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Houser Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Houser Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$65k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$21k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$152kHousing & Shelter$98kReligion$95kEnvironment$55kYouth Development$11kFood & Nutrition$3kPhilanthropy$500Health$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $51k
$3,300
Median grant
1
States reached
$159k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEBANON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$21,000
CORNWALL MANOR$17,186
SAINT CECILIA CHURCH$12,500
LEBANON VALLEY CONSERVANCY$5,150
HISTORIC SCHAEFFERSTOWN$4,461
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA$3,300
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH$500
Individual grant recipient$200
SALVATION ARMY - LEBANON$200
LEBANON RESCUE MISSION$200
Individual grant recipient$200
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, $98k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 16%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 16%CORNWALL MANOR: $76k → 11%CORNWALL MANOR: $17k → 11%CORNWALL MANOR: $5k → 11%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.

60%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$250k · 6 repeat orgs$165k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
7

Total granted

$250k
$131k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+36%

Still filing today

67%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentHuman ServicesReligionHealthPhilanthropyArts & CultureOther
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

  • HS
    HISTORIC SCHAEFFERSTOWN INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $125k · revenue -31% · 63% of their budget
  • CM
    CORNWALL MANOR
    3× · 2021–2025 · $98k · revenue +6%
  • TL
    THE LEBANON VALLEY CONSERVANCY INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $13k · revenue -14%

Funded once

  • SH
    SACRED HEART OF JESUS
    one grant, 2023 · $82k
  • SW
    SWATARA WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $42k · revenue 0%
  • MO
    MUSEUM OF THE HORSELESS CARRIAGE - GILMORE CAR MUSEUM
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
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
Lebanon Historical Society
—
2
Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce

Promote civic, commercial, recreational, historical, environmental and general interest in the ligonier valley of westmoreland county pennsylvania

—
3
Historical Society of Mount Lebanon

The historical society of mount lebanon serves and promotes the community by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and sharing its history in ways designed to inspire our present and guide our future.

Arts & Culture
4
Leechburg Area Museum & Hist Society Inc

Preserving the history and cultural artifacts from the Western Pennsylvania town of Leechburg.

—
5
Penns Valley Conservation Association

To serve as a steward for the natural and cultural communities in the upper Penns Creek Watershed. We seek to preserve and Honor the agricultural roots of Penns Valley by protecting and conserving its waters, farmland, forests and rural…

Environment
6
Ligonier Valley Rail Road Association

To preserve the legacy of the Ligonier Valley Rail Road, conserve its vestiges, collect its relics & memorabilia, and educate the public about railroad history in the Ligonier Valley.

Arts & Culture
7
Lehigh & Keystone Valley Model Railroad Museum Inc

Preserve the history of railroads that served the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania area through the construction and public exhibition of a model replica of the railroad operations and communities they serve

Arts & Culture
8
Lehigh County Historical Society

To collect, preserve & publish the history & historical data relative to lehigh county for the education of the general public

Arts & Culture
9
Lebanon Outing Club Inc
—
10
Westmoreland Land Trust

To conserve and steward lands and waters of Westmoreland County that harbor ecological, cultural or recreational qualities to offer a healthier and more sustainable future for all.

Environment
11
Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association Inc

To protect the quality & beauty of the wissahickon creek & to enhance life in the watershed.

Environment
12
Wyoming County Historical Society

To make historical information about wyoming county, pa available to the public

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lebanon County Historical Society; the most unlike its peers is Wenger Foundation Inc. 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

11 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 11 of the 20 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
5/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HISTORIC SCHAEFFERSTOWN INC: $124,761 · OtherHISTORIC SCHAEFFERSTOWN INCSACRED HEART OF JESUS: $82,100 · OtherSACRED HEART OF JESUSLEBANON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $21,000 · OtherLEBANON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYSAINT CECILIA CHURCH: $12,500 · OtherBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $10,555 · Other+8 more: $8,832 · OtherCORNWALL MANOR: $98,186 · Human ServicesCORNWALL MANORSWATARA WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $42,110 · EnvironmentSWATARA WATERSH…THE LEBANON VALLEY CONSERVANCY INC: $13,150 · EnvironmentTHE LEBANON VAL…Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust: $1,000 · Arts & CultureWENGER FOUNDATION INC: $500 · PhilanthropyAmerican Association for Cancer Research Inc: $500 · HealthON-FIRE YOUTH MINISTRIES: $100 · Religion
Other$259,748Human Services$98,186Environment$55,260Arts & Culture$1,000Philanthropy$500Health$500Religion$100

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 budgetHISTORIC SCHAEFFERSTOWN INC: $124,761 over 5y, 63% of budgetCORNWALL MANOR: $98,186 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLEBANON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $21,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetTHE LEBANON VALLEY CONSERVANCY INC: $13,150 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetColebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWENGER FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Association for Cancer Research Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetON-FIRE YOUTH MINISTRIES: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEBANON VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA3.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Houser Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Houser Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Houser Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Houser Family 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 20 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 Houser Family’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