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Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$6.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
58
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$2.6M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Recreation & Sports$12MHealth$7.4MEducation$4.9MHuman Services$996kArts & Culture$570kReligion$506kEnvironment$505kCrime & Legal$219kOther$0
02FY2025 · 58 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $70k
  • $10k–50k30 grants · $514k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $482k
  • $250k+4 grants · $5.0M
$15,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$109M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The University of Texas at Austin$2,600,000
The University of Texas at Austin$1,600,000
The University of Texas at Austin$462,000
Trinity Valley Community College Foundation$300,000
Texans for Greater Mental Health$100,000
Salvation Army of Greater Austin$77,000
Americans for Ibogaine$75,000
Individual grant recipient$65,000
Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country$60,000
City of Athens TX$55,000
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children$50,000
Heroic Hearts Project$40,000
Athens Christian Preparatory Academy$30,000
CASA of Trinity Valley$25,000
Swan Songs$25,000
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 (FY21–25, $560k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WORD OF HONOR FUND: $50k → 7%Colleagues: $3k → 14%WORD OF HONOR FUND: $50k → 7%COLLEAGUES THE: $3k → 14%WORD OF HONOR FUND: $40k → 7%COLLEAGUES THE: $3k → 14%Word of Honor Fund: $25k → 7%COLLEAGUES THE: $2k → 14%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $12k → 10%WORD OF HONOR FUND: $20k → 7%DALLAS CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $5k → 14%Hospice Austin: $10k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $9k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $6k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $5k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $5k → 10%LILA LANE OUTREACH: $35k → 13%LILA LANE OUTREACH: $25k → 13%HENDERSON COUNTY HOMELESS MINISTRY: $25k → 13%ABUNDANT LIFE PREGNANCY CENTER: $15k → 13%ABUNDANT LIFE PREGNANCY CENTER: $10k → 13%Lila Lane Outreach: $10k → 13%LILA LANE OUTREACH: $10k → 13%ABUNDANT LIFE PREGNANCY CENTER: $10k → 13%SWAN SONGS: $28k → 10%Abundant Life Pregnancy Center: $5k → 13%Swan Songs: $25k → 10%SWAN SONGS MUSICAL LAST WISHES: $15k → 10%SWAN SONGS: $15k → 10%SWAN SONGS MUSICAL LAST WISHES: $15k → 10%LILA LANE OUTREACH: $5k → 13%LILA LANE OUTREACH: $5k → 13%WEST AUSTIN CARE GIVERS: $8k → 10%AUSTIN POLICE OPERATION BLUE SANTA: $8k → 10%WEST AUSTIN CARE GIVERS: $7k → 10%Austin Police Operation Blue Santa: $8k → 10%WEST AUSTIN CARE GIVERS: $7k → 10%AUSTIN POLICE OPERATION BLUE SANTA: $8k → 10%AUSTIN POLICE OPERATION BLUE SANTA: $8k → 10%HELPING HAND HOME FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 10%Helping Hand Home for Children: $2k → 10%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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
ID
NY
IN
CA
CO
MO
VA
NC
SC
DC
TX
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$24M · 57 repeat orgs$4.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +6% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

57 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

57
35

Total granted

$24M
$3.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
0%

Still filing today

54%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $690k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • Southern Methodist University
    2× · 2022–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +3%
  • TS
    TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN
    5× · 2021–2025 · $281k · revenue +45%
  • ET
    EAST TEXAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $210k · revenue +250%

Funded once

  • US
    UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
    one grant, 2022 · $2.5M
  • PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXASgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +31%
  • Health Alliance for Austin Musiciansgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $150k · revenue +59%
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
Texas a&M Research Foundation

To facilitate research and development within the texas a&m university system and selected other entities.

Education
2
Forty First Foundation

The forty first foundation supports and advances the university of texas at austin in its pursuit of excellence. we work closely with the office of the president to identify, fund, and implement strategic initiatives that enhance the…

Education
3
Leadership Austin

Leadership austin connects and develops leaders to courageously engage and transform our communities.

Youth Development
4
The University of Texas Foundation No 1

To support the university of texas system

—
5
Texas Alliance for Patient Access

Preserve access to quality healthcare for all texans

Community Improvement
6
Center for Austin Independent Journalism

To equip Austinites to make informed decisions through independent, in-depth reporting, diverse opinions, and civil dialogue. A strong local press is essential for a healthy community and democracy. We work to make Austin a more empowered…

Arts & Culture
7
Texas Medical Association

The texas medical association (tma), the nation's largest and one of the oldest state medical societies, represents over 59,000 physicians and medical students dedicated to enhancing the health of all texans. in collaboration with 110…

—
8
Austin Public Library Friends Foundation

Support and strengthen austin public libraries

Education
9
Texas Tribune Inc

The texas tribune promotes civic engagement and public education across the state by producing and sharing for free public data interactives, statewide events and intensive and daily reporting on texas public policy, politics and current…

Education
10
Texas Trust Gives
Philanthropy
11
Central Texas Palliative Care Associates Dba Austin Palliative Care

Austin palliative care provides medical director services to hospice austin as well as palliative care to patients who are not yet admitted to hospice programs.

Health
12
Aclu Foundation of Texas Inc

The ACLU Foundation of Texas is the unyielding guardian and promoter of freedom, justice, equality and dignity of all people, particularly for those who are still fighting to secure the full exercise of their civil rights and liberties.…

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Central & South Texas; the most unlike its peers is Americans for Ibogaine. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

68 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. 68 of the 113 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
68/68
Grantees still filing
34/68
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $16,129,244 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTINCITY OF ATHENS TEXAS: $2,520,000 · OtherCITY OF ATHENS TEXASUT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER: $2,500,000 · OtherUT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER+68 more: $3,111,000 · Other+68 moreSouthern Methodist University: $1,150,000 · EducationAMERICANS FOR IBOGAINE: $75,000 · EducationATHENS CHRISTIAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $70,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · Education+2 more: $40,000 · EducationWord of Honor Fund: $185,000 · Human ServicesSwan Songs Musical Last Wishes: $97,500 · Human ServicesLILA LANE OUTREACH INC: $90,000 · Human ServicesHOSPICE AUSTIN: $46,000 · Human ServicesABUNDANT LIFE PREGNANCY RESOURCE CE PRUITT: $40,000 · Human ServicesAUSTIN POLICE OPERATION BLUE SANTA: $31,000 · Human ServicesHenderson County Homeless Ministry: $25,000 · Human ServicesDRIVE A SENIOR AUSTIN TEXAS: $22,000 · Human Services+3 more: $23,000 · Human ServicesTRINITY VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $300,000 · PhilanthropySEAL FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $130,000 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY INC: $60,000 · PhilanthropyAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $9,500 · PhilanthropyPARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $250,000 · EnvironmentEAST TEXAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC: $210,000 · EnvironmentKEEP ATHENS BEAUTIFUL: $42,500 · Environment+1 more: $2,500 · EnvironmentTEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN: $281,088 · HealthTEXANS FOR GREATER MENTAL HEALTH INC: $100,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthAUSTIN SPEECH LABS INC: $37,000 · Health+3 more: $28,500 · HealthBLACK FRET DBA SONIC GUILD: $108,498 · Arts & CultureVan Cliburn Foundation Inc: $89,000 · Arts & CultureAUSTIN THEATRE ALLIANCE: $25,000 · Arts & CultureNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureAustin History Center Association Inc: $25,000 · Arts & CultureAustin Music Foundation: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $12,500 · Arts & Culture
Other$24,260,244Education$1,385,000Human Services$559,500Philanthropy$529,500Environment$505,000Health$496,588Arts & Culture$309,998

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 budgetSouthern Methodist University: $1,150,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN: $281,088 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $250,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetEAST TEXAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC: $210,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetWord of Honor Fund: $185,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetHealth Alliance for Austin Musicians: $150,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetSEAL FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $130,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetAUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETY: $115,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetHENDERSON COUNTY FOOD PANTRY: $115,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetCASA OF TRINITY VALLEY INC: $113,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetBLACK FRET DBA SONIC GUILD: $108,498 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetSwan Songs Musical Last Wishes: $97,500 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetHEROIC HEARTS PROJECT INC: $90,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLILA LANE OUTREACH INC: $90,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetVan Cliburn Foundation Inc: $89,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetPUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC: $82,000 over 5y, 69% of budgetAMERICANS FOR IBOGAINE: $75,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetATHENS CHRISTIAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $70,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetCAFE MOMENTUM: $60,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S BURN FOUNDATION: $59,500 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE AUSTIN: $46,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetKEEP ATHENS BEAUTIFUL: $42,500 over 4y, 26% of budgetABUNDANT LIFE PREGNANCY RESOURCE CE PRUITT: $40,000 over 4y, 6.6% of budgetAUSTIN SPEECH LABS INC: $37,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CHILD PROTECTION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetATHENS ANIMAL RESCUE SHELTER: $35,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetAUSTIN POLICE OPERATION BLUE SANTA: $31,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS MINISTRY INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetAUSTIN THEATRE ALLIANCE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetKAPPA ALPHA THETA FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAustin History Center Association Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetHenderson County Homeless Ministry: $25,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetAustin Music Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetDRIVE A SENIOR AUSTIN TEXAS: $22,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRadiant Hearts Collective: $15,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetBookSpring: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COLLEAGUES INC: $11,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetDELL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetATHENS SAMARITANS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetCommunity Parks of Gainesville TX Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 3.4% 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.

  • Who funds Southern Methodist University ↗
  • Who funds TRINITY VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds EAST TEXAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds Word of Honor Fund ↗
  • Who funds Health Alliance for Austin Musicians ↗
  • Who funds SEAL FUTURE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds AUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds HENDERSON COUNTY FOOD PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds CASA OF TRINITY VALLEY INC ↗
  • Who funds BLACK FRET DBA SONIC GUILD ↗
  • Who funds TEXANS FOR GREATER MENTAL HEALTH INC ↗
  • Who funds Swan Songs Musical Last Wishes ↗
  • Who funds HEROIC HEARTS PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds LILA LANE OUTREACH INC ↗
  • Who funds Van Cliburn Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICANS FOR IBOGAINE ↗
  • Who funds ATHENS CHRISTIAN PREPARATORY ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds CAFE MOMENTUM ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S BURN FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Austin Community Foun…East Texas Communitie…The Moody FoundationBetter Business BureauGinger Murchison Foun…Athens Thrift Store I…St David's FoundationHenderson County Unit…United Way for Greate…Alice Kleberg Reynold…Carl C Anderson Sr an…Ben and Maytee Fisch …
Austin Community Foundation IncTX35× affinity17 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · East Texas Communities Foundation · The Moody Foundation · Better Business Bureau · Ginger Murchison Foundation · Athens Thrift Store Inc · St David's Foundation · Henderson County United Way · United Way for Greater Austin · Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundat A0479800 · Carl C Anderson Sr and Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation · Ben and Maytee Fisch Foundation

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 Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 113 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Effie and Wofford Cain’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