Skip to content
Plinth
Foundation Dossiers
Plinth

· Private foundation

The Willingham Family 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.

$48k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$21k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2025.

Education$124kHealth$73kPublic Safety & Disaster$33kRecreation & Sports$22kPhilanthropy$20kHuman Services$17kFood & Nutrition$15kYouth Development$13kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $31k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$553k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OAKRIDGE SCHOOL INC$20,945
ST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOL$10,000
American Red Cross$8,712
THE V FOUNDATION$5,000
WONDERS & WORRIES INC$1,020
Central Texas Food Bank$1,000
FLATWATER FOUNDATION$524
SHARE OUR STRENGTH$515
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–25, $51k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $5k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $4k → 10%American Red Cross: $9k → 14%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $3k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $4k → 14%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $2k → 10%American Red Cross: $3k → 14%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $2k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $2k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $2k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES INC: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $1k → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES INC: $520 → 10%FLATWATER FOUNDATION: $524 → 10%WONDERS & WORRIES: $503 → 10%FLATWATER FOUNDATION: $521 → 10%MEALS ON WHEELS: $4k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$270k · 20 repeat orgs$58k to everyone else

20 repeat relationships — 6 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
19

Total granted

$270k
$47k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+34%

Still filing today

65%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsHealthInternationalOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • TO
    THE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL
    4× · 2022–2025 · $67k · revenue +19%
  • HA
    HOSPICE AUSTIN
    7× · 2017–2024 · $20k · revenue +45%
  • AN
    American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
    4× · 2022–2025 · $17k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • SM
    ST MATTHEWS EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $6k
  • GO
    GIFT OF ADOPTION
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • CI
    COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2019 · $5k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Leadership Austin

Leadership austin connects and develops leaders to courageously engage and transform our communities.

Youth Development
2
Greater Austin Christian Foundation

Mobilizing resources by inspiring biblical generosity in the greater austin, texas area.

Religion
3
Make-a-Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast & Louisiana Inc

Together, we create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

Health
4
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
5
Any Baby Can of Austin Inc

Any baby can, an austin-based nonprofit, partners with parents so children reach their full potential. with programs that meet clients where they are at home, work or school any baby can provides in-home therapy, parent education, mental…

—
6
Austin Street Center

The mission of austin street center is to provide emergency shelter and related services to the homeless. programs provide crisis intervention, substance abuse awareness information and opportunities to improve present life situations to…

—
7
Feeding Texas

To lead a unified effort for a hunger-free texas.

Community Improvement
8
Texas Tribune Inc

The texas tribune promotes civic engagement and public education across the state by producing and sharing for free public data interactives, statewide events and intensive and daily reporting on texas public policy, politics and current…

Education
9
Austin Area Foundation

Support nonprofit organizations by managing & distributing charitable gifts

Philanthropy
10
Children's Hospital Association of Texas

To advance children's health and well-being by advocating for policies and funding that promote children's access to high-quality, comprehensive health care.

—
11
Austin College

The mission of austin college is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences in order to prepare them for rewarding careers and for full, engaged and meaningful lives.

Education
12
Uatx

Uatx is a nonprofit dedicated to building a liberal arts university committed to freedom of inquiry, freedom of conscience, and civil discourse. to maintain these principles, the university will be fiercely independent financially,…

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Central & South Texas and the most unlike its peers is Meals On Wheels. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 41 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number23%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr18%12%10–20yr16%28%20–35yr16%32%35–55yr13%28%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value23%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr18%3%10–20yr16%18%20–35yr16%58%35–55yr13%21%55yr+

The field is 23% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 12% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/29
the rest of the field
12%
2,718/21,923

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

27 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 27 of the 42 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
18/27
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

DELL CHILDREN'S MEDICAL FOUNDATION — $27,595 · OtherDELL CHILDREN'S MEDICAL FOUNDATIONST THERESAS CATHOLIC SCHOOL — $22,500 · OtherST THERESAS CATHOLIC SCHOOLUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT — $11,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENTUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - TEXAS FOOTBALL — $11,200 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS - TEXAS FOOTBALLAMERICAN RED CROSS OF CENTRAL TEXAS — $11,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSS OF CENTRAL TEXASUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO — $10,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASOST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOL — $10,000 · OtherST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOLMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXAS — $8,873 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXASST MATTHEWS EPISCOPAL SCHOOL — $5,615 · Other+19 more — $46,872 · Other+19 moreTHE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL — $66,870 · EducationTHE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL+1 more — $500 · EducationHOSPICE AUSTIN — $20,202 · Human ServicesHOSPICE AUSTINAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $17,274 · Human ServicesAmerican National…Wonders & Worries Inc — $8,052 · Human ServicesWonders & Worries…MEALS ON WHEELS — $4,121 · Human ServicesMEALS ON WHEELSAUSTIN REGION JFON — $2,000 · Human Services+1 more — $1,045 · Human ServicesAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC — $20,000 · PhilanthropyTHE V FOUNDATION — $15,000 · HealthTHE MIRACLE FOUNDATION INC — $2,000 · HealthLONG GAME YOUTH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL TEXAS — $9,282 · Recreation & SportsCANDLELIGHT RANCH FOUNDATION — $5,681 · Recreation & SportsCentral Texas Food Bank Inc — $10,014 · Food & Nutrition
Other$165,155Education$67,370Human Services$52,694Philanthropy$20,000Health$17,000Recreation & Sports$14,963Food & Nutrition$10,014

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL — $66,870 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHOSPICE AUSTIN — $20,202 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC — $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $17,274 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCentral Texas Food Bank Inc — $10,014 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLONG GAME YOUTH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL TEXAS — $9,282 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXAS — $8,873 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWonders & Worries Inc — $8,052 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCANDLELIGHT RANCH FOUNDATION — $5,681 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPGA TOUR CHARITIES INC — $3,850 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR THE HOMELESS INC — $3,605 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAUSTIN PETS ALIVE INC — $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL TEXAS INC — $2,166 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN REGION JFON — $2,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTHE MIRACLE FOUNDATION INC — $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AUSTIN CENTER FOR GRIEF AND LOSS — $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY INC — $1,083 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FLATWATER FOUNDATON — $1,045 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHILL COUNTRY CONSERVANCY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF AUSTIN INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH — $515 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATAWBA COLLEGE — $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAustin Child Guidance Center — $103 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Austin Community Foun…United Way WorldwideTopfer Family Foundat…The Moody FoundationGreater Houston Commu…Ecg FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …Harry E and Eda L Mon…United Way for Greate…St David's FoundationShell USA Company Fou…Better Business Bureau
Austin Community Foundation IncTX32.8× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · United Way Worldwide · Topfer Family Foundation · The Moody Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Ecg Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Harry E and Eda L Montandon Charitable Tr · United Way for Greater Austin · St David's Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Better Business Bureau

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Willingham Family Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 42 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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 camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines