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Still Water Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Still Water 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.

$20M
Granted FY2024still arriving
91
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$3.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$21MArts & Culture$17MReligion$6.3MEnvironment$4.6MPhilanthropy$4.1MHealth$3.5MRecreation & Sports$2.4MAnimals$826kOther$0
02FY2024 · 91 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k26 grants · $713k
  • $50k–250k45 grants · $4.0M
  • $250k+19 grants · $15M
$60,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$147M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL$3,000,000
SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER$2,833,334
WEST TEXAS REHAB CENTER$1,000,000
LANDMARKS - THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN$1,000,000
HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY$1,000,000
BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART$1,000,000
WATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY$750,000
PERMIAN BASIN AREA FOUNDATION$625,000
ST STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL$500,000
ABILENE HERITAGE SQUARE$500,000
HENDRICK HEALTH$500,000
ABILENE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$500,000
UNIVERSITY OF AUSTIN (CICERO RESEARCH)$300,000
SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER$280,000
SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER$278,000
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 (FY21–24, $780k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 36% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BROOKWOOD IN GEORGETOWN: $250k → 6%DOWN HOME RANCH: $100k → 12%BROOKWOOD IN GEORGETOWN: $250k → 6%DOWN HOME RANCH: $75k → 12%DOWN HOME RANCH: $55k → 12%DOWN HOME RANCH: $50k → 12%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
NY
NV
PA
CA
MO
MD
AZ
NM
DC
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$50M · 73 repeat orgs$12M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

73 repeat relationships: 59 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

73
77

Total granted

$50M
$8.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+3%

Still filing today

70%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.8M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationCommunity ImprovementRecreation & SportsAnimalsOther
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

  • HC
    HILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $707k · revenue +817%
  • FC
    FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $700k · revenue +61%
  • TA
    Texas Agricultural Land Trust
    3× · 2022–2024 · $625k · revenue +111%

Funded once

  • LT
    LANDMARKS - THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
    one grant, 2020 · $2.2M
  • BM
    BLANTON MUSEUM OF ART - THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
    one grant, 2020 · $1.0M
  • TEXAS TRIBUNE INC
    one grant, 2020 · $505k · revenue +22%
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
Texas Cultural Trust Council

Public arts funding

Philanthropy
3
Witte Museum

The witte museum inspires people to shape the future of texas through transformative and relevant experiences in nature, science and culture.

Arts & Culture
4
Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas

Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization thatadvances Texas proud outdoor traditions through meaningful, high-impact programs,partnerships, and a wide range of projects that conserve and enhance our…

Environment
5
Progress Texas Institute

The Progress Texas Institute provides research and strategic communications on issues with the ultimate goal of increasing civic engagement.

Civil Rights
6
Texas a&M Research Foundation

To facilitate research and development within the texas a&m university system and selected other entities.

Education
7
Texas Food & Wine Alliance fka Austin F&W Alliance

Texas Food & Wine Alliance is dedicated to fostering awareness and innovation in the Texas culinary community through grants, educational programing, and events.

—
8
Texas Society of Architects

Texas Society of Architects is the voice for Texas architecture, supporting the creation of safe, beautiful, sustainable environments.

—
9
Austin Public Library Friends Foundation

Support and strengthen austin public libraries

Education
10
Texas Association of Museums

The Texas Association of Museums strengthens the Texas museum community through collaborations, connections, professional development, and advocacy.

Arts & Culture
11
Texas Bar Foundation

The Foundation solicits charitable contributions and provides funding to enhance the rule of law and the system of justice in Texas, especially for programs that relate to the administration of justice; ethics in the legal profession;…

Crime & Legal
12
Bexar Land Trust Inc dba Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas

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.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Humanities Texas; the most unlike its peers is Bamberger Ranch Preserve. 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

99 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. 99 of the 175 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.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
25
Early backer (in before they grew)
96/99
Grantees still filing
65/99
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST STEPHENS EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: $12,361,640 · OtherST STEPHENS EPISCOPAL SCHOOLSAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER: $5,816,612 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTERBLANTON MUSEUM OF ART: $4,350,000 · OtherBLANTON MUSEUM OF ARTLANDMARKS - THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $3,990,000 · OtherLANDMARKS - THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTINST JOHNS COLLEGE IN SANTA FE: $2,500,000 · OtherST JOHNS COLLEGE IN SANTA FELANDMARKS - THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: $2,175,000 · Other+101 more: $14,523,518 · Other+101 moreABILENE HERITAGE SQUARE INC: $2,500,000 · Arts & CultureABILENE HE…MINDPOP: $620,000 · Arts & CultureMINDPOPTHE CHINATI FOUNDATION: $450,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHINAT…CONSPIRARE INC: $300,000 · Arts & CultureHUMANITIES TEXAS: $290,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CONTEMPORARY AUSTIN MUSEUM INC: $290,000 · Arts & CultureWILLIAMSON COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $270,000 · Arts & Culture+20 more: $1,457,000 · Arts & Culture+20 moreHILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY: $707,000 · EnvironmentTexas Agricultural Land Trust: $625,000 · EnvironmentTaking Care of Texas: $575,000 · EnvironmentHill Country Alliance: $340,000 · EnvironmentWATER FOUNDATION: $300,000 · EnvironmentLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $295,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS: $280,000 · EnvironmentHEADWATERS AT THE COMAL: $150,000 · EnvironmentWATER FINANCE EXCHANGE INC: $135,000 · Environment+6 more: $325,000 · EnvironmentPERMIAN BASIN AREA FOUNDATION: $2,440,000 · PhilanthropyWACO FOUNDATION: $333,333 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ABILENE: $300,000 · PhilanthropyAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $145,000 · Philanthropy+5 more: $255,000 · PhilanthropyHARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 · EducationTEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $505,000 · EducationSouthern Methodist University: $500,000 · EducationTEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC: $175,000 · EducationTEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $150,000 · EducationTouchstones Discussion Project Inc: $90,000 · Education+5 more: $95,000 · EducationWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY: $1,575,000 · Community ImprovementPEOPLEFUND: $280,000 · Community ImprovementAustin Foundation for Architecture: $245,000 · Community ImprovementTALITHA KOUM INSTITUTE: $235,000 · Community ImprovementBROOKWOOD IN GEORGETOWN VOCATIONAL INC: $500,000 · Human ServicesDOWN HOME RANCH INC: $280,000 · Human Services
Other$45,716,770Arts & Culture$6,177,000Environment$3,732,000Philanthropy$3,473,333Education$2,515,000Community Improvement$2,335,000Human Services$780,000

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 budgetABILENE HERITAGE SQUARE INC: $2,500,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetPERMIAN BASIN AREA FOUNDATION: $2,440,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY: $1,575,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetHARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY: $1,000,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetHILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY: $707,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetFOUNDATION COMMUNITIES INC: $700,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetTexas Agricultural Land Trust: $625,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetMINDPOP: $620,000 over 5y, 21% of budgetTaking Care of Texas: $575,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetTEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $505,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetAbilene Zoological Society: $500,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetSkystone Foundation Inc: $500,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $500,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKWOOD IN GEORGETOWN VOCATIONAL INC: $500,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetTHE CHINATI FOUNDATION: $450,000 over 3y, 36% of budgetHill Country Alliance: $340,000 over 5y, 6.4% of budgetWACO FOUNDATION: $333,333 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetOLD JAIL ART CENTER: $325,000 over 5y, 5.5% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ABILENE: $300,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCONSPIRARE INC: $300,000 over 5y, 8.5% of budgetWATER FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $295,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetHUMANITIES TEXAS: $290,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetTHE CONTEMPORARY AUSTIN MUSEUM INC: $290,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetDOWN HOME RANCH INC: $280,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS: $280,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetPEOPLEFUND: $280,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetWILLIAMSON COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $270,000 over 2y, 38% of budgetBarton Springs Conservancy: $265,000 over 3y, 32% of budgetAustin Foundation for Architecture: $245,000 over 2y, 62% of budgetTALITHA KOUM INSTITUTE: $235,000 over 4y, 7.3% of budgetAUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETY: $230,000 over 5y, 6.7% of budgetTexas Book Festival: $230,000 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetTreeFolks Inc: $210,000 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetWILDLIFE HABITAT FEDERATION: $195,000 over 5y, 5.8% of budgetGRACE MUSEUM INC: $191,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetTEXAS BEEF INITIATIVE: $180,000 over 4y, 40% of budgetTEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC: $175,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFilm Society of Austin Inc: $170,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetSUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER: $170,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetAUSTIN CHAMBER MUSIC CENTER: $150,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetHEADWATERS AT THE COMAL: $150,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetTEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetBIG MEDIUM: $150,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetPRESERVATION TEXAS INC: $150,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $145,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWATER FINANCE EXCHANGE INC: $135,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetCENTRAL TEXAS PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: $135,000 over 2y, 12% 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 ABILENE HERITAGE SQUARE INC ↗
  • Who funds PERMIAN BASIN AREA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds HILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Texas Agricultural Land Trust ↗
  • Who funds MINDPOP ↗
  • Who funds Taking Care of Texas ↗
  • Who funds TEXAS TRIBUNE INC ↗
  • Who funds Abilene Zoological Society ↗
  • Who funds Skystone Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds Southern Methodist University ↗
  • Who funds BROOKWOOD IN GEORGETOWN VOCATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHINATI FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Hill Country Alliance ↗
  • Who funds WACO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OLD JAIL ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ABILENE ↗
  • Who funds CONSPIRARE INC ↗
  • Who funds WATER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMANITIES TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds THE CONTEMPORARY AUSTIN MUSEUM 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.

Austin Community Foun…Shield-Ayres Foundati…Meadows Foundation IncJacob and Terese Hers…The Summerlee Foundat…The Cynthia & George …Better Business BureauThe Moody FoundationDian Graves Owen Foun…Alice Kleberg Reynold…The Legett FoundationGreater Austin Perfor…
Austin Community Foundation IncTX63.5× affinity36 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · Shield-Ayres Foundation · Meadows Foundation Inc · Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation · The Summerlee Foundation · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation · Better Business Bureau · The Moody Foundation · Dian Graves Owen Foundation · Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundat A0479800 · The Legett Foundation · Greater Austin Performing Arts Center 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 Still Water Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Still Water Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Vermont Studio Center Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
29report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Still Water Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Still Water 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 175 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 Still Water’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