Skip to content
The Carruth Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Carruth Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$743k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$2.0MAnimals$1.7MArts & Culture$710kScience & Tech$500kCommunity Improvement$225kYouth Development$90kRecreation & Sports$60kEnvironment$50kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $108k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $635k
$50,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUFFALO BAYOU PARTNERSHIP$200,000
HOUSTON SPCA$150,000
THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL$100,000
SARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FDN$85,000
HOUSTON SYMPHONY SOCIETY$50,000
HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE$50,000
ST JOHN SCHOOL$25,000
STORM HARBOR EQUESTRIAN CENTER$25,000
THE BEACON$25,000
THEATRE UNDER THE STARS$12,500
CAMP FOR ALL$10,000
THE WILL ERWIN HEADACHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 9%SARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FDN: $85k → 7%THE PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL: $60k → 16%SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 9%SARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FDN: $35k → 7%THE PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL OF HOUSTON: $60k → 16%STORM HARBOR EQUESTRIAN CENTER: $25k → 9%SARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FDN: $35k → 7%THE PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL: $60k → 16%SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $25k → 9%SARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FDN: $25k → 7%THE PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL OF HOUSTON: $60k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $150k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $100k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $50k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $50k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $50k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $50k → 16%HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE: $50k → 16%RIVER OAKS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: $30k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $300k → 16%SPCA HOUSTON: $270k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $252k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $240k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $200k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $200k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $150k → 16%HOUSTON SPCA: $110k → 16%BUFFALO BAYOU PARTNERSHIP: $200k → 16%HOUSTON GRAND OPERA: $125k → 16%HOUSTON GRAND OPERA: $75k → 16%HOUSTON GRAND OPERA: $75k → 16%HOUSTON GRAND OPERA: $65k → 16%HOUSTON SYMPHONY SOCIETY: $50k → 16%THEATRE UNDER THE STARS: $38k → 16%NORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $100k → 16%NORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $100k → 16%NORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $100k → 16%NORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $50k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $220k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $160k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $160k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $120k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $100k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $100k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $100k → 16%THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $100k → 16%NORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $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.
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.2M · 16 repeat orgs$240k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
11

Total granted

$5.2M
$155k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+25%

Still filing today

69%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $85k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentHealthAnimalsYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • HG
    Houston Grand Opera Association Inc
    4× · 2017–2021 · $340k · revenue +28%
  • BB
    Buffalo Bayou Partnership Inc
    2× · 2017–2025 · $225k · revenue +185%
  • SS
    SARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $180k · revenue +67%

Funded once

  • RO
    River Oaks Chamber Orchestragraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $30k · revenue +127%
  • HA
    Houston Arboretum & Nature Centergraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +25%
  • Hermann Park Conservancygraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue +32%
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
Trees for Houston

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

—
3
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
4
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…

—
5
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
6
The Houston Audubon Society

To advance the conservation of birds and their habitats in the Greater Houston Gulf Coast region by acquiring and maintaining critical habitat as bird sanctuaries, providing education programs and nature experiences, and advocating policy…

Environment
7
The Awty International School

See Schedule OThe purpose of Awty International School (Awty) is to create an environment where students experience excellence every day to make their mark on the world alongside their community, in a spirit of curiosity, courage and…

—
8
Houston Freedmen's Town Conservancy Inc

To completely restore Houston Freedmen's Town as a heritage district that provides America with its only Freedmen's Town.

Community Improvement
9
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…

—
10
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…

—
11
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

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

Arts & Culture
12
St Peter Catholic

St. Peter Catholic High School empowers students to be models of faith through Catholic spiritual formation, while providing a creative and comprehensive education in career and technical pathways.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Beacon of Downtown Houston; the most unlike its peers is Blood Cancer United 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

23 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. 23 of the 30 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/23
Grantees still filing
12/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $1,085,000 · EducationTHE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOLNORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $450,000 · EducationNORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOLSLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $160,000 · EducationSLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION IN…Presbyterian School: $120,000 · EducationPresbyterian School+1 more: $20,000 · EducationHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $1,722,000 · AnimalsHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION …Houston Museum of Natural Science: $500,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Museum of Nat…Houston Grand Opera Association Inc: $340,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera A…Theatre Under the Stars Inc: $95,000 · Arts & CultureTheatre Under the Sta…Houston Symphony Society: $50,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $45,000 · Arts & CultureSARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $180,000 · OtherTHE PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL OF HOUSTON: $120,000 · OtherSTORM HARBOR EQUESTRIAN CENTER: $50,000 · OtherSt John's School: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · Other+3 more: $10,008 · OtherBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $225,000 · EnvironmentHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $25,000 · EnvironmentHermann Park Conservancy: $25,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILL ERWIN HEADACHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EnvironmentCamp For All Foundation: $90,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE BEACON OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON: $50,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $10,000 · HealthRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $10,000 · HealthDiscovery Green Conservancy: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$1,835,000Animals$1,722,000Arts & Culture$1,030,000Other$425,008Environment$285,000Youth Development$90,000Health$70,000Recreation & Sports$10,000

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 SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $1,722,000 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetTHE PARISH CHILDREN'S SCHOOL: $1,085,000 over 8y, 2.8% of budgetHouston Museum of Natural Science: $500,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetNORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $450,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $340,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $225,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSARATOGA SPRINGS PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $180,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetSLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $160,000 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $95,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCamp For All Foundation: $90,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BEACON OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHouston Symphony Society: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRiver Oaks Chamber Orchestra: $30,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetSt John's School: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJoy Development School: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDiscovery Green Conservancy: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Shell USA Company Fou…Greater Houston Commu…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Houston Endowment IncThe Brown Foundation …Vivian L Smith Founda…The William Stamps Fa…John P McGovern Found…Strake FoundationThe Wortham Foundatio…The Sarofim FoundationAlvin & Lucy Owsley F…
Shell USA Company FoundationTX22.2× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Shell USA Company Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · The Brown Foundation Inc · Vivian L Smith Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund · John P McGovern Foundation · Strake Foundation · The Wortham Foundation Inc · The Sarofim Foundation · Alvin & Lucy Owsley 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 Carruth Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Carruth Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Carruth Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Carruth 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 30 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 Carruth’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