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· Public charity

Thomas R Brown Family Foundation

The Thomas R Brown Family Foundation promotes, encourages, and aids the East Texas Communities Foundation in their charitable, scientific, qualified religious and educational activities.

$4.0M
Granted FY2022
12
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
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 2022.

Education$8.1MPhilanthropy$6.3MScience & Tech$340kCommunity Improvement$293kHuman Services$276kHealth$225kPublic Safety & Disaster$35kYouth Development$25k
02FY2022 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $125k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $235k
  • $250k+3 grants · $3.6M
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$417k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Thomas R Brown Foundation$2,000,000
University of Arizona Fdn$1,296,773
Flinn Foundation$292,513
Startup Tucson$110,000
SARSEF$75,000
Community Foundation for S AZ$50,000
Greater Tucson Leadership$35,000
Pima County School Superintendent$25,185
Center for the Future of Arizona$25,000
Step-Student Expedition Program Inc$20,000
Tucson Values Teachers$10,000
AZ Science Teachers Assoc$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:

Its human-services grants (FY19–19, $151k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%EARN TO LEARN: $151k → 15%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 15 repeat orgs$754k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +109% since the first grant, against +29% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2022, 8 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
11

Total granted

$14M
$649k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+109%
+29%

Still filing today

87%
91%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22
EducationCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentSocial ScienceScience & TechHealthOther
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

  • University of Arizona Foundation
    6× · 2017–2022 · $4.7M · revenue +109%
  • TR
    THOMAS R BROWN FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2022 · $4.0M · revenue +252%
  • PC
    PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $2.6M · revenue +256% · 48% of their budget

Funded once

  • LT
    LIVE THE SOLUTION DBA EARN TO LEARNgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $151k · revenue +182%
  • YO
    YWCA OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA
    one grant, 2018 · $125k · revenue -34%
  • TH
    TMC HEALTH FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue +390%
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
Arizona Educational Foundation Inc

To celebrate excellence and cultivate opportunity in pk-12th grade arizona public education.

—
2
Education Forward Arizona

To advocate for and act on education improvements that advance the quality of life for all arizonans.

—
3
Arizona Healthiest State Foundation
—
4
Arizona Latin-American Medical Association
Unclassified
5
Southern Arizona Leadership Council Inc

To improve greater tucson and the state of arizona by bringing together resources and leadership to enhance the economic climate and quality of life in our communities.

—
6
Arizona Site Steward Program Foundation
Education
7
Sahuarita Unified School District Educational Enrichment Foundation

The mission of the sahuarita unified school district educational enrichment foundation is to enrich educational experiences for teachers, students and residents of the communities of the school district through a variety of…

Human Services
8
Dream Foundation Arizona
Employment
9
Arizona Forward Association

Arizona Forward brings business and civic leaders together to promote cooperative efforts to improve the environmental sustainability and economic vitality of our state and local regions.

Community Improvement
10
Arizona Cpa Foundation for Education and Innovation

The arizona cpa foundation for education and innovationin coordination with the arizona society of cpas supports programs and initiatives in education and practice which enhance excellence and innovation in the profession of accountancy.

Philanthropy
11
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

We inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the sonoran desert.

Arts & Culture
12
Expect More Arizona

Expect more arizona brings communities together to create positive change in education at all levels.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Educational Enrichment Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Thomas R Brown Foundation. 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 31 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/28
Grantees still filing
23/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of Arizona Foundation: $4,667,728 · EducationUniversity of Arizona FoundationFLINN FOUNDATION: $1,144,635 · EducationFLINN FOUNDATIONLITERACY CONNECTS: $225,000 · Education+8 more: $385,504 · Education+8 moreTHOMAS R BROWN FOUNDATION: $4,000,000 · Social ScienceTHOMAS R BROWN FOUNDATIONPIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $2,555,000 · OtherPIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOU…PIMA COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTND: $391,211 · OtherPIMA COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERIN…YWCA OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA: $125,000 · Other+9 more: $506,520 · Other+9 moreCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHERN ARIZONA: $1,072,500 · Philanthropy+1 more: $25,000 · PhilanthropySTARTUP TUCSON: $195,000 · Community ImprovementCENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA: $25,000 · Community ImprovementTUCSONS YOUNG PROFESSIONALS INC: $8,000 · Community ImprovementLIVE THE SOLUTION DBA EARN TO LEARN: $151,000 · Human ServicesLOWELL OBSERVATORY: $105,000 · Science & Tech
Education$6,422,867Social Science$4,000,000Other$3,577,731Philanthropy$1,097,500Community Improvement$228,000Human Services$151,000Science & Tech$105,000

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 budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $4,667,728 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetPIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $2,555,000 over 2y, 48% of budgetFLINN FOUNDATION: $1,144,635 over 6y, 3.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHERN ARIZONA: $1,072,500 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetLITERACY CONNECTS: $225,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetSTARTUP TUCSON: $195,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetSouthern AZ Research Science & Eng FDN: $195,000 over 5y, 7.1% of budgetLIVE THE SOLUTION DBA EARN TO LEARN: $151,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetYWCA OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA: $125,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetLOWELL OBSERVATORY: $105,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTUCSON VALUES TEACHERS: $71,875 over 4y, 6.2% of budgetGreater Tucson Leadership Inc: $65,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetArizona Science Teachers Association: $51,500 over 5y, 15% of budgetARIZONA TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetARIZONA GRANTMAKERS FORUM: $32,960 over 2y, 7.3% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetCENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetEL RIO FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFLOWING WELLS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $24,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetSTEP STUDENT EXPEDITION PROGRAM INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $15,789 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT FOUNDATION: $15,750 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetPIMA COUNTY LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% 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.

Community Foundation for Southern ArizonaAZ37.7× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Southern Arizona · Absolon Foundation · Marshall Foundation · Connie Hillman Family Foundation · Arizona Community Foundation · United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Inc · Helios Education Foundation · Burton Family Foundation · Angel Charity for Children Inc · The Womens Foundation for the State of Arizona · Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona · The Stocker 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 Thomas R Brown Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Thomas R Brown Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%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
    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 Thomas R Brown Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Thomas R Brown Family Foundation 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 31 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $94k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2022, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

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