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Petersen Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Petersen Family 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.

$7.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$2.6M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$7.2MHealth$3.4MYouth Development$2.0MRecreation & Sports$1.8MPhilanthropy$315kPublic Safety & Disaster$230kReligion$125kHuman Services$120kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $47k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $130k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $690k
  • $250k+5 grants · $7.0M
$25,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Memorial Hermann Foundation$2,600,000
The Matador Club$2,000,000
Red Raider Facilities Foundation$1,000,000
Texas Tech University Foundation$1,000,000
Astros Golf Foundation$400,000
Houston Police Foundation$225,000
Cal Farley's Boys Ranch$110,000
Chapelwood United Methodist Church$105,000
United Way of Greater Houston$100,000
Prager University$100,000
REID Foundation$50,000
American Heart Association$25,000
The Holdsworth Center$25,000
Multiple Sclerosis Society$25,000
Second Baptist Church$20,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%River Oaks Baptist School: $500k → 16%River Oaks Baptist School: $500k → 16%River Oaks Baptist School: $500k → 16%Second Baptist School Foundation: $1.5M → 16%Second Baptist School Foundation: $100k → 16%See statement attached: $18.1M → 16%Memorial Hermann Foundation: $250k → 16%Memorial Hermann Foundation: $250k → 16%The Chapelwood Foundation: $50k → 16%See Statement Attached: $2.9M → 16%See Statement Attached: $466k → 16%Astros Golf Foundation: $200k → 16%The Council on Recovery: $250k → 16%Astros Golf Foundation: $200k → 16%United Way of Greater Houston: $100k → 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.

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 6 repeat orgs$4.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +151% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 23 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
2

Total granted

$11M
$300k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+151%
+10%

Still filing today

83%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.8M went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthPhilanthropyHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TT
    TEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $4.0M · revenue +20%
  • MH
    Memorial Hermann Foundation
    3× · 2019–2024 · $3.1M · revenue +179%
  • SB
    SECOND BAPTIST SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +151% · 29% of their budget

Funded once

  • TC
    The Council on Recovery
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +10%
  • TC
    The Chapelwood Foundation
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
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
Baylor Research Institute

To improve the care and well being of our community, nationally and internationally, through innovative clinically relevant research that is consistent with the mission, vision and values of Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH).

Health
2
Texas Christian University

Texas christian university is an institution of higher education which includes nine major academic units: liberal arts, science and engineering, business, education, fine arts, communication, honors, nursing and health sciences, and the…

Education
3
Forty First Foundation

The forty first foundation supports and advances the university of texas at austin in its pursuit of excellence. we work closely with the office of the president to identify, fund, and implement strategic initiatives that enhance the…

Education
4
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
5
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
6
Baylor Health Care System Foundation

To foster and support the activities and purposes of Baylor Scott & White Health, to encourage broad-based public support of the health care system and its affiliated institutions, and to advance the medical objectives, including…

Health
7
Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth

A faith-based organization whose mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities it serves regardless of their ability to pay.

Health
8
Texas Trust Gives
Philanthropy
9
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

Stanford university is one of a select group of american universities that have achieved eminence in both undergraduate and graduate education and research - cont'd sch o.

Education
10
The Methodist Hospital Foundation

Mission: 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…

Health
11
Scott & White Memorial Hospital

Founded as a Christian ministry of healing, Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) promotes the well-being of all individuals, families and communities.

Health
12
Scott & White Healthcare Foundation

To foster and support the activities and purposes of Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH), to encourage broad-based public support of the healthcare system and its affiliated institutions, and to advance the medical objectives, including…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Holdsworth Center; the most unlike its peers is American Heart Association Inc. 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

15 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. 15 of the 31 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
10/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC: $4,000,000 · EducationTEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INCSECOND BAPTIST SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $1,605,000 · EducationSECOND BAPTIST SCHOOL FOUNDATION INCRED RAIDER FACILITIES FOUNDATION INC: $1,000,000 · EducationRED RAIDER FACILITIES FOUNDATION INC+2 more: $6,000 · EducationThe Matador Club: $2,000,000 · OtherThe Matador ClubRiver Oaks Baptist School: $1,500,000 · OtherRiver Oaks Baptist School+14 more: $406,334 · Other+14 moreMemorial Hermann Foundation: $3,100,000 · HealthMemorial Hermann Foundati…The Council on Recovery: $250,000 · HealthThe Council on Recovery+2 more: $35,000 · HealthASTROS GOLF FOUNDATION: $800,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way of Greater Houston: $200,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $25,000 · PhilanthropyHOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION: $225,000 · Human ServicesCAL FARLEY'S BOYS RANCH: $110,000 · Human ServicesCAMP OZARK FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Youth Development
Education$6,611,000Other$3,906,334Health$3,385,000Philanthropy$1,025,000Human Services$335,000Youth Development$5,000

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 budgetTEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC: $4,000,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetMemorial Hermann Foundation: $3,100,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetSECOND BAPTIST SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $1,605,000 over 3y, 29% of budgetRED RAIDER FACILITIES FOUNDATION INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetASTROS GOLF FOUNDATION: $800,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetThe Council on Recovery: $250,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetHOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION: $225,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Houston: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCAL FARLEY'S BOYS RANCH: $110,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOLDSWORTH CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP OZARK FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ENDOWMENT FUND OF THE PHI KAPPA PSI FRATERNITY: $1,000 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…Shell USA Company Fou…National Philanthropi…Natl Christian Charit…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX20.4× affinity8 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Petersen Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Petersen Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Petersen Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Petersen Family 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 31 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.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $18M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Petersen 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