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The Jacobson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Jacobson Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$462k
Granted FY2023
26
Grants FY2023
4
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

95% of The Jacobson Family Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Bny Mellon Charitable Gift Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 9 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year The Jacobson Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 19 organizations, $462k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

0
’20
16
’21
16
’22
19
’23
9
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$3.0MHealth$400kFood & Nutrition$260kReligion$175kHuman Services$133kCivil Rights$126kEducation$92kHousing & Shelter$60kOther$0
02FY2023 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k13 grants · $32k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $205k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $225k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSTON FOOD BANK$100,000
HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER$65,000
INTERFAITH MINISTRIES OF GREATER HOUSTON$60,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD GULF COAST$40,000
ANTI- DEFAMATION LEAGUE$30,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HOUSTON$25,000
THE ROSE$25,000
EVELYN RUBENSTEIN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER$25,000
AVENUE CDC$15,000
THE ALBERT SCHWEITZER FELLOWSHIP$15,000
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES$10,000
SEVEN ACRES JEWISH SENIOR CARE SERVICES$10,000
THE SHLENKER SCHOOL$10,000
HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$5,000
THE TEXAS TRIBUNE$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 (FY21–23, $35k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $25k → 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

MN
NY
MA
CA
VA
MD
TN
NC
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 21 repeat orgs$143k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2023, 3 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
14

Total granted

$1.2M
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+11%

Still filing today

71%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
HealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationCivil RightsInternationalOther
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

  • AL
    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE
    4× · 2021–2024 · $125k · revenue +34%
  • IM
    Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston
    3× · 2021–2023 · $125k · revenue +160%
  • PP
    Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc
    3× · 2021–2023 · $80k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • PROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECTgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +63%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • HC
    HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +11%
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
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
2
The Methodist Hospital

To provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a spiritual environment of caring in association with internationally recognized teaching and research.

Health
3
Houston Health Foundation

Houston health foundation (hhf) has the mission of creating private/public partnerships for sustainable health and wellness initiatives and programs in our communities.

Philanthropy
4
Houston Zoo Inc

Mission: Connect communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife. Vision: Be a leader in the global movement to save wildlife. (Continued on Schedule O) Houston Zoo, Inc. (HZI) strives to be a zoo that practices exemplary…

Animals
5
Memorial Hermann Health System

Memorial hermann health system is a nonprofit, values-driven, community-owned health system dedicated to improving health. our vision is to create healthier communities, now and for generations to come. our values are community,…

Health
6
Houston Hospice

Houston Hospice provides uncompromising, compassionate end-of-life care to patients and families in our community. Houston Hospice cares for patients from all races, ethnicities, religious beliefs, and payor classes, including those with…

—
7
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
8
Memorial Hermann Medical Group

Memorial hermann health system is a nonprofit, values-driven, community-owned health system dedicated to improving health. our vision is to create healthier communities, now and for generations to come. our values are community,…

Health
9
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
10
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
11
American Leadership Forum Houston Gulf Coast Chapter

American Leadership Forum (ALF) brings together, in classes, leaders with diverse perspectives so they can build relationships, learn to dialogue and respectfully differ, and work together for the good of our community.

—
12
Houston Academy of Medicine

The mission of the Houston Academy of Medicine is to support the community service, education, scientific, and charitable programs for physicians, their patients, and the community at large in Harris County.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Houston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is A Purposeful Rescue 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

33 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. 33 of the 48 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
20/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BNY MELLON CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $2,947,741 · PhilanthropyBNY MELLON CHARITABLE GIFT FUND+2 more: $5,590 · PhilanthropyThe Houston Food Bank: $250,000 · OtherThe Houston Food BankInterfaith Ministries for Greater Houston: $125,000 · OtherInterfaith Ministries …THE ROSE: $100,000 · OtherTHE ROSETHE IRVIN M SHLENKER SCHOOL OF CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL: $77,000 · OtherTHE IRVIN M SHLENKER S…HEART: $64,500 · OtherHEARTMD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $45,000 · Other+26 more: $201,131 · Other+26 morePlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $80,000 · HealthAlbert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston-Galveston: $50,000 · HealthSEVEN ACRES JEWISH SENIOR CARE SERVICES INC: $20,000 · HealthTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Health+2 more: $10,000 · HealthANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $125,000 · Civil RightsPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $20,000 · Civil RightsHouston Area Women's Center: $90,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE: $10,000 · Human ServicesSHELTERBOX USA INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesAvenue Community Development Corporation: $60,000 · Housing & ShelterEvelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston: $50,000 · Religion
Philanthropy$2,953,331Other$862,631Health$175,000Civil Rights$145,000Human Services$105,000Housing & Shelter$60,000Religion$50,000

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 budgetBNY MELLON CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $2,947,741 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $250,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $125,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetInterfaith Ministries for Greater Houston: $125,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ROSE: $100,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $90,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $80,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetAvenue Community Development Corporation: $60,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetAlbert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston-Galveston: $50,000 over 3y, 6.3% of budgetEvelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Federation of Greater Houston: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSEVEN ACRES JEWISH SENIOR CARE SERVICES INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA Purposeful Rescue Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetHOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALIGHT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHELTERBOX USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3,090 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GIVING BACK FUND: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetiEDUCATE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGalveston Bay Foundation Inc: $1,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBo's Place: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHouston Public Media Foundation: $1,000 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…Greater Houston Commu…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Shell USA Company FoundationTX17.5× affinity7 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 · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Jacobson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Jacobson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 48 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.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Jacobson 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