The Ross Foundation
Arkadelphia, AR · EIN 71-6060574. Reported 101 grants totalling $2,845,432 to 48 recipients 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 Ross 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $15,000; the smallest was $150 and the largest $351,684. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkadelphia Promise Foundation | Arkadelphia, AR | $1,406,736 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Arkansas Game & Fish Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $559,598 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Nature Conservancy | Little Rock, AR | $185,078 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Arkansas Forestry Assoc Education Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $170,078 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ouachita Baptist University | Arkadelphia, AR | $75,600 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Arkansas Foodbank Network | Little Rock, AR | $57,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Arkadelphia Public Schools | Arkadelphia, AR | $55,000 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Dawson Education Cooperative | Arkadelphia, AR | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hospital - Baptist Health Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $42,796 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| City of Arkadelphia | Arkadelphia, AR | $41,750 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Choose Outdoors Inc | Denver, CO | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ar Single Parent Scholarship Fund Program | Springdale, AR | $22,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Dawson Educational Cooperative | Arkadelphia, AR | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute | Hot Springs, AR | $12,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Percy & Donna Malone Child Safety Center | Arkadelphia, AR | $11,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Family Services | Little Rock, AR | $11,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Arkansas Children's Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $10,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Arkansas Community Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry | Little Rock, AR | $9,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Home and Family Serv | Little Rock, AR | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Arkadelphia Community Foundation | Arkadelphia, AR | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Community Family Enrichment Center | Arkadelphia, AR | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| First United Methodist Church | Arkadelphia, AR | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Call of Clark County | Arkadelphia, AR | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Arkansas Foundation Inc | Fayetteville, AR | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clark County Arkansas | Arkadelphia, AR | $4,806 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| CASA of Clark and Pike Counties | Arkadelphia, AR | $4,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Group Living Inc | Arkadelphia, AR | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Curtis Rural Fire Department | Curtis, AR | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| City of Amity | Amity, AR | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Call | Arkadelphia, AR | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Ar State Council on Economic Education | Little Rock, AR | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| City of Gurdon | Gurdon, AR | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Give Me a Chance Equine Rescue | Arkadelphia, AR | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Lions of Arkansas Foundation | Hazen, AR | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Pregnancy Resouce Center for Sw Ar | Arakadelphia, AR | $1,540 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Little League Baseball Inc | Arkadelphia, AR | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Organization for Youth Education in Agriculture | Prescott, AR | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Clark County 4-H Foundation | Arkadelphia, AR | $1,350 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Arkansas Environmental Education Association | Greenland, AR | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Baptist Health Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clark County Arts & Humanities Council | Arkadelphia, AR | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Soldiers of Service of Clark County | Gurdon, AR | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Arkansas Environmental Education Assoc | Greenland, AR | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Nica Hot Springs Thoroughbreds | Hot Springs, AR | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clark County Community Foundation | Arkadelphia, AR | $400 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Paul AME Church | Arkadelphia, AR | $350 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Keeping Degray Lake Beautiful Inc | Arkdelphia, AR | $150 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
25 of 48 (52%) 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 65%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.
- Arkansas Game & Fish Foundation
Conservation Work (Big Timber WMA and (JMWMA Funds), Support work in the West Gulf Coastal Plain. - The Nature Conservancy
Control burn ignition drone and general support - City of Arkadelphia
Arkadelphia Festival of the Arts and License Plate Readers - Dawson Education Cooperative
Mini Grant Program - 2022-2023, Mini Grant Program - 2023-2024 - Choose Outdoors Inc
America's Forests with Chuck Leavell: Arkansas - Ouachita Baptist University
Purchase Trees to Beautify Campus, Approved $57,200 payable over 2 years
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 44 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 | $729,750 | $7,000 |
| 2022 | 23 | $655,597 | $3,000 |
| 2023 | 26 | $712,430 | $3,000 |
| 2024 | 27 | $747,655 | $5,000 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Ross Foundation has 18 of them, worth $177,900. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Ouachita Baptist University | Arkadelphia, AR | $38,600 |
| Clark County Arkansas | Arkadelphia, AR | $24,600 |
| Baptist Health Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $20,000 |
| Arkansas Children's Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $15,000 |
| Dawson Educational Cooperative | Arkadelphia, AR | $15,000 |
| Hospital - Baptist Health Foundation | Little Rock, AR | $10,500 |
| Manchester Community Center Inc | Arkadelphia, AR | $10,000 |
| Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund | Little Rock, AR | $7,500 |
| Ar Single Parent Scholarship Fund Program | Springdale, AR | $7,000 |
| Arkansas School for Math Science & the Arts | Hot Springs, AR | $5,000 |
| The Call of Clark County | Arkadelphia, AR | $5,000 |
| Arkadelphia Community Foundation | Arkadelphia, AR | $5,000 |
| CASA of Clark and Pike Counties | Arkadelphia, AR | $4,200 |
| City of Arkadelphia | Arkadelphia, AR | $3,000 |
| City of Amity | Amity, AR | $3,000 |
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in Arkansas. 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 $5,000. 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 Arkansas.
- 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.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Ross Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: Po Box 335, Arkadelphia, AR, 71923. 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 71-6060574 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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