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Harriet & Joe Foster Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Harriet & Joe Foster Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$218k
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$956kEducation$502kHuman Services$428kFood & Nutrition$98kYouth Development$70kReligion$45kPhilanthropy$40kEnvironment$38kOther$0
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $180k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$732k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Harriet & Joe Foster Family YMCA$40,000
Houston Food Bank$20,000
University of St Thomas$20,000
Texas A&M$20,000
The Hobby Center$15,000
Center for Pursuit$15,000
Houston Hospice$10,000
Down Syndrome Association of Houston$10,000
San Jose Clinic$10,000
Christus Healthcare Foundation$10,000
Catholic Charities Archdiocese Galveston$10,000
Cristo Rey Jesuit College$6,500
Trees for Houston$6,000
Reach Unlimited$5,000
Buffalo Bayou Partnership$5,000
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 (FY17–25, $131k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%THE WOMEN'S HOME: $3k → 16%THE WOMEN'S HOME: $3k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON AREA: $40k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON AREA: $40k → 16%PRISON ENTRPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM: $5k → 16%THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $16k → 16%Center for Pursuit: $15k → 16%NORTHWEST ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $5k → 16%Reach Unlimited: $5k → 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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 27 repeat orgs$215k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +22% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
11

Total granted

$2.0M
$95k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+22%
+5%

Still filing today

67%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 45% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $120k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationPhilanthropyHealthEnvironmentYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TA
    Texas A&M Foundation
    3× · 2017–2019 · $103k · revenue +90%
  • The Houston Food Bank
    9× · 2017–2025 · $98k · revenue +107%
  • CF
    CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare
    3× · 2017–2019 · $65k · revenue +46%

Funded once

  • RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue -25%
  • United Way of Greater Houston
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +5%
  • TV
    THE VILLAGE
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
Houston Museum of Natural Science

The mission of the Houston Museum of Natural Science shall be to preserve and advance the general knowledge of natural science; to enhance in individuals the knowledge of and delight in natural science and related subjects; and to maintain…

Arts & Culture
2
Houston Botanic Garden

To enrich life through discovery, education, and the conservation of plants and the natural environment.

Environment
3
Harris County Medical Society

Our mission is to be the leading advocate for our member physicians, their patients and our community, in promoting the highest standards of ethical medical practice, access to quality medical care, medical education, research, and…

—
4
The Hospice at the Texas Medical Center

The Hospice at the Texas Medical Center holds a freestanding 37 bed inpatient facility in the Texas Medical Center that is operated and managed by Houston Hospice.

Human Services
5
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
6
Baylor Scott & White Holdings

Founded as a Christian ministry of healing, Baylor Scott & White Health promotes the well-being of all individuals, families and communities.

Health
7
Memorial Hermann Health System

Memorial hermann health system is a nonprofit, values-driven, community-owned health system dedicated to improving health. our vision is to create healthier communities, now and for generations to come. our values are community,…

Health
8
Scott & White Hospital-College Station

Founded as a Christian ministry of healing, Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) promotes the well-being of all individuals, families and communities.

Health
9
Rebuilding Together Houston

Rebuilding Together Houston is the only organization in Houston and Harris County providing free home repairs to hundreds of families each year. We employ licensed contractors to restore homes to safe, livable conditions, extending each…

Housing & Shelter
10
Houston Academy of Medicine

The mission of the Houston Academy of Medicine is to support the community service, education, scientific, and charitable programs for physicians, their patients, and the community at large in Harris County.

Education
11
The Methodist Hospital

To provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a spiritual environment of caring in association with internationally recognized teaching and research.

Health
12
Memorial Hermann Medical Group

Memorial hermann health system is a nonprofit, values-driven, community-owned health system dedicated to improving health. our vision is to create healthier communities, now and for generations to come. our values are community,…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Houston Achievement Place; the most unlike its peers is William Marsh Rice University. 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

26 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. 26 of the 45 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/26
Grantees still filing
16/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL: $500,000 · OtherHOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITALST THOMAS UNIVERSITY: $160,000 · OtherST THOMAS UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - HEALTH SCIENCE: $150,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - HEALTH SCIENCEThe Houston Food Bank: $97,500 · OtherThe Houston Food BankSAN JOSE CLINIC: $55,000 · Other+21 more: $425,250 · Other+21 moreYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $295,000 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christia…HOME RUN HITTERS INTERNATIONAL INC: $55,000 · Human ServicesHOME RUN HITTERS INT…THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $31,400 · Human ServicesTHE CENTER FOR PURSU…+4 more: $20,000 · Human ServicesCHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare: $65,000 · HealthHOUSTON ACHIEVEMENT PLACE: $65,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $25,000 · HealthTexas A&M Foundation: $102,500 · EducationTHE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $25,000 · EducationUniversity of St Thomas: $20,000 · Education+1 more: $5,000 · EducationGirl Scouts of San Jacinto Council: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentUNITED WAYS OF TEXAS INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way of Greater Houston: $15,000 · PhilanthropyTHE BUCKINGHAM FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyJohn P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science: $30,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,387,750Human Services$401,400Health$155,000Education$152,500Youth Development$55,000Philanthropy$45,000Arts & Culture$30,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $295,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTexas A&M Foundation: $102,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $97,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare: $65,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHOUSTON ACHIEVEMENT PLACE: $65,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetHOME RUN HITTERS INTERNATIONAL INC: $55,000 over 3y, 21% of budgetGirl Scouts of San Jacinto Council: $55,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF HOUSTON INC: $45,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetTrees For Houston: $38,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetHouston Hospice: $35,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $31,400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJohn P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAYS OF TEXAS INC: $25,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Houston: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetINTERFAITH CAREPARTNERS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHWEST ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOMEN'S HOME: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BUCKINGHAM FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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 Young Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area ↗
  • Who funds Texas A&M Foundation ↗
  • Who funds The Houston Food Bank ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON ACHIEVEMENT PLACE ↗
  • Who funds HOME RUN HITTERS INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council ↗
  • Who funds DOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF HOUSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds Trees For Houston ↗
  • Who funds Houston Hospice ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT ↗
  • Who funds John P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds Buffalo Bayou Partnership Inc ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAYS OF TEXAS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH ↗
  • Who funds University of St Thomas ↗
  • Who funds United Way of Greater Houston ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC CHARITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds INTERFAITH CAREPARTNERS INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds THE WOMEN'S HOME ↗
  • Who funds THE BUCKINGHAM 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.

Albert & Ethel Herzst…Shell USA Company Fou…Strake FoundationMD Anderson FoundationGreater Houston Commu…The Brown Foundation …John P McGovern Found…Harry S & Isabel C Ca…Robert W Knox & Pearl…Fred and Mabel R Park…The Elkins FoundationThe William Stamps Fa…
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable FoundationTX24× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Strake Foundation · MD Anderson Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · John P McGovern Foundation · Harry S & Isabel C Cameron Foundation Sentinel Trust Company · Robert W Knox & Pearl Wallis Knox Charitable · Fred and Mabel R Parks Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund

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 Harriet & Joe Foster Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Harriet & Joe Foster Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Harriet & Joe Foster Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Harriet & Joe Foster 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 45 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 Harriet & Joe Foster’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