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Marvy Finger Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Marvy Finger Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
251
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$400k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$3.4MHealth$1.8MEnvironment$830kCommunity Improvement$800kHuman Services$670kReligion$585kPhilanthropy$576kAnimals$560kOther$0
02FY2024 · 251 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k212 grants · $734k
  • $10k–50k22 grants · $400k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.0M
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.1M
$3,573
Median grant
2
States reached
$82M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Greater Houston Community Fdtn$400,000
Galveston Bay Foundation$250,000
Memorial Park Conservancy$250,000
The Houston Zoo$250,000
Hermann Park Conservancy$200,000
BridgeYear$100,000
Houston Area Women's Center$100,000
Briarwood School$75,000
Baylor College of Medicine$75,000
The Montrose Center$75,000
Da Camera of Houston$75,000
The Menninger Clinic$55,000
Houston Symphony$53,000
University of Houston-Bauer College$50,000
Legacy Community Health$50,000
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 (FY20–24, $255k) 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%BridgeYear: $100k → 16%BridgeYear: $10k → 16%Bridge Year: $10k → 16%Houston Area Women's Center: $100k → 16%Connect Community: $20k → 16%Connect Community: $10k → 16%Connect Community: $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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.9M · 311 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +47% since the first grant, against -31% for those funded once.

311 repeat relationships: 149 still active in FY2024, 162 since wound down; 96 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

311
121

Total granted

$8.9M
$514k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
-31%

Still filing today

7%
2%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $706k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesEnvironmentArts & 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

  • Houston Zoo Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $560k · revenue +52%
  • Hermann Park Conservancy
    5× · 2020–2024 · $470k · revenue +3%
  • MP
    Memorial Park Conservancy Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $380k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • HM
    Houston Methodist Hospital Foundati
    one grant, 2020 · $101k
  • JF
    Jewish Fed of Greater Houston
    one grant, 2022 · $33k
  • CF
    Coalition for Homeless
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
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 Botanic Garden

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

Environment
2
Trees for Houston

Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.

—
3
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
4
The Houston Audubon Society

To advance the conservation of birds and their habitats in the Greater Houston Gulf Coast region by acquiring and maintaining critical habitat as bird sanctuaries, providing education programs and nature experiences, and advocating policy…

Environment
5
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…

—
6
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
7
Breakthrough Houston

The mission of Breakthrough Houston (BTH) is to work with highly motivated students to achieve post-secondary success and empower aspiring leaders to become the next generation of educational advocates.

Education
8
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
9
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
10
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
11
The Heritage Society

The Heritage Society (THS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1954 whose mission is to tell the stories of the diverse history of Houston and Texas through collections, exhibits, the arts, educational programs, film, video, and other…

—
12
The Houston Parks Board Foundation

The Houston Parks Board Foundation provides the Houston Parks Board with financial assistance to support operations and park projects.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Houston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Ware 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

31 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. 31 of the 530 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/31
Grantees still filing
23/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Methodist Hospital: $1,030,000 · OtherMethodist HospitalGreater Houston Community Fdtn: $800,000 · OtherGreater Houston Community FdtnCONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL: $550,000 · OtherCONGREGATION BETH ISRAELAISHEL HOUSE INC: $525,000 · OtherAISHEL HOUSE INC+176 more: $2,857,517 · Other+176 moreHermann Park Conservancy: $470,000 · EnvironmentHermann Park …Memorial Park Conservancy Inc: $380,000 · EnvironmentMemorial Park…Galveston Bay Foundation Inc: $305,000 · EnvironmentGalveston Bay…GREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $400,000 · PhilanthropyHouston Parks Board: $100,000 · PhilanthropyThe Women's Resource of Greater Houston: $50,000 · PhilanthropyUndies for Everyone: $25,000 · PhilanthropyBaylor College of Medicine: $225,000 · EducationTHE BRIARWOOD SCHOOL: $165,000 · EducationUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $155,000 · EducationSOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW HOUSTON INC: $25,000 · EducationHouston Zoo Inc: $560,000 · AnimalsLEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC: $160,000 · HealthSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $80,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $75,000 · HealthThe Montrose Center: $75,000 · HealthTHE MENNINGER CLINIC: $70,000 · HealthHouston Symphony Society: $128,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $105,000 · Arts & CultureHOUSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY: $50,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$5,762,517Environment$1,155,000Philanthropy$575,000Education$570,000Animals$560,000Health$460,000Arts & Culture$283,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHouston Zoo Inc: $560,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $470,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $380,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetGalveston Bay Foundation Inc: $305,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $225,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $165,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIARWOOD SCHOOL: $165,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetLEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC: $160,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $155,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Symphony Society: $128,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBRIDGEYEAR: $120,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $105,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHouston Parks Board: $100,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN: $80,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $75,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Montrose Center: $75,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE MENNINGER CLINIC: $70,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Federation of Greater Houston: $67,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBAYOU PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION INC: $55,000 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetHOUSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY: $50,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetThe Women's Resource of Greater Houston: $50,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetMy Connect Community: $35,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetRothko Chapel: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW HOUSTON INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUndies for Everyone: $25,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetEvelyn's Park Conservancy: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMISSION SQUASH OF HOUSTON: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHUNDER TACTICAL SHOOTERS INC: $7,711 over 2y, 66% 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 Houston Zoo Inc ↗
  • Who funds Hermann Park Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds GREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Memorial Park Conservancy Inc ↗
  • Who funds Galveston Bay Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds Baylor College of Medicine ↗
  • Who funds The Houston Food Bank ↗
  • Who funds THE BRIARWOOD SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds LEGACY COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds University of Arizona Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Houston Symphony Society ↗
  • Who funds BRIDGEYEAR ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds Houston Area Women's Center ↗
  • Who funds Houston Parks Board ↗
  • Who funds SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc ↗
  • Who funds The Montrose Center ↗
  • Who funds THE MENNINGER CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds Jewish Federation of Greater Houston ↗
  • Who funds BAYOU PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON YOUTH SYMPHONY ↗
  • Who funds The Women's Resource of Greater Houston ↗
  • Who funds My Connect Community ↗
  • Who funds Rothko Chapel ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF LAW HOUSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds Undies for Everyone ↗

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…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Shell USA Company Fou…The Elkins FoundationStrake FoundationHouston Endowment IncThe Brown Foundation …Centerpoint Energy Fo…Jerry C Dearing Famil…The Stanford & Joan A…MD Anderson FoundationVivian L Smith Founda…
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX31.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · Strake Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · The Brown Foundation Inc · Centerpoint Energy Foundation Inc · Jerry C Dearing Family Foundation · The Stanford & Joan Alexander Foundation · MD Anderson Foundation · Vivian L Smith 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 Marvy Finger Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Marvy Finger Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report 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.

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 530 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 Marvy Finger 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