Riff Foundation

The Riff Foundation — formally the Radical Imagination Family Foundation (RIFF) — is a Boston-based private family foundation established in August 2017 and led by Nancy Vinal (President), Samuel Vinal (Secretary), and Pamela Kohlberg (Treasurer), all of whom serve without compensation. The foundation's core philosophy holds that 'radical imagination is a critical tool for overcoming history's great challenges,' shaping a grantmaking approach that is deliberately relationship-driven, anti-transactional, and deeply rooted in frontline community partnerships.

RIFF's giving philosophy explicitly rejects conventional philanthropy. Rather than issuing open RFPs or accepting unsolicited proposals, the foundation makes grants exclusively by invitation to preselected organizations — a non-negotiable policy that reflects its commitment to 'authentic partnership with frontline organizations' rather than competitive grant cycles that burden grassroots groups with administrative overhead.

The foundation favors multi-year general support grants, recognizing that transformational social change requires long-term organizational stability and flexibility. This signals a strong preference for unrestricted operating support over project-specific or restricted funding — organizations with strong community organizing leadership, a clear theory of change, and demonstrated staying power in the movement ecosystem are far stronger candidates than those seeking discrete program dollars.

First-time organizations seeking a relationship with RIFF must understand that the path to funding runs through authentic ecosystem participation rather than proposal submission. The foundation works through a community-guided grantmaking process informed by a network of advisors and existing grant partners. Getting into that network — through Amalgamated Charitable Foundation's ecosystem, progressive philanthropy convenings, or the broader racial and economic justice movement space — is the realistic long-term strategy.

The seven grantmaking strategies (Communities at the Center, Uplifting Intersectionality, Building Power, Supporting the Sparks, Building Movements, Culture Change, and Healing & Resilience) provide a roadmap for how organizations should frame their work. Priority grantees are grassroots organizations employing community organizing and collective leadership development, actively engaging community members from communities of color, low-income households, Indigenous, immigrant, and LGBTQI+ populations. Organizations operating at the intersection of multiple justice streams — environmental justice AND racial justice, for example — are particularly well-positioned given the foundation's explicit emphasis on intersectionality.

RIFF's grantmaking has scaled rapidly since its 2017 founding. Annual grants paid grew from $1.99M in FY2019 to $4.24M in FY2020, $5.28M in FY2021, $7.05M in FY2022, and $7.18M in FY2023 — a 261% increase in four years. The foundation maintained $32.07M in total assets as of FY2024, with total revenue of $6.63M that year, down from $12.42M in FY2023 (which included $11.69M in contributions received from the Vinal/Kohlberg family). This revenue volatility reflects the episodic pattern of family capital infusions that fund subsequent years of grantmaking — the foundation's asset base remains stable because giving is calibrated to inflows.

The most distinctive feature of RIFF's grantmaking architecture is its dominant relationship with Amalgamated Charitable Foundation. Across available 990-PF filings, Amalgamated received approximately $21.23M across 3 grants for general support purposes. This pattern indicates RIFF functions partly as a donor-advised fund contributor, channeling large tranches of capital through Amalgamated's infrastructure for redistribution into the progressive movement ecosystem — a sophisticated philanthropic structure that amplifies RIFF's reach beyond what direct grantmaking alone would achieve.

Alongside these mega-grants, two small direct grants appear in public data: $20,000 each to Lawyers for Good Government Inc. (Washington, D.C.) and Love Me Without Limited 4 Life, providing a glimpse of RIFF's direct grantmaking interests in legal defense and grassroots mutual aid.

The foundation's aggregated typical grant size data — drawn from 60 reported direct grants — paints a different picture: median grant of $75,000, average of $70,667, with a range spanning $10,000 to $250,000. When RIFF grants directly to organizations outside the Amalgamated pass-through, awards cluster in the $50,000–$100,000 range — meaningful, sustained general operating support for mid-size grassroots organizations.

All documented giving has been for general support purposes with no program-restricted or capital grants appearing in public records. Geographically, while the foundation lists California and New York as focus states, public grantee addresses concentrate in Washington, D.C. and Jackson, Mississippi — centers of national advocacy and Southern movement organizing respectively.

The following table compares RIFF to its four closest asset-size peers, all classified under NTEE code T (Philanthropy & Grantmaking) with assets clustered tightly around $32M:

RIFF stands apart from its size peers in three significant ways. First, it is the only foundation in this peer group with a public-facing mission statement, a dedicated website (radicalimaginationfoundation.org), and an explicit social justice grantmaking framework — the other four operate essentially as private family wealth vehicles with no public grantmaking identity. Second, RIFF's $7.2M in FY2023 giving represents a payout ratio of approximately 22% of assets, more than four times the legally required 5% minimum — a signal of active capital deployment versus wealth preservation. Third, the sophistication of RIFF's seven-strategy framework and its use of Amalgamated as a pass-through infrastructure places it operationally closer to a professionally-staffed $100M+ foundation than its $32M balance sheet would suggest.

RIFF maintains a deliberately low public profile as of mid-2026. The foundation's website at radicalimaginationfoundation.org has not published substantive news updates since placeholder posts dated September 2019 — a strategic choice to operate through movement relationships and trusted networks rather than public communications channels.

The most current financial data (FY2024, Form 990-PF) confirms $32.07M in total assets and approximately $7.1M in charitable disbursements, sustaining the above-$7M giving level established in FY2022. Revenue in FY2024 fell to $6.63M (from $12.42M in FY2023), consistent with the episodic family contribution pattern: a large infusion ($11.69M received in FY2023) funds grantmaking in subsequent periods.

The most significant recent grantmaking activity visible in public records is the ongoing Amalgamated Charitable Foundation relationship — $21.23M across 3 general support grants, making Amalgamated by far RIFF's largest documented grantmaking partner. A notable direct action was a $20,000 grant to Lawyers for Good Government Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based organization that mobilized legal professionals in response to democratic governance threats — signaling RIFF's interest in civic defense and legal accountability alongside long-term movement building.

No leadership changes have been publicly announced. The founding three-person leadership team — Nancy Vinal (President), Pamela Kohlberg (Treasurer), Samuel Vinal (Secretary) — remains in place, all uncompensated, since the foundation's 2017 ruling date. No open grant cycles, new program launches, or public-facing announcements have been identified for 2025 or early 2026.

Given RIFF's invitation-only model, conventional application strategies do not apply. No grant portal exists, no LOI template is published, and the foundation explicitly does not accept unsolicited proposals. For organizations hoping to access RIFF funding, the pathway requires relationship cultivation over an extended period — measured in years, not grant cycles.

Build into the Ecosystem First: The foundation's community-guided process is informed by advisors and current grant partners who effectively serve as the front door. Identify current RIFF grantees and advisors, attend the convenings where they gather — Solidaire Network, Justice Funders, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), and the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PIRE) are natural entry points. Show up as a peer and collaborator, not a supplicant.

Use Amalgamated as a Bridge: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation has received over $21M from RIFF and is the foundation's most visible grantmaking partner. Organizations already working within Amalgamated's ecosystem — whether as fiscal sponsees or as grantees of Amalgamated-hosted donor-advised funds — have natural proximity to RIFF's network. Activate those relationships strategically.

Align Language with RIFF's Framework Precisely: Use the foundation's specific vocabulary: 'self-determination,' 'collective liberation,' 'radical imagination,' 'frontline communities,' 'community organizing,' 'collective leadership development,' and 'intersectionality.' These reflect the foundation's theory of change — generic DEI language or program-outcomes framing will not resonate.

Calibrate Grant Expectations: When RIFF grants directly to organizations, awards cluster at a median of $75,000 (range $10,000–$250,000 across 60 grants). Multi-year general operating support is the standard structure. Do not approach RIFF for project-specific, capital, or research grants — that is not how they give.

Timing and Patience: No annual cycle or published deadline exists. The process is entirely relationship-driven and unfolds over 12–24 months of authentic engagement in aligned movement and philanthropy spaces. Consistent visibility in the ecosystem — presenting at convenings, co-authoring field analyses, joining movement coalitions — is the investment required.