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Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
62
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$250k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$3.7MHealth$2.9MEmployment$2.1MReligion$1.4MHuman Services$840kFood & Nutrition$635kArts & Culture$615kCivil Rights$475kOther$0
02FY2025 · 62 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $67k
  • $10k–50k32 grants · $678k
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $1.2M
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$15,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$37M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Breakthrough Central Texas$250,000
Stephen F Austin State University$225,000
The Seton Fund$225,000
The SAFE Alliance$120,000
Snowdrop Foundation Inc$100,000
Creative Action$100,000
Sustainable Food Center$100,000
First United Methodist Church of Houston$75,000
Camp for All$75,000
Fertility Foundation of Texas$50,000
Communities in Schools of Central Texas$50,000
DePelchin Children's Center$50,000
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas$50,000
The Council on Recovery$40,000
Austin Christian Educational Foundation$40,000
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 (FY19–25, $555k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 51% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 12%The Foundation for Hope Village: $10k → 14%Covenant with Christ International: $10k → 17%Hungry Souls: $5k → 10%DePelchin Children's Center: $55k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $50k → 16%God's Garage: $5k → 9%God's Garage: $5k → 9%God's Garage: $5k → 9%Inspiration Ranch Inc: $5k → 9%Hand to Hold: $25k → 10%DePelchin Children's Center: $50k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $50k → 16%Depelchin Children's Center: $30k → 16%Hand to Hold: $25k → 10%Depelchin Children's Center: $15k → 16%Depelchin Children's Center: $15k → 16%Hand to Hold: $15k → 10%Financial Health Pathways: $5k → 10%Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin: $50k → 10%Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin: $35k → 10%Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin: $30k → 10%Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin: $30k → 10%Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin: $20k → 10%Mothers' Milk Bank at Austin: $10k → 10%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
NY
IN
OH
MD
TX
FL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 32% of Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 51 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

51 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 21 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
28

Total granted

$13M
$842k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+7%
+9%

Still filing today

69%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $162k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesEducationCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyCrime & LegalOther
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

  • SF
    SNOWDROP FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $450k · revenue +17%
  • SF
    SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER
    7× · 2019–2025 · $425k · revenue +211%
  • BT
    BATTLESHIP TEXAS FOUNDATION
    5× · 2019–2024 · $390k · revenue +196%

Funded once

  • LS
    Lowe Syndrome Associaition
    one grant, 2021 · $275k
  • LS
    Lowe Syndrome Association
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • FF
    Fertility Foundation of Texas PMB 1
    one grant, 2019 · $75k
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
Leadership Austin

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

Youth Development
2
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
3
Texprotects-the Texas Association for the Protection of Children

TexProtects advances public policy and local implementation to strenghten families to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Youth Development
4
Good Work Austin

Good Work Austin's mission is to foster healthy careers in the local food and beverage industry through professional development and advocacy for more equitable practices.

Public Benefit
5
FIRST3YEARS

First3years nurtures early relational and mental health of infants and toddlers in texas. working in deep collaboration with caregivers, parents, and professionals statewide, we cultivate strong early childhood systems, educate our…

—
6
Texas Non-Profit Hospice Alliance

The Texas Nonprofit Hospice Alliance (TNPHA) is a group of nonprofit hospices dedicated to sharing best practices and providing quality care for individuals with life-limiting illnesses.

Human Services
7
Texas Gun Sense

Texas Gun Sense is a statewide nonprofit and nonpartisan organization advocating to prevent gun violence and other gun tragedies in Texas through education, partnerships, and policy change.

Civil Rights
8
Children's Hospital Association of Texas

To advance children's health and well-being by advocating for policies and funding that promote children's access to high-quality, comprehensive health care.

—
9
Any Baby Can of Austin Inc

Any baby can, an austin-based nonprofit, partners with parents so children reach their full potential. with programs that meet clients where they are at home, work or school any baby can provides in-home therapy, parent education, mental…

—
10
American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Inc

The ACLU of Texas works with communities, at the State Capitol, and in the courts to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for every Texan, no exceptions.

—
11
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
12
Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners - Forensic Center of Excellence

Through a coordinated community response, the forensic center empowers victims, promotes healing and creates innovative and comprehensive solutions to fill gaps in victim services.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Generation Serve; the most unlike its peers is Nac Safe Place. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

70 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. 70 of the 103 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.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
68/70
Grantees still filing
36/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SFASU Foundation: $2,225,000 · OtherSFASU FoundationFirst Methodist Church - Houston: $1,100,000 · OtherFirst Methodist Church - HoustonThe Seton Fund: $575,000 · OtherThe Seton FundStephen F Austin State University: $500,000 · OtherStephen F Austin State UniversitySUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER: $425,000 · OtherLowe Syndrome Associaition: $275,000 · Other+54 more: $2,969,750 · Other+54 moreHOPE TO OPPORTUNITIES FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 · PhilanthropyHOPE TO OPPORTUNITIE…FERTILITY FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $450,000 · PhilanthropyFERTILITY FOUNDATION…+4 more: $135,000 · PhilanthropyCon Mi MADRE: $510,000 · EducationCon Mi MA…BREAKTHROUGH: $380,000 · EducationBREAKTHRO…COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $150,000 · EducationCOMMUNITI…YOUTH JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $105,000 · EducationYOUTH JUS…AUSTIN CHRISTIAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION DBA ST FRANCIS SCHOOL: $50,000 · Education+5 more: $65,000 · EducationSNOWDROP FOUNDATION INC: $450,000 · HealthThe Council on Recovery: $370,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC: $180,000 · Health+9 more: $91,500 · HealthDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $265,000 · Human ServicesMOTHERS' MILK BANK AT AUSTIN INC: $175,000 · Human ServicesHAND TO HOLD: $65,000 · Human ServicesGENAUSTIN: $40,000 · Human Services+7 more: $65,000 · Human ServicesBATTLESHIP TEXAS FOUNDATION: $390,000 · Arts & CultureCreative Action: $120,000 · Arts & CultureMONTGOMERY CO CRIME STOPPERS INC: $215,000 · Crime & LegalCASA OF DEEP EAST TEXAS INC: $10,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$8,069,750Philanthropy$2,585,000Education$1,260,000Health$1,091,500Human Services$610,000Arts & Culture$510,000Crime & Legal$225,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHOPE TO OPPORTUNITIES FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 over 2y, 84% of budgetCon Mi MADRE: $510,000 over 7y, 11% of budgetFERTILITY FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $450,000 over 6y, 97% of budgetSNOWDROP FOUNDATION INC: $450,000 over 5y, 19% of budgetSUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER: $425,000 over 7y, 2.8% of budgetBATTLESHIP TEXAS FOUNDATION: $390,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH: $380,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetThe Council on Recovery: $370,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $265,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetMONTGOMERY CO CRIME STOPPERS INC: $215,000 over 5y, 38% of budgetLake Conroe Association: $207,750 over 5y, 49% of budgetLowe Syndrome Association: $200,000 over 4y, 35% of budgetSIRE INC: $200,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC: $180,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetMOTHERS' MILK BANK AT AUSTIN INC: $175,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $150,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE SAFE ALLIANCE: $150,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetAUSTIN YMBL SUNSHINE CAMP: $130,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetCamp For All Foundation: $125,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCreative Action: $120,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetHOUSE OF PEACE BETH SHALOM INC: $120,000 over 6y, 43% of budgetYOUTH JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $105,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetAustin Child Guidance Center: $95,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXAS: $75,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetDRESS FOR SUCCESS AUSTIN: $70,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetHAND TO HOLD: $65,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetMONTGOMERY COUNTY FOOD BANK INC: $65,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCentral Texas Food Bank Inc: $60,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN CHRISTIAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION DBA ST FRANCIS SCHOOL: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGENAUSTIN: $40,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE OSTEOSARCOMA INSTITUTE: $35,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetAUSTIN YOUTH & COMMUNITY FARM INC DBA URBAN ROOTS: $35,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetTHE AUSTIN CENTER FOR GRIEF AND LOSS: $30,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetHEALTH START FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 50% of budgetAUSTIN TOGETHER FUND: $25,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetTHE NEW PHILANTHROPISTS: $25,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetAustin Community College Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTourette Syndrome Association of Texas: $20,000 over 1y, 10.0% of budgetGENERATION SERVE: $20,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetGods Garage Inc: $15,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetREGIONAL EAST TEXAS FOOD BANK: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR HOPE VILLAGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCASA OF DEEP EAST TEXAS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCovenant with Christ International Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOPD FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPTSD FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 HOPE TO OPPORTUNITIES FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Con Mi MADRE ↗
  • Who funds FERTILITY FOUNDATION OF TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds SNOWDROP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER ↗
  • Who funds BATTLESHIP TEXAS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH ↗
  • Who funds The Council on Recovery ↗
  • Who funds DEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY CO CRIME STOPPERS INC ↗
  • Who funds Lake Conroe Association ↗
  • Who funds Lowe Syndrome Association ↗
  • Who funds SIRE INC ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC ↗
  • Who funds MOTHERS' MILK BANK AT AUSTIN INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CENTRAL TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds THE SAFE ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds AUSTIN YMBL SUNSHINE CAMP ↗
  • Who funds Camp For All Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Creative Action ↗
  • Who funds HOUSE OF PEACE BETH SHALOM INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH JUSTICE ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds Austin Child Guidance Center ↗
  • Who funds MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds DRESS FOR SUCCESS AUSTIN ↗
  • Who funds HAND TO HOLD ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY COUNTY FOOD BANK INC ↗

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.

Austin Community Foun…Topfer Family Foundat…The Moody FoundationSt David's FoundationShield-Ayres Foundati…Carl C Anderson Sr an…Better Business BureauGreater Houston Commu…Shell USA Company Fou…The Junior League of …Ecg FoundationHarry E and Eda L Mon…
Austin Community Foundation IncTX47.4× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · Topfer Family Foundation · The Moody Foundation · St David's Foundation · Shield-Ayres Foundation · Carl C Anderson Sr and Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation · Better Business Bureau · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Junior League of Austin Inc · Ecg Foundation · Harry E and Eda L Montandon Charitable Tr

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 Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    16report 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.

    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 103 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 Mr and Mrs Nelson Rusche’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