· Private foundation
Palmer 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k5 grants · $25k
- $10k–50k11 grants · $255k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $70k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| NEW BRAUFELS FOOD BANK | $70,000 |
| ST JOHN'S SCHOOL | $45,000 |
| DEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER | $35,000 |
| CASA DE ESPERANZA | $35,000 |
| THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION | $30,000 |
| KID'S MEALS | $25,000 |
| INTERFAITH MINISTRIES HOUSTON | $20,000 |
| MAGELLAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL | $15,000 |
| GIRLS SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN TEXAS | $15,000 |
| ALAMO AREA BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA | $15,000 |
| TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY KINGSVILLE FOU | $10,000 |
| MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON | $10,000 |
| MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION | $7,500 |
| NEW BRAUNFELS PARKS FOUNDATION | $5,000 |
| THE HOUSTON ZOO | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY19–25, $388k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
34 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $115k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- SASAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK6× · 2019–2024 · $273k · revenue +46%
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC7× · 2019–2025 · $170k · revenue +56%- DCDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER7× · 2019–2025 · $169k · revenue +31%
Funded once
- CICOMP-U-DOPT INCgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue +286%
SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDRENgraduatedone grant, 2022 · $12k · revenue +78%- NCNehemiah Center Incone grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue +14%
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.
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.
To enrich life through discovery, education, and the conservation of plants and the natural environment.
Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.
The witte museum inspires people to shape the future of texas through transformative and relevant experiences in nature, science and culture.
Family, School, and Church united in the education and support of each child - this is the founding premise upon which Presbyterian School nurtures and challenges its students. The school provides an educational program of the highest…
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…
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…
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…
Provide quality education for students from pre school through middle school using the Montessori method of learning and teaching.
The HISD Foundation is dedicated to mobilizing the local community to support innovative priorities in HISD to improve outcomes for all students in the district. Our mission is to fund projects and programs of merit that fall outside of…
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston's mission is to inspire and enable all youth, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.
To generate superior long-term investment returns to support The University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems as they provide world-class teaching, push the boundaries of discovery, and achieve excellence in patient healthcare for…
Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.
How this is measured
25 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. 25 of the 46 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK ↗
- Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds DEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER ↗
- Who funds St John's School ↗
- Who funds KIDS' MEALS INC ↗
- Who funds CASA DE ESPERANZA DE LOS NINOS INC ↗
- Who funds Houston Area Women's Center ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston ↗
- Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS INC ↗
- Who funds Houston Museum of Natural Science ↗
- Who funds THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON ↗
- Who funds BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA ALAMO AREA COUNCIL ↗
- Who funds THE MAGELLAN SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds Houston Zoo Inc ↗
- Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
- Who funds TRINIDAD STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds COMP-U-DOPT INC ↗
- Who funds New Braunfels Parks Foundation ↗
- Who funds SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN ↗
- Who funds FALFURRIAS VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT ↗
- Who funds Nehemiah Center Inc ↗
- Who funds DNA DOE PROJECT ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Palmer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Palmer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Palmer’s filings →