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The Willingham Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Willingham Family Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$42k
Granted FY2026still arriving
9
Grants FY2026still arriving
3
States reached
$18k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$124kHealth$73kPublic Safety & Disaster$33kRecreation & Sports$22kPhilanthropy$20kHuman Services$17kFood & Nutrition$15kYouth Development$13kOther$0
02FY2026 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k7 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $28k
$2,562
Median grant
3
States reached
$545k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OAKRIDGE SCHOOL INC$18,309
ST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOL$10,000
THE V FOUNDATION$5,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$2,584
American Red Cross$2,562
SALVATION ARMY$1,560
WONDERS & WORRIES INC$1,000
Central Texas Food Bank$1,000
ANDERSON HIGH SCHOOL$256
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 (FY17–26, $54k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%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%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%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 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
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$317k · 21 repeat orgs$49k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2026, 15 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
20

Total granted

$317k
$48k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+23%

Still filing today

62%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsHealthInternationalOther
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

  • TO
    THE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL
    5× · 2022–2026 · $85k · revenue +19%
  • HA
    HOSPICE AUSTIN
    7× · 2017–2024 · $20k · revenue +72%
  • TV
    THE V FOUNDATION
    4× · 2023–2026 · $20k · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • SM
    ST MATTHEWS EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $6k
  • GO
    GIFT OF ADOPTION
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • GLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -40%
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
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
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…

—
5
Austin Area Foundation

Support nonprofit organizations by managing & distributing charitable gifts

Philanthropy
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
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
8
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…

—
9
Arizona Community Foundation

To lead, serve and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better arizona.

Philanthropy
10
Austin Public Library Friends Foundation

Support and strengthen austin public libraries

Education
11
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.

—
12
Texas Children's

To create a healthier future for children and women throughout our global community by leading in patient care, education, and research.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Central & South Texas; 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.
04the grantee network

28 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. 28 of the 45 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
18/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DELL CHILDREN'S MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $27,595 · OtherDELL CHILDREN'S MEDICAL FOUNDATIONST THERESAS CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $22,500 · OtherST THERESAS CATHOLIC SCHOOLST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SCHOOL: $20,000 · OtherST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH AND 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 PASOMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXAS: $8,873 · Other+23 more: $56,887 · Other+23 moreTHE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL: $85,179 · EducationTHE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL+1 more: $500 · EducationHOSPICE AUSTIN: $20,202 · Human ServicesHOSPICE AUSTINAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $19,836 · Human ServicesAmerican Nationa…Wonders & Worries Inc: $9,052 · Human ServicesWonders & Worrie…MEALS ON WHEELS: $4,121 · Human ServicesMEALS ON WHEELSAUSTIN REGION JFON: $2,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,045 · Human ServicesTHE V FOUNDATION: $20,000 · HealthTHE MIRACLE FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 · HealthAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyLONG GAME YOUTH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $9,282 · Recreation & SportsCANDLELIGHT RANCH FOUNDATION: $5,681 · Recreation & SportsCentral Texas Food Bank Inc: $11,014 · Food & Nutrition
Other$179,555Education$85,679Human Services$56,256Health$22,000Philanthropy$20,000Recreation & Sports$14,963Food & Nutrition$11,014

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE OAKRIDGE SCHOOL: $85,179 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHOSPICE AUSTIN: $20,202 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $19,836 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCentral Texas Food Bank Inc: $11,014 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLONG GAME YOUTH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $9,282 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetWonders & Worries Inc: $9,052 over 10y, 0.1% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTH TEXAS: $8,873 over 5y, 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 budgetTHE MIRACLE FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN REGION JFON: $2,000 over 1y, 0.8% 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
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.

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

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 Willingham Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Willingham Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's 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
    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 45 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Willingham Family’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