· Private foundation
Rhett Butler Charitable Foundation
Its FY2024 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, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k4 grants · $6k
- $10k–50k13 grants · $376k
- $50k–250k3 grants · $160k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| SPECIAL PALS | $60,000 |
| BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE | $50,000 |
| THE BROOKWOOD COMMUNITY | $50,000 |
| FORT BEND'S WOMENS CENTER | $40,000 |
| LEAKEY ISD | $36,000 |
| SMALL STEPS | $35,000 |
| JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER | $35,000 |
| AID TO VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE | $35,000 |
| RETINA RESEARCH CENTER | $30,000 |
| HOUSTON FOOD BANK | $30,000 |
| IEDUCATE USA | $25,000 |
| JUSTICE FORWARD | $25,000 |
| RUPANI FOUNDATION USA | $25,000 |
| CHILD ADVOCATES OF FORT BEND | $25,000 |
| DAYA INC | $25,000 |
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 (FY17–24, $61k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 100% 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.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +76% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.
10 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (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 FY2024, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $434k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TCTexas Children's Hospital6× · 2017–2024 · $114k · revenue +105%
- RRRETINA RESEARCH FOUNDATION5× · 2017–2021 · $80k · revenue +76%
- AAVDA3× · 2017–2024 · $36k · revenue +90%
Funded once
- LVLeakey Volunteer Fire Department Incgraduated2× · 2017–2018 · $3k · revenue +37%
- TATexas A&M Foundationgraduated2× · 2017–2018 · $1k · revenue +90%
- FCFRIO CANYON EMS INCgraduated2× · 2017–2018 · $750 · revenue +317%
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.
The children's advocacy center of van zandt county is committed to ensuring quality services and support to those children impacted by abuse while also building a future where no child in van zandt county experiences abuse.
The mission of Family Service Center of Houston and Harris County (Family Houston) is to create a stronger community for tomorrow by helping individuals and families meet the challenges they face today. We help others help themselves.
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…
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…
Houston Pets Alive!s (HPA!) mission is to save the lives of at-risk companion cats and dogs and find them loving homes.
The spca of texas is dedicated to providing every animal exceptional care and a loving home.
The texas hospital association's mission is to provide leadership in advocacy, information and education to enable texas hospitals to deliver superior, cost effective care which enhances the health care of individuals and their communities.
Houston Cares Rescue is a volunteer organization rescuing animals from the streets, and occasionally from shelters, in Houston, TX, and caring for them primarily with foster families until a loving home can be found. We operate a…
Houston Hospice provides uncompromising, compassionate end-of-life care to patients and families in our community. Houston Hospice cares for patients from all races, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and payor classes, including those with…
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.
Children's advocacy centers of texas, inc. (cactx) is the statewide organization for its 70 children's advocacy centers (cac's) across texas. cactx leads efforts, in partnership with investigatory and prosecution agencies, to pursue…
When care is within reach, lives change. Texas Community Counseling is a faith-based nonprofit committed to bringing hope and healing through mental health care to the communities that need it the most. We empower individuals to heal,…
How this is measured
24 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. 24 of the 43 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 Texas Children's Hospital ↗
- Who funds RETINA RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Special Pals Inc ↗
- Who funds The Brookwood Community Inc ↗
- Who funds Baylor College of Medicine ↗
- Who funds AVDA ↗
- Who funds JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF DALLAS ↗
- Who funds Small Steps Nurturing Center ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN JUNIOR BRAHMAN ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds The Houston Food Bank ↗
- Who funds iEDUCATE ↗
- Who funds JUSTICE FORWARD ↗
- Who funds Ft Bend County Child Advocates Inc ↗
- Who funds Daya Inc ↗
- Who funds TREE OF PROMISE ↗
- Who funds Leakey Volunteer Fire Department Inc ↗
- Who funds GREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds HOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ↗
- Who funds Texas A&M Foundation ↗
- Who funds FRIO CANYON EMS INC ↗
- Who funds HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ↗
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 · H E Butt Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · Shell USA Company Foundation · O'Kelley - Hemminghaus Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Network for Good · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Rhett Butler Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Rhett Butler Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
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