The Joan W Rhame Foundation appears to be a highly focused funder making a single, large unrestricted award. Its only recorded grant is a $1,000,000 general operating gift to The Olana Partnership, indicating interest in sustaining a specific cultural or historic site partner rather than spreading smaller grants across many organizations. This suggests a preference for deep, mission-supportive investments in cultural heritage or historic preservation work.
Highly concentrated giving: a single large, unrestricted grant to one organization rather than multiple or recurring smaller awards. The foundation favors deep, one-off support to a flagship grantee.
THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP
A single $1,000,000 general operating grant to The Olana Partnership stands out in The Joan W Rhame Foundation’s recent record and signals a funder willing to make concentrated support for a specific cultural site. That award was paired with a smaller $25,000 general operating grant to the same organization in the following year, showing a repeated relationship rather than a one-time transaction. Across the grants on file, the foundation also supported historic preservation, public media, conservation, education, health advocacy, and community-serving institutions, but usually through unrestricted or general operating support. The pattern is notable for its consistency in purpose. The recorded grants are not project-specific awards with narrow deliverables; they are written as general operating gifts, general operating purposes, or general operating support. Several recipients received support in multiple years, including The Olana Partnership, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Gifford Youth Achievement Center Inc, Pbs of Northern Virginia Weta, Mountaintop Arboretum, Environment America, and Goodwin House Foundation. That repetition suggests the foundation favors continuing institutional support over one-off program funding.
Historic preservation is a clear throughline. The Joan W Rhame Foundation gave $1,000,000 to The Olana Partnership for general operating support, and it also made smaller general operating gifts to the same organization in prior years. That points to interest in sustaining a historic house or landscape institution over time. The foundation also supports civic and public-interest work. It gave $20,000 to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England in New Haven for general operating support, and $20,000 to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England in Colchester for general operating purposes. In education and youth development, Gifford Youth Achievement Center Inc in Vero Beach received $20,000 for general operating support. Environmental and cultural organizations appear as well. Environment America in Denver received $10,000, Mountaintop Arboretum in Tannersville received $10,000, and Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley received $5,000, all as general operating support.
$500K
$3.4M
$681K
$579K
Most grants fall between $10K and $20K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$20K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in NY.
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Typical grant size is tightly clustered: the 25th percentile is $10,000, the median is $10,000, and the 75th percentile is $20,000. The distribution is narrower than the headline total suggests because one $1,000,000 grant sits far above the rest. The foundation appears to favor unrestricted operating support, with grants labeled general operating, general operating support, or general operating purposes. Multiple recipients appear in more than one year, including The Olana Partnership, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Gifford Youth Achievement Center Inc, Pbs of Northern Virginia Weta, Mountaintop Arboretum, Environment America, and Goodwin House Foundation, indicating repeated support rather than isolated awards.
All recorded grants went to U.S. recipients. The strongest concentration by state is Virginia, with grants to Arlington and Alexandria, including Pbs of Northern Virginia Weta in Arlington and Goodwin House Foundation in Alexandria. New York also appears repeatedly through Hudson and Tannersville, while Massachusetts shows awards in Cambridge and Wellesley. Other recipient locations include New Haven, Colchester, Vero Beach, and Denver. The grant record does not show any awards to organizations in Pennsylvania despite the foundation’s Pittsburgh headquarters.
The recent grants show support for historic preservation, public media, environmental work, youth development, health advocacy, and senior services. Examples include The Olana Partnership, Pbs of Northern Virginia Weta, Environment America, Gifford Youth Achievement Center Inc, Planned Parenthood affiliates, and Goodwin House Foundation, all funded with general operating support.
The foundation primarily uses general operating support. Recorded grants are labeled general operating, general operating support, or general operating purposes, including awards of $10,000, $20,000, $25,000, and one $1,000,000 grant. That pattern suggests flexible, unrestricted support rather than project-only funding.
Yes. Several grantees appear across multiple years, including The Olana Partnership, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Gifford Youth Achievement Center Inc, Pbs of Northern Virginia Weta, Mountaintop Arboretum, Environment America, and Goodwin House Foundation. The repeat pattern is especially clear with The Olana Partnership, which received both $1,000,000 and $25,000.
Virginia has the highest grant count in the record, with recipients in Arlington and Alexandria. New York and Massachusetts also appear multiple times, and all recorded grants went to U.S. organizations.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Olana Partnership | HUDSON, NY | $500,000 | 2026 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP | HUDSON, NY | $1,000,000 | 2025 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| GOODWIN HOUSE FOUNDATION | ALEXANDRIA, VA | $10,000 | 2025 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP | Hudson, NY | $25,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| PBS OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA WETA | ARLINGTON, VA | $20,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| GIFFORD YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT CENTER INC | VERO BEACH, FL | $20,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND | NEW HAVEN, CT | $20,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| ENVIRONMENT AMERICA | DENVER, CO | $10,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| MOUNTAINTOP ARBORETUM | TANNERSVILLE, NY | $10,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| GOODWIN HOUSE FOUNDATION | ALEXANDRIA, VA | $10,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| HARVARD UNIVERSITY | CAMBRIDGE, MA | $10,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY | WELLESLEY, MA | $5,000 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND | NEW HAVEN, CT | $20,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
| GIFFORD YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT CENTER INC | Vero Beach, FL | $20,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND | COLCHESTER, VT | $20,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
| ENVIRONMENT AMERICA | DENVER, CO | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
| MOUNTAINTOP ARBORETUM | TANNERSVILLE, NY | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
| THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP | Hudson, NY | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
| PBS OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA WETA | ARLINGTON, VA | $10,000 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES |
GOODWIN HOUSE FOUNDATION
$10,000GENERAL OPERATING
PBS OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA WETA
$20,000GENERAL OPERATING
GENERAL OPERATING
MOUNTAINTOP ARBORETUM
$10,000GENERAL OPERATING
GOODWIN HOUSE FOUNDATION
$10,000GENERAL OPERATING
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
$10,000GENERAL OPERATING
MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
$5,000GENERAL OPERATING
MOUNTAINTOP ARBORETUM
$10,000GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES
PBS OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA WETA
$10,000GENERAL OPERATING PURPOSES