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The John M O'Quinn Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The John M O'Quinn Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$15M
Granted FY2024still arriving
78
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$2.0M
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$31MEducation$10.0MEnvironment$2.8MRecreation & Sports$2.2MCrime & Legal$2.0MYouth Development$1.6MHuman Services$1.3MArts & Culture$967kOther$0
02FY2024 · 78 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k31 grants · $775k
  • $50k–250k26 grants · $2.4M
  • $250k+21 grants · $12M
$50,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$281M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND$2,000,000
HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$1,000,000
MEMORIAL HERMANN FOUNDATION$1,000,000
HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$1,000,000
HARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND$1,000,000
MEMORIAL HERMANN FOUNDATION$1,000,000
CRIME STOPPERS OF HOUSTON INC$500,000
THE HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE$500,000
THE KINKAID SCHOOL$500,000
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION$300,000
HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY$300,000
THE TEXAS HEART INSTITUTE$300,000
YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON$300,000
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION$300,000
HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY$300,000
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 (FY20–24, $2.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%DEPELCHIN: $300k → 10%CAMP ARANZAZU: $30k → 17%DEPELCHIN: $100k → 10%CAMP ARANZAZU: $20k → 17%CAMP ARANZAZU: $3k → 17%CLAYTON DABNEY FOR KIDS WITH CANCER: $10k → 14%NEHEMIAH CENTER INC: $10k → 16%HOUSTON AREA WOMEN'S CENTER: $500k → 16%COVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $5k → 16%TEEN AND FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%TEEN AND FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%HOUSTON APHASIA RECOVERY CENTER: $30k → 16%HOUSTON APHASIA RECOVERY CENTER: $30k → 16%HOUSTON APHASIA RECOVERY CENTER: $30k → 16%HOUSTON APHASIA RECOVERY CENTER: $5k → 16%HOUSTON APHASIA RECOVERY CENTER: $5k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $300k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $150k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $100k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $50k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $15k → 16%HEALTHCARE FOR THE HOMELESS - HOUSTON: $10k → 16%THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $25k → 16%PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM: $20k → 16%BROOKWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $100k → 16%KID'S MEALS INC: $500k → 16%KIDS' MEALS INC: $10k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $35k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $20k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $10k → 16%DRESS FOR SUCCESS HOUSTON: $10k → 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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$51M · 87 repeat orgs$3.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

87 repeat relationships: 53 still active in FY2024, 34 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

87
51

Total granted

$51M
$2.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+9%

Still filing today

72%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.2M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentArts & CultureCrime & LegalOther
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

  • TM
    THE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $7.8M · revenue +129%
  • HH
    HARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND
    2× · 2023–2024 · $5.0M · revenue +93% · 37% of their budget
  • MH
    Memorial Hermann Foundation
    4× · 2020–2024 · $5.0M · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • HA
    Houston Area Women's Center
    one grant, 2022 · $500k · revenue -47%
  • YS
    YELLOWSTONE SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2022 · $350k
  • WW
    Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue +6%
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
Houston Independent School District Foundation

The HISD Foundation is dedicated to mobilizing the local community to support innovative priorities in HISD to improve outcomes for all students in the district. Our mission is to fund projects and programs of merit that fall outside of…

—
2
Harris County Medical Society

Our mission is to be the leading advocate for our member physicians, their patients and our community, in promoting the highest standards of ethical medical practice, access to quality medical care, medical education, research, and…

—
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 Heritage Society

The Heritage Society (THS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1954 whose mission is to tell the stories of the diverse history of Houston and Texas through collections, exhibits, the arts, educational programs, film, video, and other…

—
5
Houston Christian Foundation dba National Christian Foundation Houston

As the Houston affiliate of the National Christian Foundation (NCF), our mission is to serve and encourage givers to grow as faithful stewards who give wisely to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

—
6
John P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science

The Health Museum is an innovative science center that provides an interactive and entertaining experience for all ages, promotes understanding and appreciation of the human body, mind, and spirit, and inspires a lifelong commitment to…

Arts & Culture
7
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
8
St John's School

See Schedule OSt. John's School is an independent, co-educational day school presenting a 13-year sequence of college preparatory training. A non-profit institution, it was founded in 1946 to provide the community with a school of exacting…

—
9
Collaborative for Children

The mission of Collaborative for Children is to meaningfully improve the quality of early childhood education and care for Greater Houston's children through those most influential in their lives.

Human Services
10
Houston Area Parkinson Society

The mission of the Houston Area Parkinson Society is to use a whole-human approach to community building, which reduces the fear and isolation associated with a Parkinson's diagnosis.

—
11
Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston Inc

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston's mission is to inspire and enable all youth, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

Youth Development
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Memorial Hermann Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. 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

114 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 114 of the 153 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
112/114
Grantees still filing
75/114
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $7,815,000 · HealthTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONHARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND: $5,000,000 · HealthHARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUNDMemorial Hermann Foundation: $4,950,000 · HealthMemorial Hermann FoundationTHE MENNINGER CLINIC FOUNDATION: $2,810,000 · HealthTHE MENNINGER CLINIC FOUNDATIONTexas Children's Hospital: $1,265,000 · HealthTexas Children's Hospital+11 more: $1,570,850 · Health+11 moreUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $5,300,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONHOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $1,265,000 · OtherHOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITYTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $800,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $600,000 · OtherMD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $600,000 · Other+72 more: $7,720,500 · Other+72 moreBaylor College of Medicine: $4,433,928 · EducationBaylor College o…The Kinkaid School Inc: $1,015,000 · EducationThe Kinkaid Scho…The Monarch School Monarch Institute for Neurological Diff: $960,000 · EducationThe Monarch Scho…The University of Texas Law School Foundation: $300,000 · EducationJoy Development School: $300,000 · EducationSt Edwards University: $300,000 · Education+14 more: $932,500 · Education+14 morePARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $1,015,000 · EnvironmentHermann Park Conservancy: $860,000 · EnvironmentHouston Botanic Garden: $425,000 · EnvironmentWillow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy: $250,000 · EnvironmentGalveston Bay Foundation Inc: $100,000 · Environment+6 more: $238,000 · EnvironmentYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $615,000 · Human ServicesKIDS' MEALS INC: $510,000 · Human ServicesHouston Area Women's Center: $500,000 · Human ServicesDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $400,000 · Human ServicesBROOKWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesHouston Aphasia Recovery Center: $100,000 · Human Services+10 more: $252,500 · Human ServicesHouston Museum of Natural Science: $635,000 · Arts & CultureMain Street Theater Houston: $150,000 · Arts & CultureBo's Place: $110,000 · Arts & CultureALLEY THEATRE: $80,000 · Arts & CultureThe Texas State Historical Association: $40,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $46,500 · Arts & CultureCamp For All Foundation: $540,000 · Youth DevelopmentBoy Scouts of America Sam Houston Area Council: $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentSTONEY CREEK FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Youth Development
Health$23,410,850Other$16,285,500Education$8,241,428Environment$2,888,000Human Services$2,477,500Arts & Culture$1,061,500Youth Development$730,000

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 budgetTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $7,815,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetHARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND: $5,000,000 over 2y, 37% of budgetMemorial Hermann Foundation: $4,950,000 over 4y, 9.2% of budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $4,433,928 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MENNINGER CLINIC FOUNDATION: $2,810,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetHOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $1,265,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $1,265,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $1,015,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetThe Kinkaid School Inc: $1,015,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetThe Monarch School Monarch Institute for Neurological Diff: $960,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $860,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $800,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetHouston Museum of Natural Science: $635,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $615,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTexas Heart Institute: $560,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetCamp For All Foundation: $540,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetCrime Stoppers of Houston Inc: $515,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetKIDS' MEALS INC: $510,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetHouston Area Women's Center: $500,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetHope and Healing Center & Institute: $460,500 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $425,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $400,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetHouston Zoo Inc: $360,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetHOUSTON'S CHARITY FOR CHILDREN INC: $350,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetThe University of Texas Law School Foundation: $300,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetJoy Development School: $300,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetSt Edwards University: $300,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $285,850 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetFriends of Pumpkin Park: $250,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetUniversity of Houston Foundation: $250,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWillow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy: $250,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetPRO-VISION INC: $235,000 over 5y, 4.6% of budgetTIRR Foundation: $215,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $210,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCamp Allen Camp & Conference Center: $200,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetChildren's Assessment Center Foundation: $200,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetThe Council on Recovery: $185,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetBoy Scouts of America Sam Houston Area Council: $150,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetMain Street Theater Houston: $150,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetTEXAS STATE HISTORY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetBreakthrough Houston: $135,000 over 4y, 3.8% of budgetREMIND: $115,000 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetBo's Place: $110,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHINQUAPIN PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $105,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetMontgomery County Childrens Advocacy Center Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetTexas A&M Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKWOOD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 14% 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.

Albert & Ethel Herzst…Greater Houston Commu…Strake FoundationThe Brown Foundation …Vivian L Smith Founda…MD Anderson FoundationThe Elkins FoundationShell USA Company Fou…Marek Family Foundati…The Powell FoundationSterling-Turner Found…Harry S & Isabel C Ca…
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable FoundationTX103.7× affinity50 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Strake Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Vivian L Smith Foundation · MD Anderson Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Marek Family Foundation · The Powell Foundation · Sterling-Turner Foundation · Harry S & Isabel C Cameron Foundation Sentinel Trust Company

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 John M O'Quinn Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John M O'Quinn Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    24report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 John M O'Quinn Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The John M O'Quinn 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 153 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on John M O'Quinn’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