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· Private foundation

MataGator 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.

$126k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What you fund
0188% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20182024.

Education$324kEnvironment$89kRecreation & Sports$46kAnimals$41kArts & Culture$28kFood & Nutrition$11kHuman Services$11kHealth$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$42,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$435k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
St Francis Episcopal School$45,000
The Posse Foundation$42,500
Individual grant recipient$28,650
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo$10,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Quail Forever: $1k → 14%AIM AT MELANOMA: $1k → 5%HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: $700 → 6%Texas Brigades: $1k → 7%UNT: $21k → 8%Brazoria County Historical Museum: $600 → 10%Rodeo Austin: $5k → 10%HABITAT FOR HORSES: $6k → 14%Coastal Prairie Convservacy: $29k → 14%TEXAS RICE INDUSTRY COALITION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: $15k → 15%KATIE PRAIRIE CONSERVANCY: $33k → 16%Matagorda County Museum: $600 → 20%Briscoe Animal Resource Ctr of Uvalde: $10k → 25%Ducks Unlimited Youth Program: $40k → 17%HAPPY BIRTHDAYS: $500 → 6%HABITAT FOR HORSES: $5k → 14%Coastal Prairie Convservacy: $29k → 14%HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HABITAT FOR HORSES: $5k → 14%Coastal Prairie Convservacy: $25k → 14%HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HABITAT FOR HORSES: $5k → 14%The Posse Foundation: $43k → 16%Habitat for Horses: $3k → 14%St Francis Episcopal School: $45k → 16%The Posse Foundation: $75k → 16%The Posse Foundation: $61k → 16%The Posse Foundation: $50k → 16%THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 16%THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 16%THEATER UNDER THE STARS INC: $3k → 16%THEATER UNDER THE STARS INC: $3k → 16%CASA DE ESPERANZA: $5k → 16%CASA DE ESPERANZA: $5k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$452k · 9 repeat orgs$191k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +77% since the first grant, against +17% for the ones you funded once.

9 repeat relationships — 3 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
14

Total granted

$452k
$146k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+77%
+17%

Still filing today

67%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $45k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsEnvironmentHealthArts & CultureEducationRecreation & SportsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • TP
    THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2018–2024 · $279k · revenue +28%
  • HOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $46k · revenue +526%
  • HF
    HABITAT FOR HORSES INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $24k · revenue +77%

Funded once

  • DU
    Ducks Unlimited Youth Program
    one grant, 2020 · $40k
  • CP
    Coastal Prairie Conservancygraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $33k · revenue +306%
  • U
    UNT
    one grant, 2020 · $21k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — 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
Glasstire

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

Arts & Culture
5
Texas a&M Research Foundation

To facilitate research and development within the texas a&m university system and selected other entities.

Education
6
Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas

Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization thatadvances Texas proud outdoor traditions through meaningful, high-impact programs,partnerships, and a wide range of projects that conserve and enhance our…

Environment
7
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
8
San Jacinto Museum and Battlefield Association

To collect and preserve significant historical materials that relate to the early history and culture of Texas and to promote the study of the history of Texas through exhibits, publications, and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
9
Hill Country Alliance

The mission of the Hill Country Alliance is to bring together a diverse coalition of partners to preserve the open spaces, starry night skies, clean and abundant waters, and unique character of the Texas Hill Country.

Environment
10
Conservation History Association of Tx

The Association is developing, distributing and archiving oral histories, atlas maps and descriptive essays, and wildlife illustrations to expand public appreciation and grasp of Texas environmental history.

Education
11
Big Thicket Natural Heritage Trust

We acquire properties to be donated to the National Park Service and state entities and advocate for protection of Big Thicket natural resources.

Environment
12
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…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Methodist Hospital Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Happy Birthdays. 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

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 14 of the 24 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
9/14
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC — $278,501 · EducationTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INCIndividual grant recipient — $82,300 · OtherIndividual grant recipientST FRANCIS EPISCOPAL SCHOOL — $45,000 · OtherST FRANCIS EPISCOPAL SCHOOLDucks Unlimited Youth Program — $40,000 · OtherDucks Unlimited Youth ProgramUNT — $20,600 · OtherUNTTexas A&M AgriLife Extension — $11,328 · OtherCASA DE ESPERANZA — $10,000 · Other+5 more — $9,800 · OtherCoastal Prairie Conservancy — $33,000 · EnvironmentTEXAS RICE INDUSTRY COALITION FOR T ENVIRONMENT — $15,000 · Environment+1 more — $1,000 · EnvironmentHOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO INC — $46,000 · Recreation & SportsHABITAT FOR HORSES INC — $24,020 · AnimalsBriscoe Animal Resource Center of Uvalde — $10,000 · AnimalsRODEO AUSTIN — $5,000 · AnimalsDelta Waterfowl Foundation — $2,000 · AnimalsTheatre Under the Stars Inc — $6,000 · Arts & CultureBRAZORIA COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM — $600 · Arts & CultureTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $2,000 · HealthAIM AT MELANOMA — $1,000 · Health
Education$278,501Other$219,028Environment$49,000Recreation & Sports$46,000Animals$41,020Arts & Culture$6,600Health$3,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC — $278,501 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSTON LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO INC — $46,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCoastal Prairie Conservancy — $33,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHABITAT FOR HORSES INC — $24,020 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTEXAS RICE INDUSTRY COALITION FOR T ENVIRONMENT — $15,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetBriscoe Animal Resource Center of Uvalde — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTheatre Under the Stars Inc — $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRODEO AUSTIN — $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDelta Waterfowl Foundation — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHappy Birthdays — $1,200 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetBobwhite Brigade — $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAIM AT MELANOMA — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRAZORIA COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM — $600 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Brown Foundation IncTX13.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Brown Foundation Inc · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization MataGator Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s 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 · 0–50%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to MataGator Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to MataGator 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 24 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph