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Prometheus Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Prometheus Charitable Trust

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$400k
Granted FY2024still arriving
38
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$900kArts & Culture$433kEducation$373kHuman Services$267kInternational$216kCrime & Legal$155kPhilanthropy$137kSocial Science$64kOther$0
02FY2024 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $45k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $305k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$7,500
Median grant
10
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ISHIDA DANCE COMPANY$50,000
FIDELITY CHARITABLE TRUST$40,000
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON$30,000
THE MENDCENTER FOUNDATION$29,000
ROTHKO CHAPEL$25,000
MUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE$25,000
SHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT$20,000
HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER$20,000
WENDY WAGNER FOUNDATION FOR FUNDING$15,000
W O SMITH MUSIC SCHOOL$14,000
INNOCENCE PROJECT$14,000
FAM INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY$12,500
HOUSTON EYE ASSOCIATES FOUNDATION$10,000
CENTER FOR MEDICINE AFTER THE HOLOC$10,000
KIPP ACADEMY NASHVILLE$10,000
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 (FY17–24, $347k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%406 FAMILY AID FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%YMCA OF AUSTIN: $1k → 10%WOMEN IN ACTION: $3k → 10%ELIJAH RISING: $14k → 16%ELIJAH RISING: $10k → 16%ELIJAH RISING: $10k → 16%ELIJAH RISING: $3k → 16%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $14k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $14k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $14k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $14k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $10k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $8k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $8k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $8k → 17%PURPLE SONGS CAN FLY: $1k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $20k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $20k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $20k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $20k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $15k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $15k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $15k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $15k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $10k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $9k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $9k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $9k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $9k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $8k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $5k → 16%FAM INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: $13k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS: $4k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
WA
MT
NY
OH
NJ
CA
CO
MD
AR
TN
DC
LA
GA
TX
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 59 repeat orgs$215k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +71% since the first grant, against +55% for those funded once.

59 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2024, 35 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

59
48

Total granted

$2.5M
$111k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+71%
+55%

Still filing today

64%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $104k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEnvironmentHealthArts & CultureEducationAnimalsOther
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

  • MF
    MENDCENTER FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $540k · revenue +486% · 30% of their budget
  • SB
    SHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $205k · revenue +145%
  • HA
    Houston Area Women's Center
    8× · 2017–2024 · $140k · revenue +110%

Funded once

  • B
    BARC
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • HF
    HELIO FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • LW
    LAST WISHES FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
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
Trees for Houston

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

—
2
Glasstire

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

Arts & Culture
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
Houston Botanic Garden

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

Environment
5
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
6
Houston Zoo Inc

Mission: Connect communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife. Vision: Be a leader in the global movement to save wildlife. (Continued on Schedule O) Houston Zoo, Inc. (HZI) strives to be a zoo that practices exemplary…

Animals
7
Laurels House

Laurel's House strengthens the human animal bond improves public health decreases the number of companion animal euthanasia due to overpopulation and diminishes human impact on native wildlife species by providing unprecedented access to…

—
8
Houston Area Parkinson Society

The mission of the Houston Area Parkinson Society is to use a whole-human approach to community building, which reduces the fear and isolation associated with a Parkinson's diagnosis.

—
9
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
10
Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy

The Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy ("Willow Waterhole") serves as the leading advocate for public greenspace improvements and nature preservation at the 291-acre Willow Waterhole Greenway. (See Schedule O)Willow Waterhole partners…

Environment
11
West Street Recovery

West Street Recovery's mission is to connect communities to the resources they need to rebuild after climate disasters such as Hurricane Harvey and build resilient, secure, and stronger communities.

Public Safety & Disaster
12
Trinity Park Conservancy

Trinity Park Conservancy champions the transformation of the Trinity River to become the heart of Dallas. With the community, the Conservancy will design public spaces that unite us, enrich people's lives through access to nature, create…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Star of Hope Mission; the most unlike its peers is Espiritu de la Alpaca 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

78 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 78 of the 123 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
26
Early backer (in before they grew)
76/78
Grantees still filing
58/78
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $190,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONMUSICARES: $113,000 · OtherMUSICARESCENTER FOR MEDICINE AFTER THE HOLOC: $84,000 · OtherCENTER FOR MEDICINE AFTER THE HOLOCFIDELITY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $48,500 · OtherPHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY: $48,000 · OtherUNITED CEREBRAL PALSY OF MIDDLE TEN: $45,000 · OtherFIDELITY CHARITABLE TRUST: $40,000 · OtherFAITH CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $39,000 · OtherChildren's Assessment Center Foundation: $56,000 · Other+73 more: $471,675 · Other+73 moreMENDCENTER FOUNDATION: $539,875 · HealthMENDCENTER FOUNDATIONMUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE INC: $124,500 · HealthMUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE INC+5 more: $33,250 · HealthHouston Area Women's Center: $140,000 · Human ServicesHouston Area W…THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $88,500 · Human ServicesTHE INNOCENCE …HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS-HOUSTON: $63,000 · Human ServicesHEALTHCARE FOR…Elijah Rising: $37,000 · Human ServicesElijah RisingFAM INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: $12,500 · Human Services+5 more: $9,000 · Human ServicesCOUNCIL OF AMERICANA ROOTS MUSIC: $64,000 · Arts & CultureCOUNCIL OF…ISHIDA DANCE COMPANY INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureISHIDA DAN…WO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $58,500 · Arts & CultureWO SMITH N…BALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC: $49,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET TEC…Catastrophic Theatre Inc: $15,000 · Arts & CultureCatastroph…+2 more: $2,035 · Arts & CultureSHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT INC: $205,000 · InternationalHELIO FOUNDATION: $10,000 · International+1 more: $500 · InternationalSAVE BUFFALO BAYOU: $25,000 · EnvironmentBIG SKY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: $11,500 · EnvironmentMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $10,500 · EnvironmentThe Houston Audubon Society: $7,500 · EnvironmentMOONLIGHT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,750 · EnvironmentBEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL: $2,265 · Environment+3 more: $3,000 · EnvironmentKIPP NASHVILLE: $56,000 · EducationMETROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · Education+3 more: $2,000 · Education
Other$1,135,175Health$697,625Human Services$350,000Arts & Culture$248,535International$215,500Environment$66,515Education$60,000

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 budgetMENDCENTER FOUNDATION: $539,875 over 6y, 30% of budgetSHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT INC: $205,000 over 7y, 1.5% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $140,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetMUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE INC: $124,500 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $88,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCOUNCIL OF AMERICANA ROOTS MUSIC: $64,000 over 6y, 31% of budgetHEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS-HOUSTON: $63,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetISHIDA DANCE COMPANY INC: $60,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetWO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $58,500 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetKIPP NASHVILLE: $56,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Assessment Center Foundation: $56,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetBALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC: $49,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetElijah Rising: $37,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetJung Society of Washington: $36,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetBIG SKY BRAVERY FOUNDATION: $34,475 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSAVE BUFFALO BAYOU: $25,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetRothko Chapel: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLIFT MEMORIAL INC: $22,500 over 3y, 13% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH SERVICES INC: $15,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCatastrophic Theatre Inc: $15,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetINPRINT INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetMUSIC & MEMORY INC: $14,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFAM INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: $12,500 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $11,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBIG SKY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION: $11,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $10,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSTON EYE ASSOCIATES FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetHELIO FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSIRE INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE GIVE AN HOUR NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $7,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe Houston Audubon Society: $7,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHealth Alliance for Austin Musicians: $7,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMOONLIGHT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,750 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetNashville Peacemakers: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetCHILDRENS TRANSPLANT INITIATIVE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMONROE HARDING INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBIG SKY YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECT INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTEAM GLEASON FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWEDONTWASTE INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetONE TREE PLANTED INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBeWell in School: $3,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetArt & Environmental Architecture: $3,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetSTAR OF HOPE MISSION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWELLNESS IN ACTION: $2,500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetBEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL: $2,265 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMETROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARTS COUNCIL OF BIG SKY: $2,000 over 2y, 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 MENDCENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SHANTI BHAVAN CHILDREN'S PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds Houston Area Women's Center ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL OF AMERICANA ROOTS MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS-HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds ISHIDA DANCE COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds WO SMITH NASHVILLE COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds KIPP NASHVILLE ↗
  • Who funds Children's Assessment Center Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BALLET TECH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Elijah Rising ↗
  • Who funds Jung Society of Washington ↗
  • Who funds BIG SKY BRAVERY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAVE BUFFALO BAYOU ↗
  • Who funds Rothko Chapel ↗
  • Who funds LIFT MEMORIAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Texas Children's Hospital ↗
  • Who funds UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Catastrophic Theatre Inc ↗
  • Who funds INPRINT INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSIC & MEMORY INC ↗
  • Who funds FAM INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ↗
  • Who funds BIG SKY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION ↗
  • Who funds Memorial Park Conservancy 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.

Greater Houston Commu…The Brown Foundation …Shell USA Company Fou…The Elkins FoundationOne Valley Community …Strake FoundationAlbert & Ethel Herzst…Houston Endowment IncYellowstone Club Comm…Vivian L Smith Founda…John P McGovern Found…Jacob and Terese Hers…
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX33.5× affinity23 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · One Valley Community Foundation · Strake Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · Yellowstone Club Community Foundation · Vivian L Smith Foundation · John P McGovern Foundation · Jacob and Terese Hershey 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 Prometheus Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Prometheus Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%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
    1get no government money at all
    24report 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 123 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 Prometheus’ 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