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Ray Reece Environmental Journalism Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ray Reece Environmental Journalism 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.

$3k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Environment$28kArts & Culture$5kEducation$4kRecreation & Sports$1kHuman Services$645Public Benefit$542Housing & Shelter$542Philanthropy$271Other$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$100
Median grant
1
States reached
$183k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TEXAS RIVER SCHOOL$3,061
CENTRAL TEXAS FOOD BANK$100
WRITERS LEAGUE$61
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 (FY22–24, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%SAMMY'S HOUSE: $542 → 10%THE OTHER ONES FOUNDATION: $542 → 10%OPEN DOOR PRESCHOOLS: $547 → 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.
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$34k · 7 repeat orgs$6k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
15

Total granted

$34k
$6k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+10%
+36%

Still filing today

71%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $61 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
EnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyEducationOther
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

  • SO
    SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS INC
    2× · 2019–2020 · $27k · revenue +10%
  • TT
    The Trail Conservancy
    2× · 2021–2022 · $1k · revenue +99%
  • RR
    RIVER RELIEF INC D/B/A MISSOURI RIVER RELIEF
    2× · 2021–2022 · $305 · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • CHAUTAUQUA FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $2k · revenue +2%
  • OD
    OPEN DOOR PRESCHOOL
    one grant, 2024 · $547 · revenue 0%
  • H
    HONKTX
    one grant, 2024 · $547 · revenue +6%
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
Glasstire

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

Arts & Culture
2
Center for Austin Independent Journalism

To equip Austinites to make informed decisions through independent, in-depth reporting, diverse opinions, and civil dialogue. A strong local press is essential for a healthy community and democracy. We work to make Austin a more empowered…

Arts & Culture
3
Trees for Houston

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

—
4
Progress Texas

Progress Texas is a non-profit media organization advocating for progressive ideals and policies in our state.

Civil Rights
5
Houston Botanic Garden

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

Environment
6
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
7
Coastal Prairie Conservancy

The Coastal Prairie Conservancy (CPC) works to sustain a resilient Texas by preserving coastal prairies, wetlands, farms, and ranches to benefit people and wildlife forever. Continued on Schedule OCPC conserves land, restores and enhances…

Environment
8
Austin Public Library Friends Foundation

Support and strengthen austin public libraries

Education
9
Tucson Audubon Society

Inspire people to enjoy and protect birds through recreation, education, conservation, and restoration of the environment, upon which we all depend.

Animals
10
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
11
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
12
TogetherAustin

To connect Central Texans to resources by reducing barriers expanding access and filling gaps in service.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Austin Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Persephone Project. 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

18 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. 18 of the 24 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
12/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS INC: $27,000 · Arts & CultureSOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS INCHonolulu Civil Beat Inc: $1,512 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $103 · Arts & CultureTEXAS RIVER SCHOOL: $3,608 · OtherTEXAS RIVER S…PERSEPHONE PROJECT: $400 · OtherPERSEPHONE PR…SOUTH AUSTIN MUSEUM OF POP CULTURE: $253 · OtherCentral Texas Food Bank Inc: $200 · Other+5 more: $477 · Other+5 moreCHAUTAUQUA FOUNDATION INC: $2,274 · PhilanthropyAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $271 · PhilanthropyThe Trail Conservancy: $1,396 · EnvironmentRIVER RELIEF INC D/B/A MISSOURI RIVER RELIEF: $305 · EnvironmentAUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH: $271 · EnvironmentShoal Creek Conservancy: $109 · EnvironmentTexas Land Conservancy: $109 · EnvironmentOPEN DOOR PRESCHOOL: $547 · Human ServicesTHE OTHER ONES FOUNDATION: $542 · Human ServicesSAMMYS HOUSE: $542 · Human ServicesHONKTX: $547 · Community ImprovementTEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $542 · Education
Arts & Culture$28,615Other$4,938Philanthropy$2,545Environment$2,190Human Services$1,631Community Improvement$547Education$542

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 budgetSOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS INC: $27,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA FOUNDATION INC: $2,274 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHonolulu Civil Beat Inc: $1,512 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trail Conservancy: $1,396 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN DOOR PRESCHOOL: $547 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHONKTX: $547 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $542 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OTHER ONES FOUNDATION: $542 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMMYS HOUSE: $542 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRIVER RELIEF INC D/B/A MISSOURI RIVER RELIEF: $305 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH: $271 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $271 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCentral Texas Food Bank Inc: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetShoal Creek Conservancy: $109 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTexas Land Conservancy: $109 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFilm Society of Austin Inc: $103 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAFE ALLIANCE: $103 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAustin Wildlife Rescue: $100 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.

Austin Community Foun…Better Business BureauJacob and Terese Hers…Shield-Ayres Foundati…Greater Houston Commu…Communities Foundatio…Mfi FoundationUnited Way for Greate…St David's FoundationThe Cynthia & George …The Moody FoundationRaymond James Charita…
Austin Community Foundation IncTX21.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · Better Business Bureau · Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation · Shield-Ayres Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · Mfi Foundation · United Way for Greater Austin · St David's Foundation · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation · The Moody Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

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 Ray Reece Environmental Journalism Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ray Reece Environmental Journalism Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 24 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 Ray Reece Environmental Journalism’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