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Ronnie & Cathy Matthews Great American Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ronnie & Cathy Matthews Great American Foundation

Its FY2022 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$6k
Granted FY2022
2
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2022.

Animals$523kHuman Services$22kHealth$6kFood & Nutrition$5kPhilanthropy$2kEducation$500
02FY2022 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$4,843
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$4,843
HAPPY HILLS FARM$1,000
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 (FY21–21, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 14% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%ANGEL REACH: $16k → 9%DREAM CATCHER STABLES: $3k → 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$507k · 3 repeat orgs$51k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2022, 2 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
10

Total granted

$507k
$46k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+12%

Still filing today

67%
90%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 17% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22
AnimalsHuman ServicesHealthEducationOther
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

  • LL
    LOLAS LUCKY DAY INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $320k · revenue -12%
  • HP
    HOUSTON PETSET
    2× · 2020–2021 · $184k · revenue +6%
  • HH
    HAPPY HILLS FARM
    3× · 2020–2022 · $4k

Funded once

  • AR
    ANGEL REACH
    one grant, 2021 · $16k · revenue -3%
  • CF
    Citizens for Animals of Midland Odessa Inc
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +9%
  • LH
    LAURELS HOUSE
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Pippys Pals Rescue

Pippys Pals Rescue is dedicated to saving the lives of dogs facing euthanasia in Houston. Our mission is to provide a second chance to these beloved companions by rescuing them from shelters, providing them with necessary medical care, and…

Animals
2
West Houston Animal Rescue

Rescue dogs and other small domestic animals, care for them until they are healthy and adopt them to loving families.

Animals
3
Sunnyside Street Dogs I

Community dog rescue focused on saving and rehoming street dogs in Houston.

Animals
4
Chances - Dog Rescue and Relocation

Animal Rescue

—
5
Poodle Rescue of Houston

Rescue of unwanted dogs

—
6
Central Texas Spca

Rescue neglected, unwanted homeless dogs and cats nurture and provide shelter until they are placed with a forever family strive to reduce animal overpopulation prevent cruelty to animals teach responsible pet ownership through an outreach…

Animals
7
Central Texas Animal Sanctuary

Animal rescue and rehabilitation

Animals
8
Houston Pets Alive

Houston Pets Alive!s (HPA!) mission is to save the lives of at-risk companion cats and dogs and find them loving homes.

Animals
9
Angies Dog House

We are dedicated to rescuig animals left homeless for whatever reason, animals in public shelters where they are at high risk of euthanasia, animals given up by their owners because of difficult circumstances, and those in danger of abuse…

Animals
10
Helotes Humane Society

Rescue and place abandoned and unwanted pets. Provide low cost spay / neuter. Provide low-cost microchips. Provide community education.

Animals
11
Humane Heroes Inc

The Organizations mission is to save the lives of adoptable dogs and cats from shelters throughout Texas, to decrease overpopulation of animals through low-cost veterinary services, and to enhance the lives of pets through educational…

Animals
12
Cupids Animal Haven

Cupids Animal Haven offers a permanent home for less adoptable cats. We also strive to educate Texans about options for spay and neuter to prevent overpopulation and suffering of animals.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Be an Angel Fund Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Woodlands Rotary Club Foundation. 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

12 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. 12 of the 14 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LOLAS LUCKY DAY INC: $319,767 · AnimalsLOLAS LUCKY DAY INCHOUSTON PETSET: $183,500 · AnimalsHOUSTON PETSET+1 more: $10,000 · AnimalsLAURELS HOUSE: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $4,843 · OtherHAPPY HILLS FARM: $3,950 · OtherMONTGOMERY COUNTY WOMENS CENTER: $3,500 · OtherBE AN ANGEL FUND INC: $1,000 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELS MONTGOMERY COUNTY: $1,000 · Other+1 more: $500 · OtherANGEL REACH: $16,000 · Human ServicesDREAM CATCHER STABLES INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesTexas Children's Hospital: $5,000 · HealthThe Woodlands Rotary Club Foundation: $1,500 · Education
Animals$513,267Other$19,793Human Services$18,500Health$5,000Education$1,500

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 budgetLOLAS LUCKY DAY INC: $319,767 over 2y, 22% of budgetHOUSTON PETSET: $183,500 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetANGEL REACH: $16,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCitizens for Animals of Midland Odessa Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLAURELS HOUSE: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTGOMERY COUNTY WOMENS CENTER: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDREAM CATCHER STABLES INC: $2,500 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetThe Woodlands Rotary Club Foundation: $1,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBE AN ANGEL FUND INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS MONTGOMERY COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORDIA LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL: $500 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.

Shell USA Company Fou…Greater Houston Commu…The Arena Energy Foun…Baker Hughes Foundati…Enterprise Holdings F…Morgan Stanley Global…The Blackbaud Giving …Paypal Charitable Giv…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…Natl Christian Charit…The Bank of America C…
Shell USA Company FoundationTX20.7× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Shell USA Company Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · The Arena Energy Foundation · Baker Hughes Foundation · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

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 Ronnie & Cathy Matthews Great American Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ronnie & Cathy Matthews Great American Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%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
    3report 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 Ronnie & Cathy Matthews Great American Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ronnie & Cathy Matthews Great American 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 14 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    More from the funding graph

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