Skip to content
The Wortham Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Wortham Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$1.0M
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$42MPhilanthropy$11MScience & Tech$4.3MRecreation & Sports$3.8MEnvironment$2.1MEducation$1.1MHealth$370kYouth Development$350kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $190k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $675k
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.1M
$40,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$253M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOUSTON SYMPHONY SOCIETY$1,000,000
HOUSTON GRAND OPERA$850,000
SAN JACINTO GIRL SCOUTS$250,000
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM$175,000
DA CAMERA SOCIETY$150,000
STAGES REPERTORY THEATRE$100,000
HOBBY CENTER$100,000
HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION$100,000
MEMORIAL PARK CONSERVANCY$50,000
SPARK$40,000
GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION$40,000
HEALTH MUSEUM$40,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY$15,000
HOUSTON MASTERWORKS CHORUS$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY24–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION: $40k → 14%CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $175k → 16%ASIA SOCIETY ASIA HOUSE: $10k → 16%DA CAMERA SOCIETY: $150k → 16%CLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY: $15k → 16%STAGES REPERTORY THEATRE: $100k → 16%HOUSTON CHORAL SOCIETY: $5k → 16%HOUSTON SYMPHONY SOCIETY: $1.0M → 16%HOUSTON GRAND OPERA: $850k → 16%HOBBY CENTER: $100k → 16%HOUSTON MASTERWORKS CHORUS: $10k → 16%DIVERSE WORKS: $10k → 16%HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION: $100k → 16%HEALTH MUSEUM: $40k → 16%MEMORIAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $50k → 16%SAN JACINTO GIRL SCOUTS: $250k → 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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$49M · 64 repeat orgs$5.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against -8% for those funded once.

64 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 50 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

64
32

Total granted

$49M
$5.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
-8%

Still filing today

81%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $430k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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

  • HG
    Houston Grand Opera Association Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $10M · revenue +28%
  • HS
    Houston Symphony Society
    7× · 2017–2024 · $8.6M · revenue +43%
  • AT
    ALLEY THEATRE
    6× · 2017–2023 · $4.1M · revenue +107%

Funded once

  • TF
    THE FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL
    one grant, 2022 · $2.0M · revenue -19%
  • JH
    JONES HALL, FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $1.0M
  • WM
    WILLIAM MARSH RICE UNIVERSITY-SHEPHERD SCH
    one grant, 2018 · $500k
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
Harmonia Stellarum Houston

Harmonia Stellarum is an ensemble of professional vocalists and instrumentalists specialized in historically informed performance practice who seek to inspire, entertain, and enlighten audiences with meaningful, historically informed…

Arts & Culture
2
Houston Arts Alliance

See Schedule OHouston Arts Alliance (HAA) is a local arts and culture organization whose principal work is implementing the City of Houston's vision, values, and goals for its arts grantmaking and civic art investments. HAA conducts work…

Arts & Culture
3
Trees for Houston

Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.

—
4
Main Street Theater Houston

To create theater that challenges its audience to think and its artists to grow. We accomplish this by presenting an articulate and compelling product in an intimate setting, creating employment for Houston-based artists, and memorable…

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
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
7
The Hobby Center Foundation

The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts deepens understanding of our shared humanity. We serve as a connector, convenor and incubator for all Houston audiences, artmakers and arts organizations. By presenting engaging performances and…

Arts & Culture
8
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
9
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
10
Hermann Park Conservancy

Hermann Park Conservancy is a citizens organization dedicated to the stewardship and improvement of Hermann Park - today and for generations to come.

Environment
11
Houston MediaSource

Houston MediaSource aspires to be the community media center for the City of Houston. HMS provides public access to media platforms that promote citizen engagement, protect the right to free expression, and provide opportunities to advance…

Arts & Culture
12
Houston Academy of Medicine

The mission of the Houston Academy of Medicine is to support the community service, education, scientific, and charitable programs for physicians, their patients, and the community at large in Harris County.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Performing Arts Houston; the most unlike its peers is Northland Christian School. 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

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

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 68 of the 101 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
67/68
Grantees still filing
44/68
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Houston Grand Opera Association Inc: $10,250,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera Association IncHouston Symphony Society: $8,600,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Symphony SocietyHouston Museum of Natural Science: $4,300,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Museum of Natural ScienceALLEY THEATRE: $4,100,000 · Arts & CultureALLEY THEATRETheatre Under the Stars Inc: $2,250,000 · Arts & CultureTheatre Under the Stars IncStages: $1,640,000 · Arts & Culture+34 more: $8,612,000 · Arts & Culture+34 moreTHE FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL: $2,000,000 · OtherTHE FOUNDATION FO…BUFFALO BAYOU PARTNERSHIP WORTHAM FOUNTAIN: $1,125,000 · OtherBUFFALO BAYOU PAR…DA CAMERA SOCIETY: $1,050,000 · OtherDA CAMERA SOCIETYJONES HALL, FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · OtherJONES HALL, FOUND…WILLIAM MARSH RICE UNIVERSITY-SHEPHERD SCH: $500,000 · OtherWILLIAM MARSH RIC…BRYAN MUSEUM, THE: $400,000 · Other+37 more: $2,415,000 · Other+37 moreHouston Golf Association Inc: $3,000,000 · Recreation & SportsHouston Municipal Golf Association Inc: $500,000 · Recreation & SportsSPARK: $280,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsHouston Botanic Garden: $1,225,000 · EnvironmentHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $400,000 · EnvironmentGalveston Bay Foundation Inc: $250,000 · EnvironmentThe Houston Audubon Society: $100,000 · Environment+3 more: $150,000 · EnvironmentNORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $100,000 · EducationTexas A&M Foundation: $77,630 · EducationST GEORGE'S SCHOOL: $65,000 · EducationYOUNG AUDIENCES INC OF HOUSTON: $60,000 · EducationBARD COLLEGE: $60,000 · EducationUnited Way of Greater Houston: $315,000 · PhilanthropyRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $100,000 · Health
Arts & Culture$39,752,000Other$8,490,000Recreation & Sports$3,830,000Environment$2,125,000Education$362,630Philanthropy$315,000Health$100,000

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 budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $10,250,000 over 7y, 10% of budgetHouston Symphony Society: $8,600,000 over 7y, 7.2% of budgetHouston Museum of Natural Science: $4,300,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetALLEY THEATRE: $4,100,000 over 6y, 5.6% of budgetTheatre Under the Stars Inc: $2,250,000 over 6y, 14% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL: $2,000,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetStages: $1,640,000 over 7y, 5.6% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $1,225,000 over 5y, 7.5% of budgetPERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON: $1,090,000 over 6y, 4.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $1,075,000 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON: $1,060,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetContemporary Arts Museum Houston: $1,005,000 over 6y, 6.8% of budgetMenil Foundation Inc: $800,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetHouston Public Media Foundation: $700,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetHouston Municipal Golf Association Inc: $500,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetHouston Arboretum & Nature Center: $400,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetLone Star Flight Museum: $350,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetHOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT: $335,000 over 6y, 4.3% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Houston: $315,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetGALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION: $280,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetSPARK: $280,000 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT THE WOODLANDS: $270,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetGalveston Bay Foundation Inc: $250,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetHOUSTON FIRE MUSEUM INC: $200,000 over 1y, 25% of budget1894 INC: $175,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetHOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON: $150,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetLawndale Art & Performance Center: $150,000 over 5y, 7.1% of budgetTHE ENSEMBLE THEATRE: $140,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetMiller Theatre Advisory Board Inc: $125,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER HOUSTON INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNORTHLAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $100,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetThe Houston Audubon Society: $100,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetRiver Oaks Chamber Orchestra: $90,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetJohn P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science: $80,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetFotofest Inc: $80,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetTexas A&M Foundation: $77,630 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCLASSICAL THEATRE COMPANY: $75,000 over 7y, 8.2% of budgetSt John's School: $75,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Heritage Society: $70,000 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetDIVERSEWORKS INC: $70,000 over 7y, 3.3% of budgetST GEORGE'S SCHOOL: $65,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON MUSEUM DISTRICT ASSOCIATION: $60,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetYOUNG AUDIENCES INC OF HOUSTON: $60,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetHouston Center for Photography Inc: $60,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $60,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetExpress Childrens Theatre Express Childrens Theatre: $60,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetHITS Theatre: $60,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetBARD COLLEGE: $60,000 over 4y, 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 Houston Grand Opera Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds Houston Symphony Society ↗
  • Who funds Houston Museum of Natural Science ↗
  • Who funds ALLEY THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds Houston Golf Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds Theatre Under the Stars Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE FOUNDATION FOR JONES HALL ↗
  • Who funds Stages ↗
  • Who funds Houston Botanic Garden ↗
  • Who funds PERFORMING ARTS HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds Contemporary Arts Museum Houston ↗
  • Who funds Menil Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds Houston Public Media Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Houston Municipal Golf Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds Houston Arboretum & Nature Center ↗
  • Who funds Lone Star Flight Museum ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT ↗
  • Who funds United Way of Greater Houston ↗
  • Who funds GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SPARK ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT THE WOODLANDS ↗
  • Who funds Galveston Bay Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON FIRE MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds 1894 INC ↗
  • Who funds HOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON ↗
  • Who funds Lawndale Art & Performance Center ↗
  • Who funds THE ENSEMBLE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds Miller Theatre Advisory Board 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.

The Brown Foundation …Houston Endowment IncHouston Arts AllianceGreater Houston Commu…Albert & Ethel Herzst…Shell USA Company Fou…The Elkins FoundationJohn P McGovern Found…The Powell FoundationThe Cullen Trust for …Mechia FoundationThe Humphreys Foundat…
The Brown Foundation IncTX73.1× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Brown Foundation Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · Houston Arts Alliance · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · John P McGovern Foundation · The Powell Foundation · The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts · Mechia Foundation · The Humphreys 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 Wortham Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Wortham Foundation Inc. 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 Wortham Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Wortham 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 101 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Wortham’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