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The Jk Lee Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Jk Lee 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.

$210k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Education$1.5MArts & Culture$290kYouth Development$200kFood & Nutrition$45kCommunity Improvement$17k
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $200k
$200,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$42k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL$200,000
SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART$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 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%TEACH FOR AMERICA: $5k → 17%THE MAGIK THEATRE: $125k → 16%THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION: $150k → 13%KU ENDOWMENT - THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $210k → 15%AVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL: $200k → 11%MEALS ON WHEELS: $10k → 7%LAKOTA FUND: $10k → 42%MAGIK THEATRE: $45k → 16%KU ENDOWMENT - THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $100k → 15%LAKOTA FUNDS: $7k → 42%MAGIK THEATRE: $30k → 16%KU ENDOWMENT - THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $850k → 15%THE MAGIK THEATRE: $30k → 16%SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART: $10k → 15%MAGIK THEATRE: $25k → 16%THE MAGIK THEATER: $20k → 16%SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK: $15k → 16%SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK: $10k → 16%SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK: $5k → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $181k → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $29k → 16%TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO: $5k → 16%MEALS ON WHEELS SAN ANTONIO: $5k → 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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 5 repeat orgs$385k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +83% since the first grant, against -8% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
5

Total granted

$1.7M
$175k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+83%
-8%

Still filing today

80%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $210k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • TU
    Trinity University
    2× · 2017–2018 · $210k · revenue +83%
  • SA
    SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK
    3× · 2020–2022 · $30k · revenue +18%
  • TL
    THE LAKOTA FUND INCORPORATED
    2× · 2020–2023 · $17k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2020 · $150k · revenue -121%
  • MO
    MEALS ON WHEELS INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -8%
  • TP
    TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue -24%
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
The University of TexasTexas a&M Investment Management Company

To generate superior long-term investment returns to support The University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems as they provide world-class teaching, push the boundaries of discovery, and achieve excellence in patient healthcare for…

Education
2
Texas Tribune Inc

The texas tribune promotes civic engagement and public education across the state by producing and sharing for free public data interactives, statewide events and intensive and daily reporting on texas public policy, politics and current…

Education
3
Feeding Texas

To lead a unified effort for a hunger-free texas.

Community Improvement
4
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
5
Kqed Inc

See schedule okqed serves the people of northern california with a community-supported alternative to commercial media, providing the knowledge needed to make informed decisions; convening community dialogue; bringing the arts to everyone;…

Arts & Culture
6
San Antonio Area Foundation

To serve as your most trusted and impactful philanthropic partner.

Philanthropy
7
Fort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels and Much Much More

See Schedule OFort Bend Seniors Meals on Wheels provides comprehensive services, including Meals on Wheels, congregate meals, transportation, case management, health screenings, information and referral services, recreation, and more. Our…

Human Services
8
University of the Ozarks

True to our christian heritage, we prepare students from diverse religious, cultural, educational and economic backgrounds to live life fully.

Education
9
Uatx

Uatx is a nonprofit dedicated to building a liberal arts university committed to freedom of inquiry, freedom of conscience, and civil discourse. to maintain these principles, the university will be fiercely independent financially,…

Education
10
The Association of Former Students of Texas a&M University

To strengthen the association of former students, promote the interests and welfare of texas a&m university, perpetuate ties of affection and esteem formed in university or college days, and serve the student body.

Education
11
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
12
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Teach for America Inc; the most unlike its peers is Texas Public Radio. 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

10 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. 10 of the 12 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)
10/10
Grantees still filing
5/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KU ENDOWMENT - THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: $1,160,000 · OtherKU ENDOWMENT - THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS+4 more: $55,000 · OtherTrinity University: $209,796 · EducationTrinity UniversityAVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL INC: $200,000 · EducationAVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL INCUNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDAT…+1 more: $5,000 · EducationMAGIK CHILDRENS THEATRE OF SAN ANTONIO DBA THE MAGIK THEATRE: $275,000 · Arts & CultureMAGIK CHILDRENS…+1 more: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LAKOTA FUND INCORPORATED: $16,875 · Community Improvement
Other$1,215,000Education$564,796Arts & Culture$280,000Community Improvement$16,875

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMAGIK CHILDRENS THEATRE OF SAN ANTONIO DBA THE MAGIK THEATRE: $275,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetTrinity University: $209,796 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAVON OLD FARMS SCHOOL INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LAKOTA FUND INCORPORATED: $16,875 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTEXAS PUBLIC RADIO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS SAN ANTONIO: $5,000 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.

The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation IncNC9.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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 Jk Lee Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Jk Lee Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%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
    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 Jk Lee Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Jk Lee Family Foundation 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 12 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 Jk Lee 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
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    $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