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The Humphreys Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Humphreys Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$300k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$15MEducation$245kRecreation & Sports$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $150k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $1.1M
  • $250k+2 grants · $550k
$100,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSTON GRAND OPERA$300,000
HOUSTON SYMPHONY$250,000
ALLEY THEATRE$200,000
HOBBY CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS$200,000
STAGES REPERTORY THEATER$200,000
AD PLAYERS$175,000
THEATRE UNDER THE STARS$175,000
PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON$100,000
HOUSTON BALLET$75,000
Individual grant recipient$40,000
THE VALLEY PLAYERS$30,000
THE GRAND 1984 OPERA HOUSE$20,000
MILLER OUTDOOR THEATRE$20,000
MAIN STREET THEATER$20,000
RIVER OAKS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA$20,000
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 14%. 98% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%Theatre Under The Stars: $225k → 16%THEATRE UNDER THE STARS: $175k → 16%THEATRE UNDER THE STARS: $175k → 16%Theater Under the Stars: $150k → 16%Theatre Under the Stars: $150k → 16%Theatre Under The Stars: $150k → 16%Stages Repertory Theater: $325k → 16%Alley Theatre: $325k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $325k → 16%Alley Theatre: $325k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $325k → 16%Alley Theatre: $325k → 16%Alley Theatre: $325k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $325k → 16%Houston Symphony: $325k → 16%Stages Repertory Theatre: $300k → 16%Stages Repertory Theater: $300k → 16%Stages Repertory Theater: $300k → 16%Stages Repertory Theater: $300k → 16%Alley Theatre: $250k → 16%HOUSTON SYMPHONY: $250k → 16%StagesRepertory Theater: $250k → 16%Houston Symphony: $250k → 16%HOUSTON SYMPHONY: $250k → 16%Houston Symphony: $250k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $250k → 16%Alley Theater: $200k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $200k → 16%HOBBY CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS: $200k → 16%STAGES REPERTORY THEATER: $200k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $200k → 16%STAGES REPERTORY THEATER: $200k → 16%ALLEY THEATRE: $200k → 16%ALLEY THEATRE: $200k → 16%HOBBY CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS: $200k → 16%Houston Grand Opera: $200k → 16%Alley Theater: $155k → 16%Society For the Performing Arts: $150k → 16%Houston Symphony: $150k → 16%Houston Symphony: $125k → 16%AD Players: $200k → 16%AD Players: $200k → 16%AD PLAYERS: $175k → 16%AD PLAYERS: $175k → 16%A D Players: $175k → 16%AD Players: $150k → 16%AD Players: $150k → 16%AD Players: $135k → 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.
$15M · 41 repeat orgs$464k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +21% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

41 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 25 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
11

Total granted

$15M
$464k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
+2%

Still filing today

51%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationOther
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
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.5M · revenue +28%
  • AT
    ALLEY THEATRE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.3M · revenue +107%
  • HS
    Houston Symphony Society
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.8M · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • S
    Stages
    one grant, 2019 · $300k · revenue -29%
  • SS
    Shepherd School of Music (Rice University)
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • TL
    Theater LaB Houston
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
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
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
2
Hopera

Hopera's mission is to produce live musical performances in unique Houston Area spaces that focus on and empower Houston Area artists. Our Pint-Sized Performance concert series empowers local musicians to create original programs that are…

Arts & Culture
3
Operativo Houston

Providing paid opportunities for Houston based singers.

Arts & Culture
4
Allen Parkway Arts Center Inc

APAC is a supporting organization to Stages, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization producing live theater.

Arts & Culture
5
Tx Performing Chinese Arts
—
6
Houston Choral Society

The Houston Choral Society is a professional quality civic chorus dedicated to performing great choral music to enrich the soul and advance the choral arts to Houston audiences and beyond.

Arts & Culture
7
American Festival for the Arts

Founded in 1993, American Festival for the Arts (AFA) provides high quality community-based music education programs and performance opportunities designed primarily for youth and, through its concert series and outreach, seeks to broaden…

Arts & Culture
8
American Baroque Opera Company

American baroque opera company operates in the state of texas for the primary purpose of furthering the appreciaton of music, particularly opera, for the general public. american baroque opera company performs select operas throughout the…

Arts & Culture
9
World Voices Houston

The mission of International Voiches Houston is to create global harmony by celebrating and giving voice to human difference. More specifically, it is to build cultural bridges across Houston's diverse population by exploring and…

Arts & Culture
10
The Garden Theatre

The Garden Theatre's mission is to bring quality, artist-driven storytelling and forward-thinking theatrical experiences to audiences as diverse as the City of Houston.

Arts & Culture
11
Classical Arts Society of Houston

Formed in 1993, the Classical Arts Society of Houston is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and maintaining the rich heritage of the classical performing arts of India. In particular, the organization presents South Indian…

Arts & Culture
12
TexArts Association for Visual & Performing Arts

TexARTS is an arts education and performance destination that builds character, professionalism, and careers. Its mission is to cultivate a thriving arts community by exposing all people to the visual and performing arts. TexARTS prepares…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Performing Arts Houston; the most unlike its peers is Fine Arts Society of Liberty Texas. 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

27 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. 27 of the 52 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/27
Grantees still filing
19/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Houston Grand Opera Association Inc: $2,450,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera Association IncALLEY THEATRE: $2,330,000 · Arts & CultureALLEY THEATREHouston Symphony Society: $1,775,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Symphony SocietyA D Players: $1,435,000 · Arts & CultureA D PlayersTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $875,000 · Arts & CultureTheatre Under the Stars IncPERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON: $840,000 · Arts & CulturePERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON+16 more: $1,008,500 · Arts & Culture+16 moreStages Repertory Theater: $2,056,000 · OtherStages Repertory TheaterHOUSTON BALLET: $440,000 · OtherHOUSTON BALLETTheater Under the Stars: $425,000 · OtherTheater Under the StarsHOBBY CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS: $400,000 · OtherHOBBY CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTSVALLEY PLAYERS: $228,000 · Other+23 more: $900,000 · Other+23 moreYOUNG AUDIENCES INC OF HOUSTON: $55,000 · EducationUniversity of St Thomas: $40,000 · Education
Arts & Culture$10,713,500Other$4,449,000Education$95,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $2,450,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetALLEY THEATRE: $2,330,000 over 9y, 1.8% of budgetHouston Symphony Society: $1,775,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetA D Players: $1,435,000 over 8y, 7.9% of budgetTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $875,000 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetPERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON: $840,000 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetStages: $300,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetRiver Oaks Chamber Orchestra: $165,000 over 7y, 3.8% of budgetMain Street Theater Houston: $120,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetHOUSTON MASTERWORKS CHORUS INC: $82,500 over 5y, 23% of budgetBeaumont Community Players Inc dba Southeast Texas Stages: $82,500 over 7y, 4.5% of budget1894 INC: $75,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetHITS Theatre: $60,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetYOUNG AUDIENCES INC OF HOUSTON: $55,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ENSEMBLE THEATRE: $35,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetDa Camera Society of Texas: $32,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetCANTARE HOUSTON: $30,000 over 3y, 20% of budgetOPERA IN THE HEIGHTS: $24,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetExpress Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre: $21,000 over 5y, 7.2% of budgetVIRTUOSI OF HOUSTON: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetSYMPHONY OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetFINE ARTS SOCIETY OF LIBERTY TEXAS: $17,500 over 3y, 53% of budgetGILBERT & SULLIVAN SOCIETY OF HOUSTON: $15,000 over 2y, 6.6% of budgetDANCE HOUSTON: $15,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetHOUSTON CHAMBER CHOIR: $5,500 over 1y, 0.9% 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.

  • Who funds Houston Grand Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds ALLEY THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds Houston Symphony Society ↗
  • Who funds A D Players ↗
  • Who funds Theatre Under the Stars Inc ↗
  • Who funds PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds Stages ↗
  • Who funds River Oaks Chamber Orchestra ↗
  • Who funds Main Street Theater Houston ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON MASTERWORKS CHORUS INC ↗
  • Who funds Beaumont Community Players Inc dba Southeast Texas Stages ↗
  • Who funds 1894 INC ↗
  • Who funds HITS Theatre ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG AUDIENCES INC OF HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds University of St Thomas ↗
  • Who funds THE ENSEMBLE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds Da Camera Society of Texas ↗
  • Who funds CANTARE HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds OPERA IN THE HEIGHTS ↗

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 Arts AllianceThe Cullen Trust for …The Wortham Foundatio…Miller Theatre Adviso…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Shell USA Company Fou…The Brown Foundation …Houston Endowment IncGreater Houston Commu…Mechia FoundationThe Powell FoundationThe Elkins Foundation
Houston Arts AllianceTX38.5× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Houston Arts Alliance · The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts · The Wortham Foundation Inc · Miller Theatre Advisory Board Inc · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Mechia Foundation · The Powell Foundation · The Elkins 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 Humphreys Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Humphreys Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%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
    12report 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 52 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 Humphreys’ 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