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The Robison Excelsior Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Robison Excelsior Foundation

The foundation's mission is to serve as an example of, and catalyst for, christian charity to people in need through a platform of grantmaking, volunteering, funder collaboration and community leadership.

$412k
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$1.3MArts & Culture$790kYouth Development$536kInternational$312kReligion$264kHuman Services$204kCrime & Legal$167kPhilanthropy$128kOther$0
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $289k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$110k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
YOUTH VOICE$100,000
THE GRACE MUSEUM$47,200
HISTORIC PARAMOUNT THEATRE$35,000
ABILENE ARTS ALLIANCE$35,000
ABILENE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$26,000
BIG COUNTRY CASA$25,000
NATIONAL CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED LITERATURE$21,950
CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS$20,000
NEW HORIZONS RANCH AND CENTER INC$15,000
ALL KIND ANIMAL INITIATIVE$13,500
MENTORING ALLIANCE$10,300
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS LONE STAR$10,000
LETUSBREATHE$10,000
MIKE COPE MINISTRIESDBA WHAT REALLY MATTERS INC$10,000
ABILENE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA ASSN INC$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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $142k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%GREATER IDEAL BAPTIST CHURCH: $35k → 12%CITY SQUARE: $80k → 14%LOVE AND CARE MINISTRIES: $15k → 16%DISABILITY RESOURCES: $7k → 22%YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOC OF ABILENE: $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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 21 repeat orgs$429k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +71% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
19

Total granted

$2.3M
$414k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+71%
0%

Still filing today

81%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentReligionCommunity ImprovementAnimalsOther
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

  • CA
    China Aid Association Inc
    3× · 2018–2020 · $312k · revenue +26%
  • GM
    GRACE MUSEUM INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $200k · revenue +23%
  • HP
    Historic Paramount Theatre Inc
    6× · 2019–2024 · $175k · revenue +231%

Funded once

  • C
    CITYSQUARE
    one grant, 2021 · $80k · revenue -57%
  • TW
    The Way Retreat Center
    one grant, 2017 · $66k · revenue -95%
  • TF
    THE FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITYgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +108%
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
Abilene Christian School Inc

The mission of Abilene Christian School, Inc. is to equip students to excel academically, serve meaningfully, and walk faithfully with God.

Education
2
Pregnancy Resources of Abilene Inc

Pregnancy Resources' mission is to inspire hope and unconditionally love everyone we serve by empowering them to thrive through compassionate support and positive solutions.

Civil Rights
3
Abilene Opera Association

The organization produces an opera or other musical production every year or every other year, and offers related Master Classes and other educational opportunities for elementary school through college.

Arts & Culture
4
Childrens Advocacy Center of West Texas Inc

The Organizations mission is to bring unity and efficiency to investigations of child abuse through the use of a multi-disciplinary team and, thereby, to provide the best possible services to victims of child abuse and their families.

Crime & Legal
5
Day Nursery of Abilene Inc

We provide affordable quality child care for a diverse community. Our four licensed facilities deliver quality child care programming for children ages birth to 10 years, so that parents can work, attend school, and/or receive job training…

—
6
Abilene Chamber of Commerce Foundation

The purpose of the Organization is to provide knowledge and understanding of economics, matters of public concern, finance, education and training, and problems of minority groups therby promoting the economy and quality of life in Abilene…

—
7
Raise Texas

RAISE Texas advances equitable policies and programs that foster financial security and economic mobility for low- and moderate-income Texans. We equip, innovate and advocate to reduce disparities, remove barriers and build opportunities…

Human Services
8
Abilene Classical Academy

Education of Children from pre-school through 9th grade

Education
9
Faithworks of Abilene Inc

Our mission is to help the underemployed, through personal, career, academic and spiritual development, acquire the confidence and skills for gainful and long-term employment.

Education
10
Creative Waco

Creative waco's mission is to grow and support a thriving cultural and creative community in waco and mclennan county, texas.

Arts & Culture
11
Lubbock Family Outreach Center Inc Dba Family Guidance & Outreach Center

The Family Guidance & Outreach Center of Lubbock is dedicated to the prevention of child abuse and neglect and supporting, mentoring, and educating parents.

Human Services
12
Amarillo Area Court Appointed Special Advocates Inc

Amarillo area casa advocates for abused and neglected children through support and training of court appointed volunteers

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Abilene Inc; the most unlike its peers is Let Us Breathe Organization. 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

35 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. 35 of the 44 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/35
Grantees still filing
25/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $1,279,000 · OtherABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITYMIKE COPE MINISTRIES INC: $132,800 · OtherMIKE COPE MINISTRIES INCNEW HORIZONS RANCH & CENTER INC: $85,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ABILENE: $78,400 · Other+18 more: $431,200 · Other+18 moreGRACE MUSEUM INC: $199,700 · Arts & CultureGRACE MUSEUM INCHistoric Paramount Theatre Inc: $175,000 · Arts & CultureHistoric Paramount …ABILENE ARTS ALLIANCE: $175,000 · Arts & CultureABILENE ARTS ALLIAN…Center for Contemporary Arts: $81,000 · Arts & CultureCenter for Contempo…National Center for Childrens Illustrated Literat: $61,950 · Arts & CultureNational Center for…+3 more: $17,250 · Arts & CultureYOUTH VOICE INC: $430,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOUTH VOICE INCBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS LONE STAR: $95,800 · Youth DevelopmentBIG BROTHERS BI…+2 more: $22,300 · Youth DevelopmentChina Aid Association Inc: $311,800 · ReligionChina Aid …The Way Retreat Center: $65,975 · ReligionThe Way Re…BIG COUNTRY COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES INC: $155,000 · Crime & LegalCITYSQUARE: $80,000 · Human ServicesGREATER IDEAL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $35,000 · Human ServicesLove & Care Ministries: $15,000 · Human ServicesDisability Resources Inc: $7,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesAbilene Zoological Society: $63,805 · AnimalsAll Kind Animal Initiative: $43,500 · Animals
Other$2,006,400Arts & Culture$709,900Youth Development$548,100Religion$377,775Crime & Legal$155,000Human Services$142,000Animals$107,305

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $1,279,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetYOUTH VOICE INC: $430,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetChina Aid Association Inc: $311,800 over 3y, 4.7% of budgetGRACE MUSEUM INC: $199,700 over 6y, 3.7% of budgetHistoric Paramount Theatre Inc: $175,000 over 6y, 7.1% of budgetABILENE ARTS ALLIANCE: $175,000 over 6y, 5.7% of budgetBIG COUNTRY COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES INC: $155,000 over 7y, 2.3% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS LONE STAR: $95,800 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNEW HORIZONS RANCH & CENTER INC: $85,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCenter for Contemporary Arts: $81,000 over 5y, 6.6% of budgetCITYSQUARE: $80,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF ABILENE: $78,400 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Way Retreat Center: $65,975 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetAbilene Zoological Society: $63,805 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetNational Center for Childrens Illustrated Literat: $61,950 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: $50,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetAbilene Philharmonic Association: $50,000 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetUNITED WAY OF ABILENE INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetAll Kind Animal Initiative: $43,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCASA OF WEST TEXAS: $30,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMARC INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLove & Care Ministries: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetABILENE COMMUNITY THEATRE INC: $12,500 over 2y, 11% of budgetRedirectional Outreach Program Efforts for Youth: $12,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetMENTORING ALLIANCE: $10,300 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMISSION AGAPE: $10,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetHIGH SKY CHILDRENS RANCH INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMIDLAND COUNTY SYSTEM OF CARE: $9,200 over 1y, 11% of budgetDisability Resources Inc: $7,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAbilene Preservation League Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetABILENE PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY INC: $2,250 over 1y, 1.2% 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.

Community Foundation …Barber FoundationShelton Family Founda…The Legett FoundationDian Graves Owen Foun…Greathouse FoundationKickapoo Springs Foun…The Karakin FoundationJe and le Mabee Found…Moss Adamson Spalding…Claude & Mae Moss Cha…Abell-Hanger Foundati…
Community Foundation of AbileneTX41.7× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Abilene · Barber Foundation · Shelton Family Foundation · The Legett Foundation · Dian Graves Owen Foundation · Greathouse Foundation · Kickapoo Springs Foundation · The Karakin Foundation · Je and le Mabee Foundation Inc · Moss Adamson Spalding Charities · Claude & Mae Moss Charities · Abell-Hanger 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 Robison Excelsior Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robison Excelsior Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%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
    9report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Robison Excelsior Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Robison Excelsior 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 44 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 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 Robison Excelsior’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