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The Alkek and Williams Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Alkek and Williams Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
34
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$4.7MInternational$317kCommunity Improvement$164kHealth$134kEducation$106kHousing & Shelter$16kFood & Nutrition$16kHuman Services$13kOther$0
02FY2024 · 34 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k24 grants · $57k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $96k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $521k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSTON BALLET FOUNDATION$500,000
HOUSTON GRAND OPERA$200,000
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON$167,000
UNICEF USA$100,000
THEATRE UNDER THE STARS$53,825
PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON$25,000
ALLEY THEATRE$25,000
GREATER HOUSTON WOMEN'S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE$22,000
GASTON LENOTRE CULINARY ENDOWMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP INC$13,500
AVENUE 360 HEALTH AND WELLNESS$10,000
HOBBY CENTER FOUNDATION$7,500
MEMORIAL HERMANN FOUNDATION$6,000
ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION$5,000
ASIA SOCIETY TEXAS CENTER$5,000
HOUSTON CHILDREN'S CHARITY$5,000
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 (FY20–24, $17k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $6k → 16%HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $500 → 16%CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $250 → 16%PATHWAYS FOR LITTLE FEET: $2k → 16%PATHWAYS FOR LITTLE FEET: $2k → 16%AVDA (AID TO VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE): $500 → 16%AVDA (AID TO VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE): $500 → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $1k → 16%WIG OUT: $250 → 16%LIFE HOUSTON: $1k → 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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.4M · 45 repeat orgs$141k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +47% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

45 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
45

Total granted

$5.4M
$113k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+47%
+4%

Still filing today

80%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28k 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 & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationInternationalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • HS
    Houston Symphony Society
    3× · 2020–2022 · $1.5M · revenue +47%
  • HG
    Houston Grand Opera Association Inc
    5× · 2020–2024 · $843k · revenue +42%
  • TM
    THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON
    5× · 2020–2024 · $370k · revenue +51%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • QS
    QUEEN SOFIA SPANISH INSTITUTE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $24k · revenue +9%
  • HF
    Houston Freedmen's Town Conservancy Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +21%
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
Houston Botanic Garden

To enrich life through discovery, education, and the conservation of plants and the natural environment.

Environment
2
Harmonia Stellarum Houston

Harmonia Stellarum is an ensemble of professional vocalists and instrumentalists specialized in historically informed performance practice who seek to inspire, entertain, and enlighten audiences with meaningful, historically informed…

Arts & Culture
3
Houston Local Information Initiative Inc

The Houston Local Information Initiative, Inc. provides public service journalism that reflects the civic needs of the diverse communities comprising Greater Houston.

Arts & Culture
4
Harris County Medical Society

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…

—
5
Trees for Houston

Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.

—
6
Houston Academy of Medicine

The mission of the Houston Academy of Medicine is to support the community service, education, scientific, and charitable programs for physicians, their patients, and the community at large in Harris County.

Education
7
Breakthrough Houston

The mission of Breakthrough Houston (BTH) is to work with highly motivated students to achieve post-secondary success and empower aspiring leaders to become the next generation of educational advocates.

Education
8
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

CAMH presents extraordinary and thought-provoking arts programming and exhibitions.

Arts & Culture
9
Houston Independent School District Foundation

The HISD Foundation is dedicated to mobilizing the local community to support innovative priorities in HISD to improve outcomes for all students in the district. Our mission is to fund projects and programs of merit that fall outside of…

—
10
John P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science

The Health Museum is an innovative science center that provides an interactive and entertaining experience for all ages, promotes understanding and appreciation of the human body, mind, and spirit, and inspires a lifelong commitment to…

Arts & Culture
11
The Heritage Society

The Heritage Society (THS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1954 whose mission is to tell the stories of the diverse history of Houston and Texas through collections, exhibits, the arts, educational programs, film, video, and other…

—
12
Houston MediaSource

Houston MediaSource aspires to be the community media center for the City of Houston. HMS provides public access to media platforms that promote citizen engagement, protect the right to free expression, and provide opportunities to advance…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Houston Ballet Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Peace of Mind Foundation Inc. 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

80 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. 80 of the 100 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
78/80
Grantees still filing
50/80
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Houston Symphony Society: $1,537,500 · Arts & CultureHouston Symphony SocietyHouston Ballet Foundation: $1,500,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Ballet FoundationHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $842,500 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera Association IncTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $370,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTONTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $162,650 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $328,080 · Arts & Culture+11 moreUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $310,500 · International+3 more: $6,900 · InternationalKNOWLEDGE ARTS FOUNDATION (TEACH): $60,000 · OtherGREATER HOUSTON WOMEN'S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $57,000 · OtherCROHN'S& COLITIS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $26,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $26,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $25,000 · OtherUT HEALTH: $20,000 · OtherMISSION OF YAHWEH INC: $14,000 · Other+46 more: $80,850 · OtherHOUSTON'S CHARITY FOR CHILDREN INC: $89,600 · Community ImprovementRIVER OAKS FOUNDATION: $11,000 · Community ImprovementHouston Freedmen's Town Conservancy Inc: $5,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $1,000 · Community ImprovementKNOWAUTISM FOUNDATION: $23,500 · HealthARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · HealthHOUSTON AREA COMMUNITY SERVICES: $10,000 · HealthMemorial Hermann Foundation: $8,000 · HealthMARCH OF DIMES INC: $6,000 · HealthNora's Gift Foundation Inc: $3,000 · HealthTexas Children's Hospital: $3,000 · Health+5 more: $7,000 · HealthCULINARY ENDOWMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP INC: $13,500 · EducationUniversity of Houston Foundation: $5,000 · EducationWilliam Marsh Rice University: $2,500 · EducationBaylor College of Medicine: $1,300 · Education+2 more: $1,000 · EducationBARBARA BUSH HOUSTON LITERACY FOUNDATION: $11,250 · PhilanthropyMen of Distinction of Greater Houston: $6,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 · PhilanthropyHelping a HeroOrg: $1,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$4,740,730International$317,400Other$308,850Community Improvement$106,600Health$70,500Education$23,300Philanthropy$19,750

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHouston Symphony Society: $1,537,500 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetHouston Ballet Foundation: $1,500,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $842,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $370,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $310,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $162,650 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetALLEY THEATRE: $125,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSTON'S CHARITY FOR CHILDREN INC: $89,600 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetPERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON: $86,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetKNOWLEDGE ARTS FOUNDATION (TEACH): $60,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $33,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetASIA SOCIETY TEXAS CENTER: $31,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetThe Hobby Center Foundation: $24,630 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetQUEEN SOFIA SPANISH INSTITUTE INC: $24,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetKNOWAUTISM FOUNDATION: $23,500 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetMISSION OF YAHWEH INC: $14,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCULINARY ENDOWMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP INC: $13,500 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetBARBARA BUSH HOUSTON LITERACY FOUNDATION: $11,250 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRIVER OAKS FOUNDATION: $11,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetARTHRITIS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON AREA COMMUNITY SERVICES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $9,500 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetMemorial Hermann Foundation: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMen of Distinction of Greater Houston: $6,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetHouston Freedmen's Town Conservancy Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHOUSTON REVISION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCrime Stoppers of Houston Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of Houston Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPathways for Little Feet: $4,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNora's Gift Foundation Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Hospice: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Zoo Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON PETSET: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMedical Bridges Inc: $2,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJAPAN-AMERICA SOCIETY OF HOUSTON: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetChildren At Risk: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEL CENTRO DE CORAZON: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDiscovery Green Conservancy: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ARAB ORCHESTRA: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHouston Arts Alliance: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $1,300 over 2y, 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.

Greater Houston Commu…Mechia FoundationShell USA Company Fou…Albert & Ethel Herzst…The Brown Foundation …Vivian L Smith Founda…Houston Endowment IncMemorial Hermann Heal…Strake FoundationThe Elkins FoundationThe Methodist HospitalThe Weingarten Schnit…
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX70.9× affinity47 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Mechia Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Vivian L Smith Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · Memorial Hermann Health System · Strake Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · The Methodist Hospital · The Weingarten Schnitzer 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 The Alkek and Williams Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Alkek and Williams Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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.

    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 100 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 Alkek and Williams’ 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