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Plinth

· Public charity

Texas Charter Schools Association

Texas public charter schools association's (tpcsa) mission is to support and advocate for a policy and regulatory climate that ensures every student in texas has access to ever-improving public school options.

$548k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2025.

Education$2.1MYouth Development$105kInternational$96kCivil Rights$69k
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 8 grants below total $520,000 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $547,983 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $27,983 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

$60,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHOOSE TO SUCCEED INC$100,000
TEXAS LEADERSHIP CHARTER ACADEMY$60,000
MEYERPARK ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL$60,000
ESSENCE PREP INC$60,000
STUDENT ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM INCORPORATED$60,000
EDUCATION REFORM NOW INC$60,000
VANGUARD ACADEMY INC$60,000
BEATRICE MAYES INSTITUTE$60,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 78% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%EDUCATION REFORM NOW INC: $60k → 17%LifeSchool of Dallas: $29k → 9%AUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $46k → 10%Legacy Preparatory -Legacy 21: $29k → 14%CELEBRATE DYSLEXIA SCHOOLS: $20k → 16%VANGUARD ACADEMY INC: $60k → 27%EDUCATION REFORM NOW INC: $60k → 17%LIFE SCHOOL OF DALLAS: $46k → 9%AUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $29k → 10%INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF TEXAS: $46k → 14%Great Hearts America - Texas: $29k → 16%IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $46k → 27%LIFE SCHOOL OF DALLAS: $29k → 9%Austin Achieve Public School: $29k → 10%International Leadership TX: $20k → 14%ESSENCE PREP INC: $60k → 16%UP EXCELLENCE ACADEMY: $20k → 16%IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $20k → 27%CITYSCAPE SCHOOLS INC: $46k → 14%ESSENCE PREP INC: $60k → 16%MEYERPARK ELEMENTARY CHARTER SCHOOL: $60k → 16%IDEA Public Schools: $20k → 27%Charter Schools Now: $135k → 10%INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF TEXAS: $20k → 14%STUDENT ALTERNATIVES PROGRAM INCORPORATED: $60k → 16%TEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS: $46k → 16%WAYSIDE SCHOOLS: $46k → 10%CITYSCAPE SCHOOLS INC: $29k → 14%COMPASS ROSE EDUCATION INC: $46k → 16%TEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS: $29k → 16%VANGUARD ACADEMY INC: $60k → 27%Wayside School: $29k → 10%CHOOSE TO SUCCEED INC: $100k → 16%Tejano Center for Community: $29k → 16%Cityscape Schools Inc: $29k → 14%COMPASS ROSE EDUCATION INC: $29k → 16%BEATRICE MAYES INSTITUTE: $60k → 16%LEGACY21: $46k → 14%GREAT HEARTS AMERICA - TEXAS: $29k → 16%BEATRICE MAYES INSTITUTE: $60k → 16%LEGACY21: $29k → 14%Compass Rose Education Inc: $29k → 16%THE BETA FOUNDATION: $46k → 16%THE BETA FOUNDATION: $46k → 16%Beta Academy: $29k → 16%HERITAGE ED: $20k → 16%YES PREP PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $46k → 16%YES Prep Public Schools: $20k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.0M · 21 repeat orgs$355k to everyone else

21 repeat relationships — 6 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
4

Total granted

$2.0M
$195k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+101%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $160k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationYouth DevelopmentInternationalEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • TB
    THE BETA FOUNDATION
    4× · 2020–2023 · $131k · revenue +67%
  • WE
    WONDERLAND EDUCATIONAL ESTATE DBA BEATRICE MAYES INSTITUTE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $120k · revenue +3%
  • EP
    ESSENCE PREP INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $120k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • CS
    CHARTER SCHOOLS NOWgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $135k · revenue +42%
  • CD
    CELEBRATE DYSLEXIA SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2024 · $20k
  • HE
    HERITAGE EDgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue +222%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Elevate Collegiate Inc dba Elevate Collegiate Charter School

To equip all students with the academic knowledge and character development necessary to set forth confidently on the path to college and life filled with success.

Education
2
Texas Programs for Alternative Education

Texas program for alternative education has been created to operate as a public charter school in texas serving students with learning disabilities. we strive to redefine what it means to be unique in the educational and social setting…

Education
3
The Royal School System

The mission of Royal Public Schools is to spark students' natural curiosity and love of learning while providing the knowledge and skills they need to lead successful and fulfilling lives.

Education
4
Heritage Academy Charter Schools Inc

The mission of heritage academy charter schools, inc. is to provide educational services to students in grades pre-k through 12 through the operation of open-enrollment public charter schools under the guidelines of the texas education…

Education
5
School of Excellence in Education Dba Legacy Traditional Schools-Texas

To challenge young people to strive for excellence in every aspect of their lives academically, socially, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Education
6
The Fay School

See Schedule O. The Fay School ("the School") is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit, co-educational school in which children of diverse talents and backgrounds with strong academic abilities are offered a high-quality education in a secure,…

—
7
Chaparral Star Academy

The Chaparral Star Academy DBA Star Charter School provides instruction with the students' individual needs as the primary consideration.

Education
8
The Best School

Open a group of charter schools in Tarrant County, Texas that is the leader in state academic performance.

Education
9
La Academia de Estrellas

To teach our students to be life-long learners, who will actively participate in their own learning, remain engaged in the educational process and show mastery of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.

Education
10
Austin Trinity School

Trinity episcopal school (trinity) is a not-for-profit independent school whose mission is to provide an enriched academic curriculum in a christian environment. trinity is not affiliated with or sponsored by any parish. we will nurture…

Education
11
Tekoa Charter School Inc

Education activity- open enrollment public charter school. maximum enrollment 1500 students.

Education
12
Valor Texas Education Foundation

Valor's mission is to educate the whole person in authentic communities for a full human life. Through our K-12 tuition-free classical charter schools and the Valor Institute, we build communities dedicated to wisdom, virtue, and…

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cityscape Schools Inc and the most unlike its peers is Essence Prep Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 23 years old; the field is 12. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number28%13%<5yr17%8%5–10yr19%21%10–20yr16%50%20–35yr10%8%35–55yr11%0%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value28%5%<5yr17%7%5–10yr19%27%10–20yr16%50%20–35yr10%12%35–55yr11%0%55yr+

The field is 28% startups (under 5 years old) — 13% of your grantees by number, and just 5% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 7% lost their exemption, against 17% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
7%
2/27
the rest of the field
17%
8,555/50,765

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

27 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/27
Grantees still filing
20/27
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE BETA FOUNDATION — $131,110 · EducationTHE BETA FOUNDATIONStudent Alternatives Program Incorporated — $120,000 · EducationStudent Alternatives Program IncorporatedEDUCATION REFORM NOW INC — $120,000 · EducationEDUCATION REFORM NOW INCESSENCE PREP INC — $120,000 · EducationESSENCE PREP INCVANGUARD ACADEMY INC — $120,000 · EducationVANGUARD ACADEMY INCAUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC — $114,721 · EducationAUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCCOMPASS ROSE EDUCATION INC — $114,721 · EducationCOMPASS ROSE EDUCATION INCLIFESCHOOL OF DALLAS — $114,721 · EducationLIFESCHOOL OF DALLASLEGACY21 INC — $104,721 · EducationLEGACY21 INCIDEA Public Schools — $95,833 · EducationIDEA Public SchoolsYES Prep Public Schools Inc — $95,833 · EducationYES Prep Public Schools IncTLCA TEXAS LEADERSHIP CHARTER ACADEMY — $90,000 · EducationTLCA TEXAS LEADERSHIP CHARTER ACADEMYWAYSIDE SCHOOLS — $85,277 · EducationECAP Enterprises Inc MeyerPark Elementary Charter School — $60,000 · Education+6 more — $136,000 · Education+6 moreCHARTER SCHOOLS NOW — $135,000 · OtherCHARTER SCHO…WONDERLAND EDUCATIONAL ESTATE DBA BEATRICE MAYES INSTITUTE — $120,000 · OtherWONDERLAND E…CITYSCAPE SCHOOLS INC — $104,721 · Youth DevelopmentCITYSCAPE …TEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS INC — $104,721 · Youth DevelopmentTEJANO CEN…CHOOSE TO SUCCEED INC — $100,000 · PhilanthropyINTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF TEXAS - GLOBAL — $95,833 · InternationalGreat Hearts America-Texas — $68,888 · Environment
Education$1,622,937Other$255,000Youth Development$209,442Philanthropy$100,000International$95,833Environment$68,888

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetCHARTER SCHOOLS NOW — $135,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetTHE BETA FOUNDATION — $131,110 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetStudent Alternatives Program Incorporated — $120,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWONDERLAND EDUCATIONAL ESTATE DBA BEATRICE MAYES INSTITUTE — $120,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetEDUCATION REFORM NOW INC — $120,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetESSENCE PREP INC — $120,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetVANGUARD ACADEMY INC — $120,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC — $114,721 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOMPASS ROSE EDUCATION INC — $114,721 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetLIFESCHOOL OF DALLAS — $114,721 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCITYSCAPE SCHOOLS INC — $104,721 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTEJANO CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CONCERNS INC — $104,721 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLEGACY21 INC — $104,721 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetIDEA Public Schools — $95,833 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP OF TEXAS - GLOBAL — $95,833 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetYES Prep Public Schools Inc — $95,833 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTLCA TEXAS LEADERSHIP CHARTER ACADEMY — $90,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWAYSIDE SCHOOLS — $85,277 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGreat Hearts America-Texas — $68,888 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetECAP Enterprises Inc MeyerPark Elementary Charter School — $60,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetRESPONSIVEED TEXAS — $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCELEBRATE DYSLEXIA SCHOOLS — $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetHERITAGE ED — $20,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetHARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS — $18,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKIPP Texas Inc — $18,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Communities Foundatio…Charter Fund Inc D/B/…The Brown Foundation …Walton Family Foundat…George W Brackenridge…The Kle FoundationSan Antonio Area Foun…Bellwether Education …50can IncHouston Endowment IncGreater Houston Commu…Local Initiatives Sup…
Communities Foundation of Texas IncTX21.7× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth Fund · The Brown Foundation Inc · Walton Family Foundation Inc · George W Brackenridge Foundation · The Kle Foundation · San Antonio Area Foundation Group Return · Bellwether Education Partners Inc · 50can Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Texas Charter Schools Association funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 27 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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