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Leon Payne Jr Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Leon Payne Jr Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$58k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$19k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$84kReligion$65kArts & Culture$62kEducation$50kAnimals$22kFood & Nutrition$5kEnvironment$3kYouth Development$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $29k
$2,500
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$18,500
THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE$10,000
HOUSTON FOOD BANK$5,000
THE MENNINGER CLINIC$5,000
AMAZING PLACE$5,000
HOUSTON SPCA$3,500
NMDP FOUNDATION$2,500
HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY$2,000
HOUSTON ARBORETUM & NATURE CENTER$2,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY$1,000
ST JOHNS SCHOOL$1,000
KERRVILLE PETS ALIVE$1,000
LURIE CHILDRENS$1,000
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 (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 82% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NMDP FOUNDATION: $3k → 11%HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $3k → 8%TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $1k → 10%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $7k → 10%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY: $1k → 13%SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY: $5k → 14%AMAZING PLACE: $23k → 16%BOY SCOUT TROOP 354: $2k → 8%LURIE CHILDRENS: $1k → 14%HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $2k → 8%PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $6k → 10%KERRVILLE PETS ALIVE: $1k → 13%AMAZING PLACE: $21k → 16%HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $2k → 8%PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $5k → 10%AMAZING PLACE: $8k → 16%PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $5k → 10%AMAZING PLACE: $6k → 16%THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL OF SCHOOL WORK: $10k → 10%AMAZING PLACE: $5k → 16%THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL OF SCHOOL WORK: $10k → 10%NICK FINNEGAN COUNSELING CENTER: $5k → 16%NICK FINNEGAN COUNSELING CENTER: $4k → 16%THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE: $20k → 16%THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE: $20k → 16%ST JOHN'S THE DIVINE CHURCH: $10k → 16%THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE: $10k → 16%ST JOHN'S THE DEVINE CHURCH: $5k → 16%ST JOHN'S SCHOOL: $2k → 16%HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $19k → 16%ST JOHN'S SCHOOL: $2k → 16%HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $15k → 16%ST JOHN'S SCHOOL: $2k → 16%HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%ST JOHN'S SCHOOL: $1k → 16%MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $3k → 16%TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $3k → 16%HOUSTON ARBORETUM: $14k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $4k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $4k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $3k → 16%HOUSTON ARBORETUM & NATURE CENTER: $2k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $2k → 16%SMALL STEPS NURTURING CENTER: $2k → 16%THE MENNINGER CLINIC: $5k → 16%HOUSTON FOOD BANK: $5k → 16%HOUSTON HUMANE SOCEITY WILDLIFE: $3k → 16%RIVER OAKS GARDEN CLUB AZALEA TRAIL: $2k → 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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$253k · 14 repeat orgs$59k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
13

Total granted

$253k
$44k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+4%

Still filing today

64%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
HealthEducationAnimalsCommunity ImprovementEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TM
    THE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    3× · 2023–2025 · $39k · revenue +55%
  • HS
    HOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
    5× · 2021–2025 · $12k · revenue +44%
  • SJ
    St John's School
    5× · 2021–2025 · $8k · revenue +118%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $14k
  • SJ
    ST JOHN'S THE DIVINE CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • SJ
    ST JOHN'S THE DEVINE CHURCH
    one grant, 2021 · $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
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
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
3
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
4
Mhs Physicians of Texas

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
5
Houston Botanic Garden

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

Environment
6
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…

—
7
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
8
John P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science

The Health Museum is an innovative science center that provides an interactive and entertaining experience for all ages, promotes understanding and appreciation of the human body, mind, and spirit, and inspires a lifelong commitment to…

Arts & Culture
9
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
10
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
11
Tmh Physician Organization

This organization is part of the methodist hospital, doing business as houston methodist hospital, whose mission is: to provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a spiritual…

—
12
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Texas Children's Hospital; the most unlike its peers is Planned Parenthood. 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

19 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. 19 of the 33 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)
19/19
Grantees still filing
12/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMAZING PLACE: $62,398 · OtherAMAZING PLACETHE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE: $50,000 · OtherTHE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE DIVINETHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL OF SCHOOL WORK: $20,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL OF SCHOOL WORKIndividual grant recipient: $13,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $11,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INCNICK FINNEGAN COUNSELING CENTER: $10,304 · OtherST JOHN'S THE DIVINE CHURCH: $10,000 · OtherSt John's School: $8,250 · Other+9 more: $20,500 · Other+9 moreTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $38,500 · HealthTHE METHODIST HOSPITA…PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $10,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOODTHE MENNINGER CLINIC: $5,000 · HealthTHE MENNINGER CLINICTexas Children's Hospital: $2,500 · Health+2 more: $2,000 · HealthVanderbilt University: $12,500 · EducationSouthern Methodist University: $6,500 · EducationSmall Steps Nurturing Center: $1,500 · EducationHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $11,848 · AnimalsHOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $6,500 · AnimalsKERRVILLE PETS ALIVE: $1,000 · AnimalsNMDP FOUNDATION: $2,500 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY INC: $1,000 · PhilanthropyHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $3,000 · EnvironmentThe Junior League of Houston Inc: $2,000 · Community Improvement
Other$205,952Health$58,000Education$20,500Animals$19,348Philanthropy$3,500Environment$3,000Community Improvement$2,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $38,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University: $12,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $11,848 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSt John's School: $8,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $6,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNMDP FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Junior League of Houston Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSmall Steps Nurturing Center: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILDLIFE CENTER OF TEXAS INC: $500 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…The Nancy and Clive R…Strake FoundationShell USA Company Fou…Natl Christian Charit…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX14.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · The Nancy and Clive Runnells Foundation · Strake Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Leon Payne Jr Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Leon Payne Jr 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report 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 Leon Payne Jr Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Leon Payne Jr 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 33 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 Leon Payne Jr’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