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The Foss Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Foss Family Foundation

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.

$470k
Granted FY2023
13
Grants FY2023
7
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0184% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Health$812kRecreation & Sports$226kHuman Services$205kEducation$60kHousing & Shelter$20kReligion$20kAnimals$10kYouth Development$10kOther$0
02FY2023 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k5 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $95k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $350k
$15,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$8.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
12TH MAN FOUNDATION$200,000
Back on My Feet$100,000
Ability Beyond$50,000
The Patriot Figure Skating Club$25,000
Ball State University$25,000
GUTS CHURCH$20,000
Texas Health Resources Foundation$15,000
Tri Creek School corporation$10,000
dallas casa$5,000
Visiting Nurse Associations of America$5,000
Childrens Medical Center Foundation$5,000
Tzu Zoo Rescue$5,000
Genesis Women's Shelter$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 (FY22–22, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, 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%shoes that fit: $5k → 14%City Lights Foundation: $10k → 15%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

NY
IN
PA
CA
DE
DC
OK
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.

33%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$451k · 10 repeat orgs$922k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2023, 0 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
4

Total granted

$451k
$692k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+845%

Still filing today

50%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 51% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $230k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23
Human ServicesHealthCivil RightsAnimalsEducationOther
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

  • TH
    Texas Health Resources Foundation
    2× · 2022–2023 · $25k · revenue +144%
  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2023 · $10k · revenue +198%
  • DC
    DALLAS CASA
    2× · 2022–2023 · $10k · revenue +51%

Funded once

  • MS
    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
    one grant, 2022 · $667k
  • JH
    JAY HIGH SCHOOL DUG OUT CLUB
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • TC
    THE CITY LIGHTS FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMAgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +845%
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
Texas Children's Hospital Foundation

To create a healthier future for children and women throughout our global community by leading in patient care, education and research.

Health
2
Texas Children's

To create a healthier future for children and women throughout our global community by leading in patient care, education, and research.

Health
3
Texas Health Resources

Through its affiliates, thr operates an integrated healthcare system with services and facilities throughout north central texas to improve the health of the people in the communities they serve.

Health
4
Tmc Health Foundation

The tmc health foundation supports the charitable mission of tucson medical center and is dedicated to improving the health and quality of life in our community.

Health
5
Dallas Citizens Council

To lead and serve in the moments that matter the most for the people of dallas.

—
6
Texas Medical Association

The texas medical association (tma), the nation's largest and one of the oldest state medical societies, represents over 59,000 physicians and medical students dedicated to enhancing the health of all texans. in collaboration with 110…

—
7
Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council

The mission of the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council is to drive evidence-based improvement in patient care and health equity throughout the region.

—
8
Southwestern Health Resources

To further the missions of utsw and thr on a local, regional and national level through the creation of a clinically integrated network of physicians, hospitals and other care providers to deliver healthcare across the continuum and by…

Health
9
Texas a&M Research Foundation

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

Education
10
Southwestern Health Resources Hospitals Joc

To create an integrated hospital system operating in the dallas area to improve the health of the people in the communities it serves without regard to their ability to pay.

Health
11
Texas Apartment Association Education Foundation

Educates texans about career opportunities in the rental housing industry and works with our local apartment association and workforce development partners to support training programs for those new to the industry.

Education
12
Travis County Medical Society

Travis county medical society (tcms) represents the medical profession in matters of importance to the membership and the community it serves.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Dallas Casa; the most unlike its peers is Tzu Zoo Rescue. 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

9 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. 9 of the 17 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/9
Grantees still filing
5/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: $666,667 · OtherMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterAbility Beyond: $100,000 · OtherAbility BeyondBall State University: $50,000 · OtherBall State University+6 more: $85,500 · Other+6 moreBACK ON MY FEET: $200,000 · Human ServicesBACK ON MY FEETTHE CITY LIGHTS FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA: $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesTexas A&M University 12th Man Foundation: $200,000 · EducationTexas A&M Univer…Texas Health Resources Foundation: $25,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthDALLAS CASA: $10,000 · Civil RightsTZU ZOO RESCUE: $10,000 · Animals
Other$902,167Human Services$215,000Education$200,000Health$35,000Civil Rights$10,000Animals$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 budgetTexas A&M University 12th Man Foundation: $200,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBACK ON MY FEET: $200,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetTexas Health Resources Foundation: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CITY LIGHTS FOUNDATION OF OKLAHOMA: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDALLAS CASA: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTZU ZOO RESCUE: $10,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetSHOES THAT FIT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA4.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Foss Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Foss Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    2report 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.

    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 17 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $2.3M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Foss Family’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