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The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert and Janice McNair 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.

$14M
Granted FY2024still arriving
68
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$1.0M
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$34MEducation$34MArts & Culture$6.5MAnimals$5.4MRecreation & Sports$5.2MCommunity Improvement$3.6MYouth Development$3.2MPhilanthropy$2.7MOther$0
02FY2024 · 68 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k9 grants · $34k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $333k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $2.1M
  • $250k+23 grants · $11M
$100,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$331M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIV OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$1,004,392
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$950,000
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$750,000
UNIV OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$652,000
COLUMBIA COLLEGE$625,000
COLUMBIA COLLEGE$625,000
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$567,233
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$542,208
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION$500,000
TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$500,000
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$472,261
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$449,905
BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE$404,317
HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY$400,000
UNIV OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$400,000
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 (FY17–24, $835k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 87% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Loving Houston Inc: $50k → 9%UVALDE CISD MOVING FORWARD FOUNDATION: $25k → 16%Southeastern Guide Dogs: $10k → 10%Loving Houston Inc: $50k → 9%Buckner Children and Family Services Inc: $10k → 14%Houston Aphasia Recovery Center: $10k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $50k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $50k → 16%Pathways for Little Feet: $5k → 16%Boys & Girls Country of Houston Inc: $25k → 16%Pathways for Little Feet: $5k → 16%Houston Police Foundation: $15k → 16%HOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION: $15k → 16%Houston Police Foundation: $15k → 16%THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $100k → 16%THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $100k → 16%PRISON ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM: $5k → 16%DePelchin Children's Center: $10k → 16%Loving Houston: $50k → 16%Loving Houston: $50k → 16%Loving Houston: $50k → 16%LOVING HOUSTON INC: $35k → 16%LOVING HOUSTON INC: $35k → 16%The Center Foundation: $50k → 16%Covenant House: $15k → 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
IL
MI
NY
OR
PA
CT
CA
CO
NE
MO
VA
DE
TN
NC
SC
DC
LA
GA
TX
FL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 18% of The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 72% of the giving stays in TX; by stated purpose, 64%.

The Robert and Janice McNair Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.5% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$84M · 132 repeat orgs$18M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

132 repeat relationships: 39 still active in FY2024, 93 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

132
145

Total granted

$84M
$18M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+13%

Still filing today

66%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $226k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyReligionOther
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

  • BC
    Baylor College of Medicine
    4× · 2017–2024 · $12M · revenue +67%
  • Houston Zoo Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $5.0M · revenue +16%
  • University of South Carolina Educational Foundation
    3× · 2018–2024 · $4.6M · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • UO
    University of South Carolina - McNair Scholar
    one grant, 2018 · $1.5M
  • BS
    BCM-Dr Sameer Sheth
    one grant, 2018 · $1.0M
  • UO
    University of South Carolina - Columbia Athletics
    one grant, 2017 · $1.0M
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
Trees for Houston

Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.

—
2
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
3
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…

—
4
Breakthrough Houston

The mission of Breakthrough Houston (BTH) is to work with highly motivated students to achieve post-secondary success and empower aspiring leaders to become the next generation of educational advocates.

Education
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
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
7
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.

—
8
Central Houston Inc

See schedule ocentral houston champions a thriving downtown by connecting influential leaders through initiatives that advance the future of business and community for all.

—
9
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…

—
10
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…

—
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Houston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Luis Palau Association. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

149 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. 149 of the 284 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
144/149
Grantees still filing
98/149
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $4,000,000 · OtherHOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITYUSC Educational Foundation - McNair Scholarship: $2,247,000 · OtherUSC Educational Foundation - Columbia Athletics: $2,000,000 · Other+141 more: $45,551,020 · Other+141 moreBaylor College of Medicine: $12,460,311 · EducationBaylor College of MedicineUniversity of South Carolina Educational Foundation: $4,568,892 · EducationUniversity of South Carolina E…Columbia College: $3,435,776 · EducationColumbia CollegeThe Brookwood Community Inc: $1,201,500 · EducationNorthwood University: $1,200,000 · Education+13 more: $4,606,776 · Education+13 moreTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $4,010,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $1,250,000 · Arts & CultureHOPE MEDIA GROUP: $400,000 · Arts & CultureFriends of the Texas Historical Commission Inc: $250,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $600,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Zoo Inc: $5,000,000 · AnimalsSouth Carolina Aquarium: $400,000 · AnimalsUnited Way of Greater Houston: $2,250,000 · PhilanthropyASTROS GOLF FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyHouston Parks Board: $400,000 · Philanthropy+6 more: $416,539 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,600,000 · HealthTexas Children's Hospital: $505,000 · HealthEASTER SEALS OF GREATER HOUSTON INC: $165,000 · HealthMemorial Hermann Foundation: $105,000 · Health+5 more: $218,708 · HealthPRO-VISION INC: $1,450,000 · ReligionSCRIPTURE AWAKENING INC: $315,000 · ReligionLuis Palau Association: $150,000 · ReligionTHE PRAYER INSTITUTE: $150,000 · Religion+3 more: $110,000 · Religion
Other$53,798,020Education$27,473,255Arts & Culture$6,510,000Animals$5,400,000Philanthropy$4,066,539Health$2,593,708Religion$2,175,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $12,460,311 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetHouston Zoo Inc: $5,000,000 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetUniversity of South Carolina Educational Foundation: $4,568,892 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $4,010,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetHOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $4,000,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetColumbia College: $3,435,776 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Houston: $2,250,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,600,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPRO-VISION INC: $1,450,000 over 4y, 43% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $1,250,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetThe Brookwood Community Inc: $1,201,500 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetNorthwood University: $1,200,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $1,189,994 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetASTROS GOLF FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $884,725 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $866,473 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMOTHER EMANUEL MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $800,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetCAMP BLESSING TEXAS INC: $800,000 over 4y, 18% of budgetCharleston Collegiate School: $650,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $505,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $450,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetChildren At Risk: $425,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $415,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetHouston Parks Board: $400,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSouth Carolina Aquarium: $400,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetPresbyterian School: $400,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetLEES-MCRAE COLLEGE INC: $400,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetHOPE MEDIA GROUP: $400,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $395,578 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLOVING HOUSTON INC: $320,000 over 7y, 30% of budgetSCRIPTURE AWAKENING INC: $315,000 over 4y, 43% of budgetHOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $300,000 over 6y, 2.4% of budgetINTERCOLLEGIATE STUDIES INSTITUTE INC: $300,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetSigma Chi Foundation: $300,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetFriends of the Texas Historical Commission Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetJunior Achievement of Southeast Texas Inc: $225,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $200,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $200,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetRemember the Alamo Foundation: $200,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPROUNITAS INC: $165,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetEASTER SEALS OF GREATER HOUSTON INC: $165,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $160,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Houston Food Bank: $150,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLuis Palau Association: $150,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetTHE PRAYER INSTITUTE: $150,000 over 6y, 11% of budgetSPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC: $140,000 over 5y, 0.5% 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 Baylor College of Medicine ↗
  • Who funds Houston Zoo Inc ↗
  • Who funds University of South Carolina Educational Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Columbia College ↗
  • Who funds United Way of Greater Houston ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds PRO-VISION INC ↗
  • Who funds Houston Grand Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds The Brookwood Community Inc ↗
  • Who funds Northwood University ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ASTROS GOLF FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds William Marsh Rice University ↗
  • Who funds University of St Thomas ↗
  • Who funds MOTHER EMANUEL MEMORIAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAMP BLESSING TEXAS INC ↗
  • Who funds Charleston Collegiate School ↗

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…The William Stamps Fa…Mechia FoundationShell USA Company Fou…John P McGovern Found…The Elkins FoundationHouston Endowment IncMD Anderson Foundation
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable FoundationTX82.6× affinity40 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 · The William Stamps Farish Fund · Mechia Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · John P McGovern Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · MD Anderson 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 Robert and Janice McNair Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
33report 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 Robert and Janice McNair Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert and Janice McNair 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 284 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 Robert and Janice McNair’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