $615,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Kiskiminetas Spring School | Saltsburg, PA | $402,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Allegheny Rivertrail Park | Pittsburgh, PA | $375,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Rivers | Washington, DC | $325,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ruffed Grouse Society | Pittsburgh, PA | $300,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Inc | Washington, DC | $180,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Fidelity Charitable | Cincinnati, OH | $155,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ducks Unlimited Inc | Memphis, TN | $110,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fisher House Foundation | Rockville, MD | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Power | Pittsburgh, PA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| US Youth Fly Fishing Team Inc | State College, PA | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bonefish & Tarpon Trust | Coral Gables, FL | $65,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| National Aviary in Pittsburgh Inc | Pittsburgh, PA | $63,735 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Nature Conservancy | Arlington, VA | $53,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Allegheny Land Trust | Sewickley, PA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Aspinwall Riverfront Park Inc - Park and Trail Acquisition | Pittsburgh, PA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Prototype Pgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Theodore Roosevelt Consrvtn Partnership | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Deer Association | Bogart, GA | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Oasis Recovery Center of Western Pa | Pittsburgh, PA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Penn State University Philanthropic Fund | University Park, PA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Backcountry Hunters & Anglers | Missoula, MT | $33,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Keep Fish Wet Inc | Amherst, MA | $27,800 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bloomfield-Garfield Corp | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bridgeway Capital - Monmade | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Bridgeway Capital - the Trade Show Boot Camp | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cancer Bridges | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Homeless Children's Education Fund | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Minority Outdoor Alliance Inc Grant | Douglasville, GA | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Steel City Squash Inc | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Sweetwater Arts Center | Sewickley, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wildlife Leadership Academy | Lock Haven, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Arc Human Services Inc - Workforce Training for Disabled | Canonsburg, PA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Prevention Point Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Umass Amherst Foundation | Amherst, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Fish for Change | Denver, CO | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Reading Is Fundamental - Storymobile Literacy Programming | Pittsburgh, PA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Clemente Society - the Clemente Museum | Pittsburgh, PA | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| 2021 Maximum Impact Project - Givewell | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Afrorack LLC | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Assemble Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Captains for Clean Water | Fort Myers, FL | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Duquesne University | Pittsburgh, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Fl | Tallahassee, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Flux Foundation | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Peal - Parent Education & Advocacy Leadership | Pittsburgh, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation | Homestead, PA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Trout Unlimited Inc | Arlington, VA | $9,984 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Eco Defense Group | Park City, UT | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Assemble | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Beverly's Birthday | North Huntingdon, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Beyond Differences | San Rafael, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cancer Bridges (formally Our Clubhouse) | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Crisis Center North | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Fillet for Friends | Boca Raton, FL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| For Good Pgh - Covid 19 | Braddock, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fox Families Care | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friendship Circle | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Hands Across the Sea | Boston, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Heroes Never Alone Inc | S Ligonier, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Homes for Our Troops | Taunton, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Indifly - Makhangoa Community Solar Project | Saint Paul, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Indifly Foundation | Saint Paul, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Innocence Project Inc | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Leukemia and Lymphoma Society | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lightfield Visuals Inc | Portland, OR | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Menikanaehkem Inc | Gresham, WI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pittsburgh Emergency Medicine Foundation - W David Kerr Sporting Clay Shoo | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pivot a Turning Point for Youth | Oklahoma City, OK | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Safespace Inc | Louisburg, NC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Second Harvest | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic Project | Arlington, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Lily House | Wellfleet, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Open Doorway Ptsa | West Palm Beach, FL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Trade Institute of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Yellowstone to Yukon | Bozeman, MT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Winchester Thurston | Pittsburgh, PA | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Allegheny Clean Ways | Etna, PA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Kiski School | Saltsburg, PA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| For Good Pgh | Braddock, PA | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Monmouth Celebration of Cultures | Monmouth, OR | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Community Advancement | Benton, AR | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
26 of 86 (30%) 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 34%, 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.
- Robert Morris University
COVER THE COST OF OPERATIONS OF THE RECIPIENTS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 68 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 | 41 | $803,719 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 39 | $4,865,300 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 22 | $4,495,500 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 10 | $4,942,500 | $55,000 |
| 2025 | 18 | $1,704,500 | $17,500 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Kris Rockwell Foundation has 1 of them, worth $25,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Fisher House Foundation | Rockville, MD | $25,000 |
Where its money goes
92% of its giving went to organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 $10,000. 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 Pennsylvania.
- 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 Kris Rockwell 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: 960 Penn Avenue Suite 400, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222. 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 47-1440025 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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