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The Gilstrap Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Gilstrap 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.

$72k
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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$118kPhilanthropy$63kHuman Services$34kFood & Nutrition$26kReligion$22kCrime & Legal$19kArts & Culture$16kEmployment$16kOther$0
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k23 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$2,010
Median grant
5
States reached
$646k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATI$10,000
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL$5,650
JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HOUSTO$5,500
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ELMIRA-CORN$5,350
HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER$5,182
HOUSTON FOOD BANK$5,000
STAR OF HOPE MISSION$5,000
WXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING$5,000
RAPE ABUSE INCEST NATIONAL NETWORK$5,000
HOUSTON AUDUBON SOCIETY$3,500
Individual grant recipient$2,500
FORSYTH HUMANE SOCIETY$2,010
JACKSON HOLE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTE$2,000
BARD COLLEGE$1,000
COMMUNITY FOUND OF THE TX HILL COUN$1,000
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, $62k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%ALEXANDER JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE: $100 → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $10k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $6k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $5k → 16%PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM: $1k → 16%HOUSTON FURNITURE BANK: $1k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $5k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $5k → 16%LITERACY NOW: $5k → 16%LITERACY NOW: $1k → 16%KID'S MEALS: $5k → 16%KID'S MEALS: $1k → 16%KIDS MEALS: $1k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $5k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $5k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $5k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
MA
WY
CA
MD
NC
DC
OK
MS
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.
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 9% of The Gilstrap Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 55% of the giving stays in TX; by stated purpose, 63%.

The Gilstrap Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.
$338k · 31 repeat orgs$49k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +11% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
28

Total granted

$338k
$41k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
0%

Still filing today

74%
61%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k 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
Human ServicesHealthArts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyEnvironmentOther
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

  • WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2021–2023 · $71k · revenue +24%
  • DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON
    4× · 2021–2024 · $16k · revenue +38%
  • TF
    The Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc
    3× · 2021–2023 · $11k · revenue +15%

Funded once

  • PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -14%
  • FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +51%
  • HH
    Houston Habitat for Humanity Inc
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue 0%
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
Trees for Houston

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

—
2
Houston Botanic Garden

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

Environment
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
The Women's Resource of Greater Houston

See Schedule OThe Women's Resource of Greater Houston helps women and girls make choices toward becoming independent, productive, and financially stable. We fulfill our mission by recruiting volunteer instructors to deliver our programs in…

Philanthropy
5
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
6
Rebuilding Together Houston

Rebuilding Together Houston is the only organization in Houston and Harris County providing free home repairs to hundreds of families each year. We employ licensed contractors to restore homes to safe, livable conditions, extending each…

Housing & Shelter
7
Houston Museum of Natural Science

The mission of the Houston Museum of Natural Science shall be to preserve and advance the general knowledge of natural science; to enhance in individuals the knowledge of and delight in natural science and related subjects; and to maintain…

Arts & Culture
8
Houston Bar Foundation

The Houston Bar Foundation supports programs that help provide legal representation to the indigent, promote community understanding of our legal system, and foster the administration of justice.

Crime & Legal
9
American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Inc

The ACLU of Texas works with communities, at the State Capitol, and in the courts to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for every Texan, no exceptions.

—
10
Aclu Foundation of Texas Inc

The ACLU Foundation of Texas is the unyielding guardian and promoter of freedom, justice, equality and dignity of all people, particularly for those who are still fighting to secure the full exercise of their civil rights and liberties.…

Civil Rights
11
LifeHouse of Houston Inc

LifeHouse is a Christ-centered ministry ensuring life for unborn children by providing opportunities for housing, help, and hope for young women during their pregnancies and beyond.

—
12
Center for Public Policy Priorities

At the Every Texan, we believe in a Texas that offers everyone the chance to compete and succeed in life. We envision a Texas where everyone is healthy, well educated, and financially secure. We want the best Texas, a proud state that sets…

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Houston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Houston Nursing Education Foundation. 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

47 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. 47 of the 67 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/47
Grantees still filing
19/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATI: $20,000 · OtherHOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATICONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL: $17,050 · OtherCONGREGATION BETH ISRAELThe Houston Food Bank: $17,000 · OtherThe Houston Food BankCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ELMIRA-CORN: $10,700 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ELMIRA-CORNJewish Federation of Greater Houston: $10,500 · OtherJewish Federation of Greater HoustonIndividual grant recipient: $7,500 · OtherSTAR OF HOPE MISSION: $7,000 · OtherCamp For All Foundation: $6,000 · Other+33 more: $57,424 · Other+33 moreWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $71,126 · EducationWAKE FOREST UNIVERSI…+2 more: $2,000 · EducationHouston Area Women's Center: $31,182 · Human ServicesHouston Area Wome…DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $16,000 · Human ServicesDRESS FOR SUCCESS…KIDS' MEALS INC: $7,000 · Human ServicesKIDS' MEALS INCMaking It Better dba Literacy Now: $6,000 · Human ServicesMaking It Better …+3 more: $2,100 · Human ServicesUnited Way of Greater Houston: $30,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way of Gre…UNITED WAY OF THE SOUTHERN TIER INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF THE…TEXAS CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND EQUITY: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTEXAS CENTER FOR …+2 more: $2,030 · PhilanthropyPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $10,000 · HealthRape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): $8,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $1,000 · HealthTexas Children's Hospital: $1,000 · HealthThe Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc: $11,000 · EnvironmentThe Houston Audubon Society: $3,500 · EnvironmentTexas Coastal Exchange: $2,000 · EnvironmentWXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING COUNCIL: $7,000 · Arts & CultureHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $4,000 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLICA INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureINSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE: $500 · Arts & Culture
Other$153,174Education$73,126Human Services$62,282Philanthropy$62,030Health$20,000Environment$16,500Arts & Culture$12,500

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 budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $71,126 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $31,182 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Houston: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF THE SOUTHERN TIER INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $17,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $16,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetThe Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Federation of Greater Houston: $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND EQUITY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetRape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKIDS' MEALS INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING COUNCIL: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTAR OF HOPE MISSION: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMaking It Better dba Literacy Now: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCamp For All Foundation: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFINGER LAKES SPCA INC: $4,060 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINSIDE BOOKS PROJECT: $3,700 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetForsyth Humane Society: $3,510 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Houston Audubon Society: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHouston Habitat for Humanity Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS CASA INC: $2,038 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTexas Coastal Exchange: $2,000 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetLEE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPLANT IT FORWARD: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetALI FORNEY CENTER INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $1,033 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,030 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBARD COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Pad Project: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FURNITURE BANK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTexas Appleseed: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Nursing Education Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetIconoclast Artists: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE NATIVE PRAIRIES ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKFREE EDUCATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUTTVILLE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE: $100 over 1y, 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.

Shell USA Company Fou…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Centerpoint Energy Fo…Houston Endowment IncMechia FoundationHouston Jewish Commun…Meadows Foundation IncGreater Houston Commu…Austin Community Foun…Texas Mutual Insuranc…Gs Donor Advised Phil…New Venture Fund
Shell USA Company FoundationTX22× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Shell USA Company Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Centerpoint Energy Foundation Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · Mechia Foundation · Houston Jewish Community Foundation · Meadows Foundation Inc · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Austin Community Foundation Inc · Texas Mutual Insurance Company · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · New Venture Fund

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 Gilstrap Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Gilstrap 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
13report 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.

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 67 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 Gilstrap’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