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The Summerlee Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Summerlee Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
195
Grants FY2025still arriving
37
States reached
$55k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$4.1MAnimals$3.9MEducation$1.4MEnvironment$880kRecreation & Sports$732kPhilanthropy$389kScience & Tech$163kReligion$75kOther$0
02FY2025 · 195 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k95 grants · $571k
  • $10k–50k98 grants · $1.6M
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $110k
$10,000
Median grant
37
States reached
$85M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MUSEUM OF THE BIG BEND$55,000
FRIENDS OF THE TEXAS HISTORICAL COM$55,000
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS FOUNDATIO$35,000
THE LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON FOUNDATIO$30,000
FAUNALYTICS$30,000
TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION$30,000
MUSEUM OF SOUTH TEXAS HISTORY$30,000
C 60 INC$30,000
GLOBAL FEDERATION OF ANIMAL SANCTUA$30,000
TEXAS PLAINS TRAIL REGION$30,000
INTERNATIONAL MARINE MAMMAL PROJECT$30,000
ANIMAL PROTECTION NEW MEXICO$30,000
PROJECT COYOTE$30,000
WILDFUTURESEARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE$25,000
PRESERVATION AUSTIN$25,000
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 (FY21–25, $50k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%AMERICAN INDIANS IN TEXAS-AT THE SPANISH COLONIAL MISSIONS: $15k → 16%ENCORE PARK DALLAS: $20k → 14%ENCORE PARK DALLAS: $5k → 14%MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 24%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

AK
ME
VT
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

51%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.1M · 135 repeat orgs$5.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +8% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

135 repeat relationships: 57 still active in FY2025, 78 since wound down; 131 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

135
414

Total granted

$6.1M
$4.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+1%

Still filing today

79%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 35% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.5M went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsArts & CultureEducationEnvironmentPhilanthropyCommunity 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

  • TT
    The Texas State Historical Association
    5× · 2021–2025 · $445k · revenue +0%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN PLAINS LAND TRUST INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $350k · revenue +101%
  • FP
    FAIR PARK FIRST
    3× · 2022–2025 · $258k · revenue +1%

Funded once

  • PP
    Plains Plains Archeological Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · 70% of their budget
  • RT
    Remember the Alamo Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue 0%
  • Southern Methodist University
    one grant, 2024 · $85k · revenue +3%
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
Hart

Animal shelter and rescue

Animals
2
Buddies Place Cat Rescue

Feline rescue and making the community aware of the need for trap, spay/neuter, release programs (TNR) to reduce and control the feral cat population in Parker and Tarrant Counties.

Animals
3
Allies Haven Animal Rescue

Saving unwanted, abandoned, abused and neglected dogs in Texas. Also to promote proper pet ownership, community educational programs and to support spaying/neutering as a means to control unwanted pets. We provide complete vetting prior to…

Animals
4
Tennessee River Rescues

we exist to spay and neuter unwanted pets in our local area trying to find them a home to thrive in until the end of their time

Animals
5
Pom and the Hound Animal Refuge

Animal Welfare

—
6
Aggieland Humane Society

To provide humane shelter, care and placement for stray and unwanted animals, and to promote the human-animal bond and responsible pet ownership to enhance the quality of life for the people and animals in our community.

Animals
7
Saving Saluda Strays
Animals
8
Friends of Texas Panhandle Shelter Pets

Friends of Texas Panhandle Shelter Pets is a placement and transport rescue that works with small town panhandle shelters to help animals who are at risk of euthanasia get to rescues where they are adopted and loved.Our volunteers work…

Animals
9
South Texas Animal Rescue Group

We own and operate a spay/neuter and wellness clinic. Our purpose is to end animal cruelty in Texas, spay/neuter, vaccinate, and end the dumping and abandonment of cats and dogs. We also have an education program to teach Texas residents…

Animals
10
Animal Rescuers Without Borders

Battling against the overpopulation of homeless pets and improving the lives of companion animals through rescue, fostering programs, adoption, pet care, educational programs and of course spaying and neutering.

Animals
11
Paws - Preservation of Animal Welfare & Safety Inc

The organization is a no-kill animal rescue. paws saves lives and prevents suffering by implementing the no-kill philosophy through aggressive spay/neuter programs for owned and unowned animals. this is accomplished by rescuing, fostering,…

Animals
12
Meowtown Animal Rescue of Fort Worth

Meowtown animal rescue of fort worth takes in unwanted abused and stray kittens & cats to keep them out of shelters.we are all volunteer donation based and provide safety vetting love and find life-long homes.we educate the public and…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Humane Society of Catawba County Dba the Humane Society of Catawba Co; the most unlike its peers is Blessing Historical 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

501 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. 501 of the 686 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
97
Early backer (in before they grew)
493/501
Grantees still filing
250/501
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Texas State Historical Association: $445,000 · Arts & CultureThe Texas State Historical Asso…Friends of the Texas Historical Commission Inc: $305,000 · Arts & CultureFriends of the Texas Historical…FAIR PARK FIRST: $258,000 · Arts & CultureFAIR PARK FIRSTWitte Museum: $101,500 · Arts & CulturePlains Plains Archeological Foundation: $100,000 · Arts & CultureRemember the Alamo Foundation: $100,000 · Arts & Culture+37 more: $1,057,668 · Arts & Culture+37 moreWASHINGTON ON THE BRAZOS HISTORICAL: $205,000 · OtherWASHINGTON ON THE BRAZOS HISTORICALEARTH ISLAND INSTPROJECT COYOTE: $150,000 · OtherThe Shumla School Inc: $241,750 · OtherThe Shumla School Inc+78 more: $2,236,880 · Other+78 moreCENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC: $105,000 · AnimalsCENTER FOR A HUM…ANIMAL PROTECTION NEW MEXICO: $90,000 · AnimalsANIMAL PROTECTIO…United Spay Alliance: $57,000 · AnimalsPANTHERA CORPORATION: $50,000 · AnimalsGLOBAL FEDERATION OF ANIMAL SANCTUARIES: $50,000 · AnimalsWILDLIFE RESCUE AND REHABILITATION INC: $47,500 · Animals+35 more: $840,000 · Animals+35 moreSouthern Methodist University: $85,000 · EducationTEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 · EducationRutherford B H Yates Museum Inc: $42,500 · EducationBAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $40,000 · EducationUniversity of Idaho Foundation Inc: $34,980 · EducationTHE BLACKWELL SCHOOL ALLIANCE: $30,000 · EducationTHE LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EducationCOLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EducationAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $30,000 · EducationMARATHON PUBLIC LIBRARY AND HISTORY MUSEUM: $25,000 · EducationWEST TEXAS A&M UNIV FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EducationWAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · EducationROSENBERG LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $22,000 · EducationArchaeological Institute of America-Houston Society: $20,000 · Education+3 more: $49,500 · EducationGREATER GOOD CHARITIES: $227,500 · PhilanthropyUNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $43,000 · PhilanthropyPHILANTHROPY SOUTHWEST: $29,535 · PhilanthropyVICTORIA COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyTEXAS STATE HISTORY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyRAINCOAST CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $15,000 · PhilanthropySOUTHERN PLAINS LAND TRUST INC: $350,000 · EnvironmentEarth Island Institute Inc: $70,000 · EnvironmentHEADWATERS AT THE COMAL: $37,500 · EnvironmentOcean Alliance Inc: $28,415 · EnvironmentTHE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC (AUDIT): $20,000 · EnvironmentCLIMATE CONSERVATION DBA CENTER FOR LARGE LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION: $17,500 · EnvironmentDOWNTOWN DALLAS PARKS CONSERVANCY: $300,000 · Community ImprovementWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY: $35,000 · Community ImprovementSOUTHERN GATEWAY PUBLIC GREEN FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$2,367,168Other$2,833,630Animals$1,239,500Education$548,980Philanthropy$535,035Environment$523,415Community Improvement$360,000

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%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Texas State Historical Association: $445,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetSOUTHERN PLAINS LAND TRUST INC: $350,000 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetFriends of the Texas Historical Commission Inc: $305,000 over 4y, 7.0% of budgetDOWNTOWN DALLAS PARKS CONSERVANCY: $300,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetFAIR PARK FIRST: $258,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetThe Shumla School Inc: $241,750 over 3y, 14% of budgetGREATER GOOD CHARITIES: $227,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC: $105,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetWitte Museum: $101,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetPlains Plains Archeological Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 70% of budgetRemember the Alamo Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetANIMAL PROTECTION NEW MEXICO: $90,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $85,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRESERVATION DALLAS INC: $76,000 over 4y, 7.8% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $70,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPRESERVATION AUSTIN: $70,000 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetSAVE THE DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS US: $65,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetPRESERVATION TEXAS INC: $62,500 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetTEXAS TECH FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTexas Archive of the Moving Image: $60,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetTOM LEA INSTITUTE: $60,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetEAST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetUnited Spay Alliance: $57,000 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPANTHERA CORPORATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAUNALYTICS: $50,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetWILLIAMSON COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM: $50,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetDEEP ELLUM FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetGLOBAL FEDERATION OF ANIMAL SANCTUARIES: $50,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetANIMAL BALANCE: $49,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetWILDLIFE RESCUE AND REHABILITATION INC: $47,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHEMISFAIR CONSERVANCY: $45,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $43,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRutherford B H Yates Museum Inc: $42,500 over 3y, 8.2% of budgetPAN AFRICAN SANCTUARY ALLIANCE INC: $40,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetBAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBRYAN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetDocumentary Arts Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetABARA INC: $40,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetWellBeing International Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetSENTIENT MEDIA: $39,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetHEADWATERS AT THE COMAL: $37,500 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetEL PROGRESO LIBRARY: $37,500 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetTexas Association of Museums: $35,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY: $35,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWashington Wildlife First: $35,000 over 2y, 5.9% 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.

Petco LoveBISSELL Pet FoundationHumanities TexasThe Duffield Family F…Texas Historical Foun…Best Friends Animal S…Humane World for Anim…The American Society …Banfield FoundationStill Water FoundationPetsmart Charities IncThornton S Jr and Kat…
Petco LoveTX84.6× affinity81 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Petco Love · BISSELL Pet Foundation · Humanities Texas · The Duffield Family Foundation Dba Maddie's Fund · Texas Historical Foundation · Best Friends Animal Society · Humane World for Animals Inc · The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals · Banfield Foundation · Still Water Foundation · Petsmart Charities Inc · Thornton S Jr and Katrina D Glide 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 Summerlee Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Summerlee Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 68%
  • Pan African Sanctuary Alliance Inc: 68% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
55report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Summerlee Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Summerlee 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 686 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 Summerlee’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