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Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation

The BARBARA BUSH HOUSTON LITERACY FOUNDATION is dedicated to improving lives and communities through the power of literacy.(continued in schedule o)

$783k
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$275k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$5.1MArts & Culture$979kYouth Development$215kHuman Services$206kHousing & Shelter$71kHealth$39kCommunity Improvement$20kPhilanthropy$17kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 19 grants below total $754,252, the rows itemized in this filing. The $783,252 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $29,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $303k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $169k
  • $250k+1 grant · $275k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON$275,000
HARRIS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY$108,063
HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC$61,000
LITERACY NOW$40,000
TEXAS A&M FOUNDATION$25,000
SAN FRANCISCO NATIVITY ACADEMY OF HOUSTON$24,400
NEW HOPE HOUSING INC$23,000
W OSCAR NEUHAUS MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$20,000
HYPE FREEDOM SCHOOL INC$20,000
CHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC$20,000
WESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC$20,000
WEST HOUSTON ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES INC$20,000
NUECES COUNTY$20,000
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC$15,000
OPEN DOOR MISSION$15,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $375k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $27k → 16%WESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25k → 16%WESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $20k → 16%Houston Area Women's Center Inc: $8k → 16%The Women's Home: $9k → 16%CHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25k → 16%CHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $20k → 16%MEMORIAL ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $25k → 16%Memorial Assistance Ministries: $10k → 16%LITERACY NOW: $40k → 16%Making It Better: $35k → 16%MAKING IT BETTER: $25k → 16%LITERACY NOW: $25k → 16%LITERACY NOW: $20k → 16%Making It Better: $15k → 16%Making It Better: $15k → 16%Making It Better: $10k → 16%Making It Better: $5k → 16%Making It Better: $3k → 16%Making It Better: $3k → 16%COMMUNITY FAMILY CENTERS - CENTROS FAMILIARES DE LA COMUNIDAD: $12k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 87% of the giving stays in TX; by stated purpose, 71%.

Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 21% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.2M · 32 repeat orgs$417k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
30

Total granted

$6.2M
$392k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+22%

Still filing today

78%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentReligionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC
    6× · 2017–2023 · $884k · revenue +89%
  • TB
    THE BARBARA BUSH FOUNDATION FOR FAMILY LITERACY INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $647k · revenue +82%
  • MI
    Making It Better dba Literacy Now
    7× · 2017–2024 · $195k · revenue +234%

Funded once

  • KC
    KLEBERG COUNTY
    one grant, 2023 · $51k
  • HC
    HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $40k · revenue +11%
  • SM
    SANTA MARIA HOSTEL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $30k · revenue +56%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Collaborative for Children

The mission of Collaborative for Children is to meaningfully improve the quality of early childhood education and care for Greater Houston's children through those most influential in their lives.

Human Services
2
Houston Local Information Initiative Inc

The Houston Local Information Initiative, Inc. provides public service journalism that reflects the civic needs of the diverse communities comprising Greater Houston.

Arts & Culture
3
Houston Independent School District Foundation

The HISD Foundation is dedicated to mobilizing the local community to support innovative priorities in HISD to improve outcomes for all students in the district. Our mission is to fund projects and programs of merit that fall outside of…

—
4
Houston Center for Literacy

Houston Center for Literacy strengthens providers of adult education who, in turn, provide necessary skills for underemployed citizens to fulfill their potential and become economically self sufficient. HCL envisions a city where every…

—
5
Elevate Collegiate Inc dba Elevate Collegiate Charter School

To equip all students with the academic knowledge and character development necessary to set forth confidently on the path to college and life filled with success.

Education
6
Good Reason Houston Inc

Good Reason Houston strives to grow and sustain great schools while advocating for families and communities.

Education
7
St John's School

See Schedule OSt. John's School is an independent, co-educational day school presenting a 13-year sequence of college preparatory training. A non-profit institution, it was founded in 1946 to provide the community with a school of exacting…

—
8
The Fay School

See Schedule O. The Fay School ("the School") is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit, co-educational school in which children of diverse talents and backgrounds with strong academic abilities are offered a high-quality education in a secure,…

—
9
Made Houston

MADE Houston was formed to create a school community focused on nurturing and developing the unique academic and social needs of students with learning differences and to successfully transition students into mainstream schools.

Education
10
Family Service Center of Houston and Harris County

The mission of Family Service Center of Houston and Harris County (Family Houston) is to create a stronger community for tomorrow by helping individuals and families meet the challenges they face today. We help others help themselves.

Human Services
11
Kipp Inc dba Knowledge is Power Program Inc

KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is committed to developing in underserved students the academic skills, intellectual habits, and qualities of character necessary to succeed at all levels of pre-kindergarten through 12th grade,…

—
12
Literacy Advance of Houston Inc

The mission of Literacy Advance is to transform lives and communities through the doorway of literacy.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tejano Center for Community Concerns Inc; the most unlike its peers is Radiant Authentic Resilient Equipped Pearls. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

50 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 50 of the 63 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/50
Grantees still filing
33/50
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $1,123,670 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONHARRIS COUNTY: $929,879 · OtherHARRIS COUNTYHOUSTON AREA URBAN LEAGUE INC: $178,500 · OtherHOUSTON AREA URBAN LEAGUE INCADULT READING CENTER INC: $120,000 · OtherALLIANCE FOR MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $108,000 · Other+26 more: $589,153 · Other+26 moreCHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $883,788 · Arts & CultureCHILDREN'S MUSEUM INCTHE BARBARA BUSH FOUNDATION FOR FAMILY LITERACY INC: $647,020 · Arts & CultureTHE BARBARA BUSH FOUNDATIO…+2 more: $45,300 · Arts & CultureHOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $565,450 · EducationHOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRA…HYPE FREEDOM SCHOOL INC: $170,000 · EducationHYPE FREEDOM SCHOOL …FIRST BOOK: $167,560 · EducationFIRST BOOKiWRITE: $93,000 · EducationiWRITESan Francisco Nativity Academy: $53,100 · EducationBOOKS BETWEEN KIDS INC: $50,000 · Education+6 more: $120,000 · Education+6 moreMaking It Better dba Literacy Now: $195,000 · Human ServicesWESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC OF HOUSTON TEXAS: $72,000 · Human ServicesCHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $45,000 · Human ServicesMemorial Assistance Ministries: $35,000 · Human ServicesOpen Door Mission: $32,000 · Human ServicesChristian Community Service Center Inc: $14,500 · Human Services+3 more: $28,275 · Human ServicesHIGHER IMPACT MINISTRIES: $181,500 · ReligionIEA - INSPIRE ENCOURAGE ACHIEVE: $22,500 · ReligionYouth Development Center Inc: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentTEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS INC: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentBoys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston Inc: $11,000 · Youth DevelopmentNew Hope Housing Inc: $48,000 · Housing & ShelterSOUTH EAST HOU COMMUNITY DEV CORP: $15,120 · Housing & Shelter
Other$3,049,202Arts & Culture$1,576,108Education$1,219,110Human Services$421,775Religion$204,000Youth Development$116,000Housing & Shelter$63,120

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $883,788 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetTHE BARBARA BUSH FOUNDATION FOR FAMILY LITERACY INC: $647,020 over 8y, 5.7% of budgetHOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $565,450 over 6y, 26% of budgetMaking It Better dba Literacy Now: $195,000 over 7y, 3.5% of budgetHIGHER IMPACT MINISTRIES: $181,500 over 3y, 98% of budgetHOUSTON AREA URBAN LEAGUE INC: $178,500 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetHYPE FREEDOM SCHOOL INC: $170,000 over 8y, 7.7% of budgetFIRST BOOK: $167,560 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetADULT READING CENTER INC: $120,000 over 6y, 4.7% of budgetALLIANCE FOR MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $108,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetThe W Oscar Neuhaus Memorial Foundation: $98,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetiWRITE: $93,000 over 6y, 20% of budgetWESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC OF HOUSTON TEXAS: $72,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetWEST HOUSTON ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES INC: $65,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetYouth Development Center Inc: $55,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetSan Francisco Nativity Academy: $53,100 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetTEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOOKS BETWEEN KIDS INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetNew Hope Housing Inc: $48,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHouston Symphony Society: $36,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMemorial Assistance Ministries: $35,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetOpen Door Mission: $32,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetKNOWLEDGE ARTS FOUNDATION (TEACH): $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSANTA MARIA HOSTEL INC: $29,961 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF CORPUS CHRISTI PUBLIC LIBRARIES: $25,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetSPRING BRANCH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetHOUSTON'S CHARITY FOR CHILDREN INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTexas A&M Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIEA - INSPIRE ENCOURAGE ACHIEVE: $22,500 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetCITIZEN SCHOOLS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WADE SMITH FOUNDATION: $17,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetSOUTH EAST HOU COMMUNITY DEV CORP: $15,120 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetChristian Community Service Center Inc: $14,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $12,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FAMILY CENTERS INC: $12,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBoys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston Inc: $11,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $9,300 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WOMEN'S HOME: $8,775 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Independent School District Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOINTS OF LIGHT FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ST BERNARD PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUSTIN J WATT FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLATINO LEARNING CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Greater Houston Commu…The Houston Food BankCenterpoint Energy Fo…Houston Endowment IncUnited Way of Greater…The Methodist HospitalShell USA Company Fou…Baxter Trust Co Priva…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Astros FoundationSave The Children Fed…Harry S & Isabel C Ca…
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX44.8× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · The Houston Food Bank · Centerpoint Energy Foundation Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · United Way of Greater Houston · The Methodist Hospital · Shell USA Company Foundation · Baxter Trust Co Private Foundation Services · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Astros Foundation · Save The Children Federation Inc · Harry S & Isabel C Cameron Foundation Sentinel Trust Company

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Citizen Schools Inc: 8% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 63 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Barbara Bush Houston Literacy’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home