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The Llee Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Llee Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$5k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2025.

Education$167kPublic Safety & Disaster$110kHealth$110kPhilanthropy$71kFood & Nutrition$70kHuman Services$32kRecreation & Sports$15kInternational$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$881k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR RARE DISORDERS$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 (FY20–22, $32k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%HAPPY HILL FARM: $1k → 10%HAPPY HILL FARM: $1k → 10%NEHEMIAH CENTER: $5k → 16%NEHEMIAH CENTER: $5k → 16%NEHEMIAH CENTER: $5k → 16%THE CENTER FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%THE CENTER FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%THE CENTER FOUNDATION: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

ID
NY
MA
SD
TN
DC
HI
OK
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.

68%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$405k · 24 repeat orgs$195k to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
9

Total granted

$405k
$195k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+138%

Still filing today

63%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

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

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesInternationalPhilanthropyFood & NutritionEducationOther
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

  • The Houston Food Bank
    3× · 2020–2022 · $52k · revenue +36%
  • SO
    SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF TEXAS INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $15k · revenue +88%
  • TC
    Texas Children's Hospital
    3× · 2020–2022 · $15k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • FP
    FIRST PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL INC
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • AR
    AMERICAN RED CROSS
    one grant, 2023 · $35k
  • MU
    MAUI UNITED WAYgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $35k · revenue +188%
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
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
2
Mhs Physicians of Texas

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
3
The Methodist Hospital Foundation

Mission: this organization is part of the methodist hospital, doing business as houston methodist hospital, whose mission is: to provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a…

Health
4
Target Hunger Inc

The mission of Target Hunger is to alleviate hunger and its root causes in the Houston neighborhoods we serve. Target Hunger is on the front lines of hunger every day through its food distribution system that includes multiple food…

Human Services
5
Houston Area Community Services

Our mission is to provide high quality and caring services to promote healthy people and communities.

Health
6
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.

—
7
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…

—
8
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
9
Kapi'olani Medical Specialists

Kapi'olani medical specialists (dba hawai'i pacific health medical group) is a multispecialty provider group dedicated to providing world-class care for adults and children across hawai'i and the pacific region working in partnership with…

Health
10
Tmh Physician Organization

This organization is part of the methodist hospital, doing business as houston methodist hospital, whose mission is: to provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a spiritual…

—
11
Humc Medical Observation Pa

To serve as the physician services component of a tax-exempt healthcare delivery network and to thereby promote, support & further the charitable purposes, programs & services of hmh hospitals corp.

—
12
Spring Branch Community Health Center

To increase the number of healthy families in our community by providing high quality, comprehensive health services.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Star of Hope Mission; the most unlike its peers is Paralyzed Veterans of America. 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

21 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. 21 of the 34 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)
20/21
Grantees still filing
13/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL INC: $100,000 · OtherFIRST PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL INCGREATER HOUSTON RED CROSS: $65,000 · OtherGREATER HOUSTON RED CROSSThe Houston Food Bank: $52,000 · OtherThe Houston Food BankUT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $50,000 · OtherUT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTERAMERICAN RED CROSS: $35,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSSMISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC CHARITIES: $26,000 · OtherMISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC CHARITIESST JUDE RESEARCH HOSPITAL: $15,000 · Other+14 more: $55,000 · Other+14 morePresbyterian School: $62,500 · EducationPresbyteria…MAUI UNITED WAY: $35,000 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTexas Children's Hospital: $15,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA INC: $11,500 · HealthDOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH TEXAS: $4,000 · HealthPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: $2,000 · HealthPURSUIT FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Human ServicesNehemiah Center Inc: $15,000 · Human ServicesHAPPY HILL FARM CHILDRENS HOME INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $15,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,000 · InternationalSPECIAL OLYMPICS OF TEXAS INC: $15,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$398,000Education$62,500Philanthropy$45,000Health$32,500Human Services$32,000International$25,000Recreation & Sports$15,000

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 budgetPresbyterian School: $62,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $52,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI UNITED WAY: $35,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS OF TEXAS INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPURSUIT FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNehemiah Center Inc: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetALZHEIMER'S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA INC: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR RARE DISORDERS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTAR OF HOPE MISSION: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetInterfaith Ministries for Greater Houston: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Harvest Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH TEXAS: $4,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHAPPY HILL FARM CHILDRENS HOME INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Public Media Foundation: $500 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.

Greater Houston Commu…Shell USA Company Fou…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX12.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving 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 Llee Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Llee Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 34 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 Llee’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