· Private foundation
Shield-Ayres Foundation
Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k2 grants · $14k
- $10k–50k118 grants · $1.6M
- $250k+1 grant · $500k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| SHIELD RANCH FOUNDATION | $500,000 |
| DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS | $45,000 |
| EL BUEN SAMARITANO | $40,000 |
| BREAD FOR THE WORLD INSTITUTE | $30,000 |
| HFCC (HOUSING FIRST COMMUNITY COALITION) | $25,000 |
| THE NATURE CONSERVANCY | $25,000 |
| SAVE BARTON CREEK ASSOCIATION | $20,000 |
| AUDUBON TEXAS | $20,000 |
| COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NC | $20,000 |
| NEO PHILANTHROPY CO DAUGHTERS FOR EARTH | $20,000 |
| TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION | $20,000 |
| COMMUNITY HEALTH DEVELOPMENT INC | $20,000 |
| TEXAS AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST | $20,000 |
| TEXAS WATER TRADE | $20,000 |
| NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION - SCRC | $20,000 |
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 (FY19–24, $756k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 39% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
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 +44% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.
184 repeat relationships: 101 still active in FY2024, 83 since wound down; 12 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, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $152k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- BFBread for the World Institute4× · 2020–2024 · $190k · revenue +44%
- TLTEXAS LAND TRUST COUNCIL6× · 2019–2024 · $140k · revenue +99%
- TGTHE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC5× · 2019–2024 · $110k · revenue +123%
Funded once
- THTEXAS HILL COUNTRY CONSERVATION NETWORKone grant, 2020 · $25k
- TCTexas Conservation Alliancegraduatedone grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +830%
- IGIndividual grant recipientone grant, 2019 · $20k
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 ACLU of Texas works with communities, at the State Capitol, and in the courts to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for every Texan, no exceptions.
RAISE Texas advances equitable policies and programs that foster financial security and economic mobility for low- and moderate-income Texans. We equip, innovate and advocate to reduce disparities, remove barriers and build opportunities…
Leadership austin connects and develops leaders to courageously engage and transform our communities.
The ACLU Foundation of Texas is the unyielding guardian and promoter of freedom, justice, equality and dignity of all people, particularly for those who are still fighting to secure the full exercise of their civil rights and liberties.…
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…
Farm&City is an independent 501c3 think & do tank dedicated to high quality urban & rural human habitat in Texas in perpetuity. We improve public policies to improve millions of Texans lives in ways that preserve and enhance Texas land,…
Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.
Good Work Austin's mission is to foster healthy careers in the local food and beverage industry through professional development and advocacy for more equitable practices.
The Progress Texas Institute provides research and strategic communications on issues with the ultimate goal of increasing civic engagement.
The mission of Bexar Land Trust (Green Spaces) is to sustain the natural environment and enhance urban spaces through land conservation, community engagement, and education.
See Schedule OTDS fights for the end of mass incarceration and excessive punishment in Texas through direct representation, policy reform, and public education. TDS stands up for the dignity and humanity of people harmed by mass…
It is the mission of the Texas Immigration Law Council to protect and promote the basic rights of immigrants and refugees of all nationalities within Texas.
How this is measured
200 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. 200 of the 257 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
Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.
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 THE FOUNDATION AT SHIELD RANCH ↗
- Who funds AUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds Bread for the World Institute ↗
- Who funds TEXAS LAND TRUST COUNCIL ↗
- Who funds THE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC (AUDIT) ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN YOUTHWORKS ↗
- Who funds Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center ↗
- Who funds LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC ↗
- Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
- Who funds MOBILE LOAVES & FISHES INC ↗
- Who funds SAVE BARTON CREEK ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds Hill Country Alliance ↗
- Who funds A ROCHA USA INC A ROCHA USA ↗
- Who funds TEXAS WATER TRADE ↗
- Who funds PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS ↗
- Who funds WORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT ↗
- Who funds Texans Care For Children Inc ↗
- Who funds THE SAFE ALLIANCE ↗
- Who funds HILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF ↗
- Who funds Volunteer Healthcare Clinic Inc ↗
- Who funds AMALA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK ↗
- Who funds TEXAS TRIBUNE INC ↗
- Who funds WATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY CLINIC INC ↗
- Who funds CHILDSAFE ↗
- Who funds AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH ↗
- Who funds Texas Agricultural Land Trust ↗
- Who funds Catholic Charities of Central Texas ↗
- Who funds SAHELI ↗
- Who funds GOOD SAMARITAN CENTER OF SAN ANTONIO ↗
- Who funds Wonders & Worries 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.
Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · St David's Foundation · United Way for Greater Austin · Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundat A0479800 · The Moody Foundation · Better Business Bureau · Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation · San Antonio Area Foundation · Donald D Hammill Foundation · Meadows Foundation Inc · Topfer Family Foundation · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Shield-Ayres Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shield-Ayres Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Food for the Poor Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Shield-Ayres Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Shield-Ayres 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.
Play a game based on Shield-Ayres’ filings →