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The Brown Foundation Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Brown Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$84M
Granted FY2025still arriving
222
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$11M
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$122MArts & Culture$83MHealth$59MPhilanthropy$50MRecreation & Sports$44MHuman Services$25MEnvironment$17MCommunity Improvement$16MOther$0
02FY2025 · 222 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k63 grants · $2.0M
  • $50k–250k117 grants · $9.4M
  • $250k+42 grants · $73M
$50,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.1B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
National Philanthropic Trust$11,000,000
Harris Health Strategic Fund$10,000,000
Precinct4Forward$7,500,000
YES Prep Public Schools$7,000,000
Hermann Park Conservancy$6,000,000
Greater Houston Community Foundation$5,000,000
Houston Museum of Natural Science$3,000,000
Coalition for the Homeless of HoustonHarris County$1,575,000
Thrive With Autism Foundation$1,550,000
DePelchin Children's Center$1,500,000
Houston Parks Board$1,500,000
Emancipation Park Conservancy$1,000,000
Good Reason Houston$1,000,000
Museum of Fine Arts Houston$929,500
Children's Museum Inc$875,000
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 (FY21–25, $19.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Uvalde Cisd Moving Forward Foundation: $600k → 25%ChildSafe: $100k → 16%ChildSafe: $75k → 16%Memorial Assistance Ministries: $1.5M → 16%Kids' Meals Inc: $1.4M → 16%Worktexas Training Center: $100k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $340k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $310k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $75k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $60k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $60k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $60k → 16%Wesley Community Center Inc: $60k → 16%Foster Care Advocacy Center: $75k → 16%Foster Care Advocacy Center: $75k → 16%Foster Care Advocacy Center: $75k → 16%Casa Mateo: $150k → 16%Covenant House Texas: $2.3M → 16%Covenant House Texas: $250k → 16%The Women's Home: $70k → 16%The Women's Home: $70k → 16%The Women's Home: $70k → 16%Houston Area Womens Center: $1.2M → 16%Houston Area Womens Center: $341k → 16%Houston Area Womens Center: $75k → 16%Summerhouse Houston: $100k → 16%Collaborative for Children: $250k → 16%Collaborative for Children: $150k → 16%Collaborative for Children: $250k → 16%Collaborative for Children: $250k → 16%Collaborative for Children: $250k → 16%Collaborative for Children: $200k → 16%BakerRipley: $250k → 16%BakerRipley: $250k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $1.5M → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $650k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $450k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $250k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $150k → 16%Friends of the Children-Houston: $75k → 16%Northwest Assistance Ministries: $1.0M → 16%Northwest Assistance Ministries: $84k → 16%Houston Area Womens Center: $75k → 16%Northwest Assistance Ministries: $75k → 16%Houston Area Womens Center: $75k → 16%Precinct2gether Inc: $500k → 16%Houston Area Womens Center: $75k → 16%BridgeYear: $100k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
WA
MT
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
WY
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
NM
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
MS
GA
TX
FL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of The Brown Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Brown Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 4.2% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$355M · 507 repeat orgs$52M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

507 repeat relationships: 197 still active in FY2025, 310 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

507
314

Total granted

$355M
$32M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
0%

Still filing today

88%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthEnvironmentAnimalsOther
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

  • HP
    Houston Parks Board
    5× · 2021–2025 · $32M · revenue +92% · 44% of their budget
  • BC
    Baylor College of Medicine
    4× · 2021–2024 · $25M · revenue +32%
  • BB
    Buffalo Bayou Partnership Inc
    4× · 2021–2024 · $15M · revenue +177% · 35% of their budget

Funded once

  • PV
    Prairie View AM University
    one grant, 2021 · $4.0M
  • EF
    EQUITABLE FACILITIES FUND INC
    one grant, 2022 · $2.5M · revenue +23%
  • EA
    EDISON ARTS FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $1.5M · revenue -57% · 40% of their budget
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 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
2
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…

—
3
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…

—
4
Central Houston Inc

See schedule ocentral houston champions a thriving downtown by connecting influential leaders through initiatives that advance the future of business and community for all.

—
5
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
6
Presbyterian School

Family, School, and Church united in the education and support of each child - this is the founding premise upon which Presbyterian School nurtures and challenges its students. The school provides an educational program of the highest…

Education
7
Art Colony Association Inc

Art Colony Association provides art experiences and education for the greater Houston community by bringing diverse artists to urban Bayou City Art Festivals and supporting local non-profit organizations.

Arts & Culture
8
Hill Country Montessori School Inc

Provide quality education for students from pre school through middle school using the Montessori method of learning and teaching.

Education
9
Made Houston

MADE Houston was formed to create a school community focused on nurturing and developing the unique academic and social needs of students with learning differences and to successfully transition students into mainstream schools.

Education
10
Bosque School

To create transformative learning experiences that empower a diverse community of students to lead lives of intellectual curiosity, personal integrity, and compassionate contribution to a more just world.

Education
11
Community Information Now

Community information now (cinow) provides data, tools, analysis, and training to inform decisions to improve texas communities. cinow's vision is improved lives and decreased disparities through democratized data.

Community Improvement
12
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,…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Houston Ballet Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

687 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. 687 of the 845 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.

29
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
120
Early backer (in before they grew)
676/687
Grantees still filing
401/687
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Houston Parks Board: $32,335,000 · PhilanthropyHouston Parks BoardCHARTER FUND INC D/B/A CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND: $30,000,000 · PhilanthropyCHARTER FUND INC D/B/A CHARTER…NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $22,000,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $21,295,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUN…SAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $5,122,858 · Philanthropy+3 more: $1,637,500 · PhilanthropyBaylor College of Medicine: $25,234,000 · EducationBaylor College of Med…YES Prep Public Schools Inc: $7,310,875 · EducationYES Prep Public Schoo…The Kinkaid School Inc: $5,422,000 · EducationThe Kinkaid School In…HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $4,500,000 · EducationHARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOL…Teach for America Inc: $4,083,180 · EducationSOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $4,014,500 · Education+36 more: $28,883,632 · Education+36 moreHouston Museum of Natural Science: $5,651,500 · Arts & CultureHouston Museum of N…Houston Symphony Society: $5,550,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Symphony So…THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $5,371,515 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF FINE …Menil Foundation Inc: $5,047,200 · Arts & CultureMenil Foundation In…Houston Grand Opera Association Inc: $4,620,500 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera…Houston Ballet Foundation: $4,617,500 · Arts & CultureHouston Ballet Foun…Contemporary Arts Museum Houston: $3,701,930 · Arts & CultureThe Orange Show Foundation: $3,492,000 · Arts & CultureSAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART: $3,010,682 · Arts & CultureALLEY THEATRE: $2,986,150 · Arts & Culture+39 more: $27,928,944 · Arts & Culture+39 moreSt John's School: $10,653,500 · OtherSt John's SchoolTHE FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL: $5,075,000 · OtherTHE FOUNDATION FOR …The University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center: $5,030,300 · OtherThe University of T…Prairie View AM University: $4,005,000 · OtherPrairie View AM Uni…The Houston Food Bank: $4,004,500 · OtherThe Houston Food Ba…EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL: $2,809,500 · OtherCamp For All Foundation: $4,505,000 · OtherCamp For All Founda…THRIVE WITH AUTISM FOUNDATION: $2,550,000 · Other+52 more: $33,854,729 · Other+52 moreBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $15,258,000 · EnvironmentBuffalo B…Memorial Park Conservancy Inc: $7,570,050 · EnvironmentMemorial …Hermann Park Conservancy: $6,011,000 · EnvironmentHermann P…Houston Botanic Garden: $1,550,866 · EnvironmentWillow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy: $1,500,000 · Environment+8 more: $4,486,750 · Environment+8 morePRECINCT4FORWARD: $7,500,000 · Human ServicesDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $3,190,000 · Human ServicesCOVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $2,760,900 · Human ServicesHouston Area Women's Center: $1,907,000 · Human ServicesKIDS' MEALS INC: $1,735,700 · Human ServicesMemorial Assistance Ministries: $1,500,000 · Human ServicesNORTHWEST ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $1,358,955 · Human ServicesCollaborative for Children: $1,350,000 · Human ServicesBakerRipley: $1,276,500 · Human ServicesWESLEY COMMUNITY CENTER INC OF HOUSTON TEXAS: $965,000 · Human Services+5 more: $2,134,250 · Human ServicesHARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND: $10,000,000 · HealthTexas Children's Hospital: $2,145,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $913,000 · HealthMEADOWS MENTAL HEALTH POLICY INSTITUTE FOR TEXAS: $750,000 · HealthTHE BEACON OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON: $675,000 · HealthTIRR Foundation: $600,000 · Health+7 more: $2,304,770 · Health
Philanthropy$112,390,358Education$79,448,187Arts & Culture$71,977,921Other$72,487,529Environment$36,376,666Human Services$25,678,305Health$17,387,770

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHouston Parks Board: $32,335,000 over 5y, 44% of budgetCHARTER FUND INC D/B/A CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND: $30,000,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $25,234,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $22,000,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $21,295,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $15,258,000 over 4y, 35% of budgetSt John's School: $10,653,500 over 4y, 11% of budgetHARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND: $10,000,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $7,570,050 over 4y, 40% of budgetPRECINCT4FORWARD: $7,500,000 over 1y, 77% of budgetYES Prep Public Schools Inc: $7,310,875 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $6,011,000 over 2y, 39% of budgetHouston Museum of Natural Science: $5,651,500 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetHouston Symphony Society: $5,550,000 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetThe Kinkaid School Inc: $5,422,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $5,371,515 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetSAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $5,122,858 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL: $5,075,000 over 2y, 25% of budgetMenil Foundation Inc: $5,047,200 over 5y, 3.6% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $4,620,500 over 5y, 3.6% of budgetHouston Ballet Foundation: $4,617,500 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetCamp For All Foundation: $4,505,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetHARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $4,500,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $4,083,180 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $4,014,500 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $4,004,500 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetContemporary Arts Museum Houston: $3,701,930 over 5y, 23% of budgetThe Orange Show Foundation: $3,492,000 over 5y, 42% of budgetDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $3,190,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetSAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART: $3,010,682 over 5y, 6.3% of budgetALLEY THEATRE: $2,986,150 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $2,760,900 over 5y, 17% of budgetGood Reason Houston Inc: $2,550,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetTHRIVE WITH AUTISM FOUNDATION: $2,550,000 over 2y, 69% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF HOUSTON INC: $2,500,070 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetEQUITABLE FACILITIES FUND INC: $2,500,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $2,145,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNew Hope Housing Inc: $2,075,000 over 5y, 8.9% of budgetKIPP Texas Inc: $2,020,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $1,907,000 over 5y, 8.9% of budgetKIDS' MEALS INC: $1,735,700 over 5y, 8.9% of budgetCoalition for the Homeless of Houston Harris County: $1,735,000 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetTHE CHINATI FOUNDATION: $1,600,000 over 5y, 18% of budgetCENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN MILITAR HISTORY: $1,586,600 over 4y, 32% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $1,550,866 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetACCESS GROUP INC: $1,547,300 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetEDISON ARTS FOUNDATION INC: $1,500,000 over 1y, 40% of budgetMemorial Assistance Ministries: $1,500,000 over 1y, 7.3% 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.

Houston Endowment IncAlbert & Ethel Herzst…The Powell FoundationThe Elkins FoundationStrake FoundationVivian L Smith Founda…Houston Arts AllianceMD Anderson FoundationJohn P McGovern Found…The William Stamps Fa…Baxter Trust Co Priva…Greater Houston Commu…
Houston Endowment IncTX182.2× affinity133 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Houston Endowment Inc · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · The Powell Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · Strake Foundation · Vivian L Smith Foundation · Houston Arts Alliance · MD Anderson Foundation · John P McGovern Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund · Baxter Trust Co Private Foundation Services · Greater Houston Community Foundation

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 Brown Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Brown Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    71report 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 The Brown Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Brown Foundation Inc 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 845 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Brown’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