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Karess Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Karess 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.

$17k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Crime & Legal$24kArts & Culture$15kHuman Services$8kEducation$7kYouth Development$6kInternational$3kAnimals$2kCommunity Improvement$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$236k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MOUNTAINFILM$10,000
JLF COLORADO$5,000
FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN CANCER RESE$2,000
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 57% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%IIT Delhi Excellence Foundation: $5k → 10%FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN CANCER RESE: $2k → 8%Explore Austin: $2k → 10%Greater Houston Community Foundation: $1k → 16%MOUNTAINFILM: $10k → 7%ROSE ANDOM CENTER: $18k → 12%The Nature Conservancy: $1k → 7%EXPLORE AUSTIN: $2k → 10%PRATHAMUSA ORG: $2k → 16%ROSE ANDOM CENTER: $5k → 12%Austin Pets Alive: $1k → 10%Breakthrough Houston: $2k → 16%ROSE ANDOM CENTER: $1k → 12%Explore Austin: $2k → 10%BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions: $1k → 16%Millenium Relief & Developement Service: $3k → 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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$39k · 3 repeat orgs$33k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +375% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
7

Total granted

$39k
$16k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+375%
+30%

Still filing today

67%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $17k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureCrime & LegalCommunity ImprovementAnimalsOther
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

  • RA
    ROSE ANDOM CENTER INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $24k · revenue +35%
  • DF
    DAYA FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2020 · $8k
  • AE
    AUSTIN EXPLORE INC
    3× · 2017–2021 · $6k · revenue +375%

Funded once

  • ID
    IIT Delhi Excellence Foundation Inc
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue -79%
  • MR
    Millenium Relief & Developement Service
    one grant, 2019 · $3k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $2k
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 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
2
Glasstire

Glasstire is a website about visual art in Texas. Our mission is to expand the conversation about visual art in Texas.

Arts & Culture
3
Hispanic Access Foundation

Hispanic access foundation connects latinos and others to partners and opportunities to improve lives and create an equitable society.

Human Services
4
Traveling South Asian Literacy Festival

Traveling South Asian Literacy Festival brings together a diversity of South Asian Literary voices to surface and deepen conversations around key issues in South Asia and its diasporas. It curates and documents historically…

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
Indiaspora

Transforming the success of the indian diaspora into meaningful impact worldwide.

Human Services
7
Raise Texas

RAISE Texas advances equitable policies and programs that foster financial security and economic mobility for low- and moderate-income Texans. We equip, innovate and advocate to reduce disparities, remove barriers and build opportunities…

Human Services
8
Leadership Austin

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

Youth Development
9
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
10
Austin Area Foundation

Support nonprofit organizations by managing & distributing charitable gifts

Philanthropy
11
Ensaaf

Ensaaf, which means "justice" in many south Asian languages, works to end impunity and achieve justice for crimes against humanity in India, with a focus on Punjab, by documenting abuses, bringing perpetrators to justice, and organizing…

International
12
Austin Habitat for Humanity Inc

Through faith in action, austin habitat for humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Houston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Iit Delhi Excellence 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

10 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. 10 of the 15 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
5/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROSE ANDOM CENTER INC: $24,371 · Crime & LegalROSE ANDOM CENTER INCDAYA FOUNDATION: $8,000 · OtherDAYA FOUNDATIONMillenium Relief & Developement Service: $3,000 · OtherMillenium Relief & Develop…Individual grant recipient: $2,100 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN CANCER RESE: $2,000 · OtherFOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN CA…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYCITY OF HOUSTON: $1,000 · OtherCITY OF HOUSTONMOUNTAINFILM: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMOUNTAINFILMJLF COLORADO dba JLF BOULDER: $5,000 · Arts & CultureJLF COLORADO dba JLF BO…AUSTIN EXPLORE INC: $6,208 · EducationAUSTIN EXPLORE INCIIT Delhi Excellence Foundation Inc: $5,000 · EducationIIT Delhi Excellence…Breakthrough Houston: $2,000 · EducationBreakthrough HoustonDaya Inc: $2,000 · Community ImprovementGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 · PhilanthropyAUSTIN PETS ALIVE INC: $1,000 · Animals
Crime & Legal$24,371Other$17,100Arts & Culture$15,000Education$13,208Community Improvement$2,000Philanthropy$1,000Animals$1,000

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 budgetROSE ANDOM CENTER INC: $24,371 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetMOUNTAINFILM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAUSTIN EXPLORE INC: $6,208 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetIIT Delhi Excellence Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetJLF COLORADO dba JLF BOULDER: $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetDaya Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN PETS ALIVE INC: $1,000 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.

Greater Houston Commu…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX14.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Karess Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Karess Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    4report 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 15 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 Karess’ 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