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The Susan Vaughan Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Susan Vaughan Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
57
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Health$2.3MArts & Culture$1.6MEducation$1.2MEnvironment$1.2MRecreation & Sports$735kHuman Services$345kFood & Nutrition$280kCommunity Improvement$195kOther$0
02FY2025 · 57 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k44 grants · $635k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $800k
  • $250k+2 grants · $500k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$26M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL$250,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER TEXAS$250,000
HOUSTON BOTANIC GARDEN$200,000
GEORGIA O'KEEFFE MUSEUM$200,000
CHINATI FOUNDATION$150,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD GULF COAST$100,000
HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE$50,000
ZILKER 351$50,000
HARRIS HEALTH STRATEGIC FUND$50,000
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON (MFAH)$35,000
GOOD REASON HOUSTON INC$25,000
HOUSTON AUDUBON SOCIETY$25,000
GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC$25,000
HOUSTON ARBORETUM & NATURE CENTER$25,000
ASTRODOME CONSERVANCY$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 (FY19–25, $265k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 72% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WONDERS & WORRIES INC: $25k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES INC: $10k → 10%Wonders & Worries Inc: $10k → 10%Wonders & Worries Inc: $10k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES INC: $10k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES INC: $10k → 10%CASA MATEO: $10k → 16%Homemade Hope for Homeless Children: $5k → 16%COVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $35k → 16%Covenant House Texas: $15k → 16%COVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $10k → 16%COVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $10k → 16%HOUSE OF AMOS: $5k → 16%Depelchin Children's Center: $100k → 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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.5M · 73 repeat orgs$868k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

73 repeat relationships: 46 still active in FY2025, 27 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

73
29

Total granted

$9.5M
$643k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+1%

Still filing today

84%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $225k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsHealthOther
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

  • PP
    Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc
    7× · 2019–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +5%
  • SS
    St Stephen's Episcopal School
    7× · 2019–2025 · $600k · revenue +12%
  • TC
    THE CHINATI FOUNDATION
    5× · 2019–2025 · $305k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • DC
    DEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue -18%
  • FO
    Friends of Pumpkin Park
    one grant, 2024 · $75k
  • GC
    GLENWOOD CEMETERY HISTORIC CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
    one grant, 2022 · $70k
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 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
2
Glasstire

Glasstire is a website about visual art in Texas. Our mission is to expand the conversation about visual art in Texas.

Arts & Culture
3
The Houston Parks Board Foundation

The Houston Parks Board Foundation provides the Houston Parks Board with financial assistance to support operations and park projects.

Environment
4
Houston Freedmen's Town Conservancy Inc

To completely restore Houston Freedmen's Town as a heritage district that provides America with its only Freedmen's Town.

Community Improvement
5
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…

—
6
Trinity Park Conservancy

Trinity Park Conservancy champions the transformation of the Trinity River to become the heart of Dallas. With the community, the Conservancy will design public spaces that unite us, enrich people's lives through access to nature, create…

Community Improvement
7
Houston Zoo Inc

Mission: Connect communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife. Vision: Be a leader in the global movement to save wildlife. (Continued on Schedule O) Houston Zoo, Inc. (HZI) strives to be a zoo that practices exemplary…

Animals
8
Witte Museum

The witte museum inspires people to shape the future of texas through transformative and relevant experiences in nature, science and culture.

Arts & Culture
9
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…

—
10
Guadalupe River Park Conservancy

Guadalupe River Park Conservancy provides community leadership for the development and active use of Guadalupe River Park & Garden through education, advocacy and stewardship.

Environment
11
Art Colony Association Inc

Art Colony Association provides art experiences and education for the greater Houston community by bringing diverse artists to urban Bayou City Art Festivals and supporting local non-profit organizations.

Arts & Culture
12
Arts Connect Houston

Arts Connect Houston unites with the greater Houston community to ensure access to high-quality arts education in creative writing, dance, music, theater, and the visual arts for every student, beginning with Houston ISD.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Parks and Wildlife Foundation of Texas; the most unlike its peers is The Schull Institute. 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

95 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. 95 of the 114 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
95/95
Grantees still filing
54/95
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $1,300,000 · HealthPlanned Parenthood Gulf Co…PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER TEXAS INC: $1,090,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREA…+1 more: $50,000 · HealthGEORGIA O'KEEFFE MUSEUM: $690,000 · Arts & CultureGEORGIA O'KEEFFE MUS…THE CHINATI FOUNDATION: $305,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHINATI FOUNDATI…THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $140,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF FINE A…Menil Foundation Inc: $105,000 · Arts & CultureMenil Foundation IncHouston Museum of Natural Science: $95,000 · Arts & CultureContemporary Arts Museum Houston: $70,000 · Arts & CultureHOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT: $70,000 · Arts & CultureMINDPOP: $65,000 · Arts & Culture+13 more: $375,000 · Arts & Culture+13 moreHouston Botanic Garden: $510,000 · EnvironmentHouston Botanic Ga…Urban Harvest Inc: $190,000 · EnvironmentUrban Harvest IncTHE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC (AUDIT): $180,000 · EnvironmentTHE GREAT SPRINGS …Houston Arboretum & Nature Center: $175,000 · EnvironmentHouston Arboretum …Memorial Park Conservancy Inc: $140,000 · EnvironmentMemorial Park Cons…Galveston Bay Foundation Inc: $90,000 · EnvironmentArmand Bayou Nature Center Inc: $85,000 · EnvironmentCoastal Prairie Conservancy: $70,000 · EnvironmentHermann Park Conservancy: $70,000 · EnvironmentBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $70,000 · Environment+7 more: $130,000 · Environment+7 moreEPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL: $235,000 · OtherEPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOLGLENWOOD CEMETERY INC: $140,000 · OtherGLENWOOD CEMETERY INCRice Design Alliance: $110,000 · OtherCASA DE ESPERANZA DE LOS NINOS INC: $95,000 · OtherTrees For Houston: $85,000 · OtherDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $100,000 · OtherWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY: $205,000 · OtherWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERV…INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC: $105,000 · Other+42 more: $1,328,500 · Other+42 moreSt Stephen's Episcopal School: $600,000 · EducationSt Stephen's Epi…HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · EducationHIGH POINT UNIVE…TEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $135,000 · EducationTEXAS TRIBUNE IN…THE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $135,000 · EducationTHE CENTER FOR H…Breakthrough Houston: $92,500 · EducationBreakthrough Hou…Good Reason Houston Inc: $85,000 · EducationGood Reason Hous…Wonderworks: $70,000 · EducationJoy Development School: $60,000 · EducationSmall Steps Nurturing Center: $52,000 · Education+6 more: $143,000 · Education+6 moreBarton Springs Conservancy: $110,000 · Recreation & SportsFriends of Pumpkin Park: $75,000 · Recreation & SportsSPARK: $60,000 · Recreation & SportsWASHINGTON ON THE BRAZOS HISTORICAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsAUSTIN YMBL SUNSHINE CAMP: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · PhilanthropyHouston Parks Board: $130,000 · Philanthropy
Health$2,440,000Arts & Culture$1,915,000Environment$1,710,000Other$2,403,500Education$1,522,500Recreation & Sports$285,000Philanthropy$280,000

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 budgetPlanned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc: $1,300,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER TEXAS INC: $1,090,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetGEORGIA O'KEEFFE MUSEUM: $690,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetSt Stephen's Episcopal School: $600,000 over 7y, 5.1% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $510,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetTHE CHINATI FOUNDATION: $305,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetWATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY: $205,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetUrban Harvest Inc: $190,000 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetTHE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC (AUDIT): $180,000 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $175,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetHIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMemorial Park Conservancy Inc: $140,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetGLENWOOD CEMETERY INC: $140,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $140,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS TRIBUNE INC: $135,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $135,000 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetHouston Parks Board: $130,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetBarton Springs Conservancy: $110,000 over 2y, 77% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC: $105,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetMenil Foundation Inc: $105,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCASA DE ESPERANZA DE LOS NINOS INC: $95,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetHouston Museum of Natural Science: $95,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBreakthrough Houston: $92,500 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetGalveston Bay Foundation Inc: $90,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetArmand Bayou Nature Center Inc: $85,000 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetTrees For Houston: $85,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetGood Reason Houston Inc: $85,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCHINQUAPIN PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $75,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetWonders & Worries Inc: $75,000 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetFriends of Pumpkin Park: $75,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetWonderworks: $70,000 over 7y, 3.9% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE TEXAS: $70,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCoastal Prairie Conservancy: $70,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetHermann Park Conservancy: $70,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetContemporary Arts Museum Houston: $70,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetHOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT: $70,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $70,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBAYOU PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION INC: $65,000 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetMINDPOP: $65,000 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetSUSTAINABLE FOOD CENTER: $65,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetJoy Development School: $60,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHouston Hospice: $60,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSPARK: $60,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetASIA SOCIETY TEXAS CENTER: $55,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetSmall Steps Nurturing Center: $52,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetALLEY THEATRE: $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% 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 Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast Inc ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER TEXAS INC ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIA O'KEEFFE MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds St Stephen's Episcopal School ↗
  • Who funds Houston Botanic Garden ↗
  • Who funds THE CHINATI FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WATERLOO GREENWAY CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds Urban Harvest Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE GREAT SPRINGS PROJECT INC (AUDIT) ↗
  • Who funds Houston Arboretum & Nature Center ↗
  • Who funds HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds AUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Memorial Park Conservancy Inc ↗
  • Who funds GLENWOOD CEMETERY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds TEXAS TRIBUNE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH ↗
  • Who funds Houston Parks Board ↗
  • Who funds Barton Springs Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Menil Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds DEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CASA DE ESPERANZA DE LOS NINOS INC ↗
  • Who funds Houston Museum of Natural Science ↗
  • Who funds Breakthrough Houston ↗
  • Who funds Galveston Bay Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds Armand Bayou Nature Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds Trees For Houston ↗
  • Who funds Good Reason Houston Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHINQUAPIN PREPARATORY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Wonders & Worries Inc ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Pumpkin Park ↗
  • Who funds Wonderworks ↗
  • Who funds COVENANT HOUSE TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds Coastal Prairie Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds Hermann Park Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds Contemporary Arts Museum Houston ↗

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.

The Brown Foundation …Greater Houston Commu…Houston Endowment IncAlbert & Ethel Herzst…The Elkins FoundationThe Powell FoundationStrake FoundationVivian L Smith Founda…Jacob and Terese Hers…Shell USA Company Fou…John P McGovern Found…Sterling-Turner Found…
The Brown Foundation IncTX74× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Brown Foundation Inc · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Houston Endowment Inc · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · The Powell Foundation · Strake Foundation · Vivian L Smith Foundation · Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · John P McGovern Foundation · Sterling-Turner 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 Susan Vaughan Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Susan Vaughan Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Archaeological Institute of America: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 Susan Vaughan Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Susan Vaughan Foundation Inc 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 114 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 Susan Vaughan’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