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The Sydnor Olga Oden Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Sydnor Olga Oden Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$285k
Granted FY2025still arriving
25
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$90k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Health$756kEducation$458kYouth Development$129kHuman Services$78kArts & Culture$60kEnvironment$56kPublic Safety & Disaster$55kReligion$45kOther$0
02FY2025 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $73k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $123k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $90k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT$90,000
TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OFFICE OF PHILANTHROPY$25,000
THE RISE SCHOOL$20,000
TEXAS HEARING INSTITUTE$15,000
THE SUMMER INSTITUTE AT PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL$15,000
TEXAS CHILDREN'S CANCER AND HEMATOLOGY CENTER$15,000
CAMP FOR ALL FOUNDATION$12,500
THE BURTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT$10,000
THE MONARCH COMMUNITY$10,000
THE BROOKWOOD COMMUNITY$7,500
THE HOPE & HEALING CENTER & INSTITUTE$5,000
THE KINKAID SCHOOL$5,000
NICK FINNEGAN MINISTRY$5,000
ST MARTIN'S EPISCOPAL PRESCHOOL$5,000
THE GATEHOUSE$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 (FY21–25, $153k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%MARBRIDGE FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%GENERATION ONE: $5k → 16%CLAYTON DABNEY FOR KIDS WITH CANCER: $3k → 14%BRIDGE MINISTRY OF BURTON TEXAS: $5k → 14%BRIDGE MINISTRY OF BURTON TEXAS: $5k → 14%THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $90k → 16%THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $20k → 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 39 repeat orgs$180k to everyone else

39 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

39
17

Total granted

$1.8M
$155k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
+19%

Still filing today

67%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesHealthYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • TC
    THE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH
    6× · 2018–2025 · $335k · revenue +9%
  • Camp For All Foundation
    8× · 2018–2025 · $95k · revenue +325%
  • Culver Educational Foundation
    4× · 2018–2022 · $80k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • MF
    MARBRIDGE FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue -1%
  • LF
    LEAF FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • TH
    THE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE CO INC THE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE COUNTYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue +287%
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
John P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science

The Health Museum is an innovative science center that provides an interactive and entertaining experience for all ages, promotes understanding and appreciation of the human body, mind, and spirit, and inspires a lifelong commitment to…

Arts & Culture
3
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
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
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…

—
6
Houston's Amazing Place Inc

Amazing Place empowers families facing the challenges of dementia and Alzheimer's and advances brain health for all. The Organization serves adults with mild cognitive impairment and mild to moderate dementia, caregiving families and…

Human Services
7
Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston Inc

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Houston's mission is to inspire and enable all youth, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.

Youth Development
8
The Brenda & John H Duncan Rise School of Houston

The mission of The Rise School of Houston is to provide the highest quality of early education services to children with developmental disabilities and those without disabilities.

Education
9
The Hospice at the Texas Medical Center

The Hospice at the Texas Medical Center holds a freestanding 37 bed inpatient facility in the Texas Medical Center that is operated and managed by Houston Hospice.

Human Services
10
Baylor University Medical Center

Founded as a Christian ministry of healing, Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) promotes the well-being of all individuals, families and communities.

Health
11
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
12
Scott & White Hospital-College Station

Founded as a Christian ministry of healing, Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) promotes the well-being of all individuals, families and communities.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Methodist Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Burton Volunteer Fire Department Inc. 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

36 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. 36 of the 60 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
36/36
Grantees still filing
22/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OFFICE OF PHILANTHROPY: $121,500 · OtherTEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OFFICE OF PHILANTHRO…THE RISE SCHOOL: $107,500 · OtherTHE RISE SCHOOLTEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CANCER CENTER PEDIATRIC OSTEOSARCOMA PROGRAM: $85,000 · OtherTEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CANCER CENTER PEDIAT…THE SUMMER INSTITUTE AT PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL: $48,000 · OtherTHE SUMMER INSTITUTE AT PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOLNICK FINNEGAN MINISTRY: $40,000 · OtherTHE HOPE & HEALING CENTER: $37,000 · Other+29 more: $357,500 · Other+29 moreTHE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $335,000 · EducationTHE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECHCulver Educational Foundation: $80,000 · EducationCulver Educational FoundationThe Brookwood Community Inc: $70,000 · EducationThe Brookwood Community IncJoy Development School: $50,000 · EducationJoy Development SchoolARCHWAY ACADEMY: $49,500 · EducationARCHWAY ACADEMYThe Kinkaid School Inc: $25,500 · Education+4 more: $51,500 · Education+4 moreTHE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $110,000 · Human ServicesTHE CENTE…MARBRIDGE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesMARBRIDGE…GENERATION ONE INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesGENERATIO…BRIDGE MINISTRY OF BURTON TEXAS: $10,000 · Human ServicesBRIDGE MI…+1 more: $2,500 · Human ServicesCamp For All Foundation: $94,500 · Youth Development+2 more: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentRiver Oaks Garden Club: $45,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILL ERWIN HEADACHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $43,500 · EnvironmentHouston Botanic Garden: $7,500 · EnvironmentBURTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $65,000 · Public Safety & DisasterBURKE ARTS COUNCIL INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureTHE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE CO INC THE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE COUNTY: $20,000 · Arts & CultureBo's Place: $7,500 · Arts & Culture
Other$796,500Education$661,500Human Services$162,500Youth Development$99,500Environment$96,000Public Safety & Disaster$65,000Arts & Culture$57,500

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 CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH: $335,000 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR PURSUIT: $110,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCamp For All Foundation: $94,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCulver Educational Foundation: $80,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Brookwood Community Inc: $70,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBURTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $65,000 over 6y, 13% of budgetJoy Development School: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetARCHWAY ACADEMY: $49,500 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetRiver Oaks Garden Club: $45,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetTHE WILL ERWIN HEADACHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $43,500 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetBURKE ARTS COUNCIL INC: $30,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetThe Kinkaid School Inc: $25,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMARBRIDGE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPRO-VISION INC: $24,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetSmall Steps Nurturing Center: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBRIARMEADOW CHARTER SCHOOL PARENT- TEACHER ORGANIZATION: $20,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetTHE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHope and Healing Center & Institute: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE CO INC THE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE COUNTY: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetBaylor College of Medicine: $15,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGENERATION ONE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE GATEHOUSE CORPORATION: $15,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetTHE MONARCH COMMUNITY INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHUNTERS CREEK ELEMENTARY PTA: $12,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetHOSPITALITY APARTMENTS: $10,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE MINISTRY OF BURTON TEXAS: $10,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF HOUSTON INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBo's Place: $7,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLAMBETH HOUSE FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE ALS ASSOCIATION-TEXAS CHAPTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBoy Scouts of America Sam Houston Area Council: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLAYTON DABNEY FOR KIDS WITH CANCER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR HEARING AND SPEECH ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR PURSUIT ↗
  • Who funds Camp For All Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Culver Educational Foundation ↗
  • Who funds The Brookwood Community Inc ↗
  • Who funds BURTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds Joy Development School ↗
  • Who funds ARCHWAY ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds River Oaks Garden Club ↗
  • Who funds THE WILL ERWIN HEADACHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BURKE ARTS COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds The Kinkaid School Inc ↗
  • Who funds MARBRIDGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds PRO-VISION INC ↗
  • Who funds Small Steps Nurturing Center ↗
  • Who funds BRIARMEADOW CHARTER SCHOOL PARENT- TEACHER ORGANIZATION ↗
  • Who funds THE METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Hope and Healing Center & Institute ↗
  • Who funds THE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE CO INC THE HISTORY MUSEUM OF BURKE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds Baylor College of Medicine ↗
  • Who funds GENERATION ONE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GATEHOUSE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds THE MONARCH COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds HUNTERS CREEK ELEMENTARY PTA ↗
  • Who funds HOSPITALITY APARTMENTS ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗

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…The John M O'Quinn Fo…Vivian L Smith Founda…Strake FoundationThe William Stamps Fa…Marek Family Foundati…The Brown Foundation …Shell USA Company Fou…The Ellwood FoundationWayne Duddlesten Foun…The Kayser Foundation
Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable FoundationTX25.8× affinity10 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 · The John M O'Quinn Foundation · Vivian L Smith Foundation · Strake Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund · Marek Family Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Ellwood Foundation · Wayne Duddlesten Foundation · The Kayser 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 Sydnor Olga Oden Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Sydnor Olga Oden Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report 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.

    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 60 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 Sydnor Olga Oden’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