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Joe and Louise Cook Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Joe and Louise Cook Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$480k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$480k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2024.

Religion$1.9MArts & Culture$771kCommunity Improvement$375kEducation$134kHuman Services$98kSocial Science$75kCivil Rights$74kCrime & Legal$45kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$480,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$7.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JOURNEY OF FAITH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$480,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 80% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WESTAR INSTITUTE: $20k → 6%METHODIST FEDERATION FOR SOCIAL ACTION CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER: $10k → 6%KMFA CLASSICAL 895: $50k → 10%INNOCENCE PROJECT OF TEXAS: $20k → 11%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $80k → 14%UPSHUR COUNTY LIBRARY LITERACY PROGRAM: $15k → 16%RESURRECTION METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH: $25k → 16%SCARRITT BENNETT CENTER: $20k → 14%CINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE: $20k → 16%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $40k → 14%DL DYKES FOUNDATION: $20k → 23%WESTAR INSTITUTE: $15k → 6%KMFA CLASSICAL 895: $50k → 10%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $80k → 14%GENERAL BOARD OF CHURCH & SOCIETY OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $50k → 14%SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $100k → 14%CINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE: $20k → 16%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $25k → 14%KMFA CLASSICAL 895: $50k → 10%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $75k → 14%GENERAL BOARD OF CHURCH & SOCIETY OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $50k → 14%SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $100k → 14%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $25k → 14%KMFA CLASSICAL 895: $50k → 10%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $60k → 14%SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $60k → 14%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $25k → 14%KMFA CLASSICAL 895: $50k → 10%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $60k → 14%SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $60k → 14%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $25k → 14%KMFA CLASSICAL 895: $30k → 10%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $60k → 14%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $25k → 14%ST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $60k → 14%RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $15k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $100k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $60k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $57k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $50k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $50k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $30k → 14%CENTEX ALCOHOL REHABILITATION CENTER: $30k → 14%FAMILY PROMISE: $30k → 14%FAMILY PROMISE: $20k → 14%TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $20k → 14%CULTURAL ACTIVITIES CENTER: $15k → 14%CULTURAL ACTIVITIES CENTER: $13k → 14%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

MN
IL
OH
AR
TN
DC
MS
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.4M · 36 repeat orgs$152k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 35 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
13

Total granted

$3.4M
$152k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+11%

Still filing today

67%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementReligionCivil RightsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TS
    TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
    7× · 2017–2023 · $367k · revenue +269% · 80% of their budget
  • SC
    SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT
    4× · 2020–2023 · $320k · revenue +150% · 60% of their budget
  • RM
    RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK
    7× · 2017–2023 · $180k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • CA
    CEN-TEX ALCOHOLIC REHABILITATION CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $30k · revenue +33%
  • RM
    RESURRECTION METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
  • SC
    SCARRITT-BENNETT CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue -6%
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 Cultural Trust Council

Public arts funding

Philanthropy
2
Texas College

To ensure that the student body experiences balanced intellectual, psychological, social and spiritual development, aimed at enabling them to become active productive members of society where they live and work.

Education
3
Center for Public Policy Priorities

At the Every Texan, we believe in a Texas that offers everyone the chance to compete and succeed in life. We envision a Texas where everyone is healthy, well educated, and financially secure. We want the best Texas, a proud state that sets…

Public Benefit
4
The Learning Institute of Texas

To provide educational and humanitarian services to those in need for the purpose of advancing Christian values in the United States and other nations

Education
5
Central Texas Christian School Inc

To educate students with the transforming truth of christ, inspiring academic excellence, godly character, and integrity in life pursuits.

—
6
Leadership Austin

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

Youth Development
7
Progress Texas Institute

The Progress Texas Institute provides research and strategic communications on issues with the ultimate goal of increasing civic engagement.

Civil Rights
8
Houston Christian University

The mission of houston christian university is to provide a learning experience that instills in students a passion for academic, spiritual, and professional excellence as a result of our central confession, "jesus christ is lord."

—
9
Texas International Education Consortium

A consortium of universities in texas, with affiliate universities overseas, dedicated to developing, coordinating and implementing educational capacity-building programs around the world, and increasing capacity for campus globalization…

International
10
Center of Theological Inquiry

The Center of Theological Inquiry is an independent research institution with an international visiting scholar program which convenes researchers in an ideal setting for interdisciplinary inquiries where theology casts light on global…

Religion
11
Literacy Texas

Literacy Texas is the statewide literacy coalition, connecting and equipping adult and family literacy providers through training, networking, and advocacy.

—
12
Texas Legal Services Center Inc

Texas Legal Services Center is a nonprofit legal aid organization whose mission is to serve the undeserved by making civil justice accessible to every Texan--no matter their ability to earn. We're a coalition of attorneys, paralegals, pro…

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Texas Freedom Network Education Fund; the most unlike its peers is D L Dykes Jr Foundation. 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

32 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. 32 of the 49 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/32
Grantees still filing
22/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JOURNEY OF FAITH UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $890,000 · OtherJOURNEY OF FAITH UNITED METHODIST CHURCHST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $475,000 · OtherST STEPHEN UNITED METHODIST CHURCHKMFA CLASSICAL 895: $290,000 · OtherKMFA CLASSICAL 895GENERAL BOARD OF CHURCH & SOCIETY OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $105,000 · Other+22 more: $392,500 · Other+22 moreSOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $320,000 · EducationSOUTHEAST CENTER …Lydia Patterson Institute: $127,125 · EducationLydia Patterson I…Texas Interscholastic League Foundation: $50,000 · EducationTexas Interschola…+5 more: $43,000 · Education+5 moreTEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $367,000 · Arts & CultureTEMPLE SYMPHON…CULTURAL ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $38,000 · Arts & CultureCULTURAL ACTIV…ACADEMIE MUSIQUE: $20,000 · Arts & CultureCAPITAL OF TEXAS PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL: $18,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $13,000 · Arts & CultureRECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $180,000 · Civil RightsTEXAS FREEDOM NETWORK EDUCATION FUND: $17,000 · Civil RightsWe Care Palestine: $40,000 · Community ImprovementInnocence Project of Texas: $40,000 · Community ImprovementCITIZENS FOR PROGRESS INC: $15,000 · Community ImprovementCHURCHES TOUCHING LIVES FOR CHRIST: $35,000 · ReligionSCARRITT-BENNETT CENTER: $20,000 · ReligionD L DYKES JR FOUNDATION: $20,000 · ReligionCINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE: $40,000 · Social Science
Other$2,152,500Education$540,125Arts & Culture$456,000Civil Rights$197,000Community Improvement$95,000Religion$75,000Social Science$40,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $367,000 over 7y, 80% of budgetSOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT: $320,000 over 4y, 60% of budgetRECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK: $180,000 over 7y, 3.6% of budgetLydia Patterson Institute: $127,125 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetTexas Interscholastic League Foundation: $50,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetWe Care Palestine: $40,000 over 7y, 15% of budgetInnocence Project of Texas: $40,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetCINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE: $40,000 over 2y, 5.6% of budgetCULTURAL ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $38,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetWestar Institute: $35,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetCHURCHES TOUCHING LIVES FOR CHRIST: $35,000 over 7y, 3.0% of budgetCEN-TEX ALCOHOLIC REHABILITATION CENTER INC: $30,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetHUSTON-TILLOTSON UNIVERSITY: $24,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetACADEMIE MUSIQUE: $20,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetSCARRITT-BENNETT CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetD L DYKES JR FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetCAPITAL OF TEXAS PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL: $18,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS FREEDOM NETWORK EDUCATION FUND: $17,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWESLEYAN HOMES INC: $17,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCITIZENS FOR PROGRESS INC: $15,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetUPSHUR COUNTY LITERACY PROGRAM: $15,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetTEMPLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetTEMPLE CIVIC THEATRE: $9,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC: $9,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT: $8,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTEMPLE LITERACY COUNCIL: $7,000 over 6y, 12% of budgetCHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMETHODIST FEDERATION FOR SOCIAL ACTION: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetAUSTIN LYRIC OPERA: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLITERACY COUNCIL OF HOT SPRING COUNTY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 11% 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 TEMPLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHEAST CENTER FOR COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT ↗
  • Who funds RECONCILING MINISTRIES NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds Lydia Patterson Institute ↗
  • Who funds Texas Interscholastic League Foundation ↗
  • Who funds We Care Palestine ↗
  • Who funds Innocence Project of Texas ↗
  • Who funds CINCINNATI UNION COOPERATIVE INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds CULTURAL ACTIVITIES CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Westar Institute ↗
  • Who funds CHURCHES TOUCHING LIVES FOR CHRIST ↗
  • Who funds CEN-TEX ALCOHOLIC REHABILITATION CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds HUSTON-TILLOTSON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds ACADEMIE MUSIQUE ↗
  • Who funds SCARRITT-BENNETT CENTER ↗
  • Who funds D L DYKES JR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAPITAL OF TEXAS PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds TEXAS FREEDOM NETWORK EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds WESLEYAN HOMES INC ↗
  • Who funds CITIZENS FOR PROGRESS INC ↗
  • Who funds UPSHUR COUNTY LITERACY PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds TEMPLE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds TEMPLE CIVIC THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC ↗
  • Who funds Houston Grand Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds WORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds TEMPLE LITERACY COUNCIL ↗

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.

E Rhodes and Leona B …Austin Community Foun…The Frank W & Sue May…Alice Kleberg Reynold…The Dallas FoundationCity Federation of Wo…Communities Foundatio…Texas Instruments Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…Greater Houston Commu…Raymond James Charita…Tides Foundation
E Rhodes and Leona B Carpenter FoundationPA23.7× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: E Rhodes and Leona B Carpenter Foundation · Austin Community Foundation Inc · The Frank W & Sue Mayborn Foundation · Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundat A0479800 · The Dallas Foundation · City Federation of Women's Clubs of Temple · Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · Texas Instruments Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Tides 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 Joe and Louise Cook Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Joe and Louise Cook 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%23%45%68%90%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 · 0–90%
    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 49 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Joe and Louise Cook’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