Skip to content
Watson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Watson Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$42k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Religion$1.1MEducation$676kHuman Services$43kYouth Development$10kHealth$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $2k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $40k
$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$295k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BEL AIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$15,000
VIEWPOINT SCHOOL$15,000
STEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS$10,000
ARBOR SCHOOL$1,972
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 (FY20–25, $38k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 79% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%ALLIED FORCES FOUNDATION: $5k → 4%ALLIED FORCES FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 4%STEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS: $10k → 16%STEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS: $10k → 16%STEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS: $10k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
NY
CA
VA
AZ
TN
OK
GA
TX
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.

24%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$444k · 10 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
11

Total granted

$444k
$1.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+22%

Still filing today

70%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesHealthReligionYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • OS
    Oklahoma State University Foundation
    3× · 2019–2023 · $150k · revenue +90%
  • TA
    THE ARBOR SCHOOL
    4× · 2019–2025 · $37k · revenue +83%
  • SM
    STEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS
    3× · 2023–2025 · $30k · revenue +42%

Funded once

  • WP
    WINDWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2023 · $1.0M
  • SC
    Sigma Chi Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $200k · revenue +18%
  • SJ
    SAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $190k
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
Alpha Chi Omega Fraternity Inc

Alpha chi omega makes a promise to empower each member to become the best version of herself. the real. strong. women. experience delivers on this promise by providing an environment where members take on the issues and challenges that…

—
2
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
3
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education
4
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
5
George Fox University

George fox university, a christ centered community, prepares students spiritually, academically, and professionally to think with clarity, act with integrity, and serve with passion.

Education
6
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
7
Aacsb International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

Aacsb international provides quality assurance of business school programs, the latest in business education intelligence, thought leadership, and learning and development services.

Education
8
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
9
Fielding Graduate University

We provide exemplary interdisciplinary programs for a community of scholar-practitioners within a distributed learning model grounded in student-driven inquiry and leading to enhanced knowledge.

—
10
Columbia College

Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.

Education
11
Simpson University

Simpson university is a christ-centered learning community committed to developing each student in mind, faith, and character for a life-time of meaningful work and service in a constantly changing world.

Education
12
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Oklahoma State University Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Blood Cancer United 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

13 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. 13 of the 21 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
12/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WINDWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $1,000,000 · OtherWINDWOOD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHSAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITY: $190,000 · OtherSAINT JOHN'S UNIVERSITYBEL AIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $110,000 · OtherBEL AIR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH+7 more: $97,500 · Other+7 moreSigma Chi Foundation: $200,000 · EducationSigma Chi FoundationOklahoma State University Foundation: $150,090 · EducationOklahoma State University …THE ARBOR SCHOOL: $36,972 · EducationTHE ARBOR SCHOOLINSPIRE WOMEN: $30,000 · EducationINSPIRE WOMEN+2 more: $18,000 · EducationSTEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS: $30,000 · Human ServicesALLIED FORCES FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG LIFE: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,000 · HealthTransmission Ministry Collective: $3,000 · Religion
Other$1,397,500Education$435,062Human Services$38,000Youth Development$10,000Health$5,000Religion$3,000

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 budgetSigma Chi Foundation: $200,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetOklahoma State University Foundation: $150,090 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ARBOR SCHOOL: $36,972 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetSTEEL MAGNOLIA MOMS: $30,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetINSPIRE WOMEN: $30,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetVIEWPOINT EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHI OMEGA FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEARNING WITH A DIFFERENCE INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALLIED FORCES FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTransmission Ministry Collective: $3,000 over 1y, 3.6% 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.

The Ayco Charitable F…Charities Aid Foundat…National Philanthropi…Natl Christian Charit…American Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Ayco Charitable FoundationNY12.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Watson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Watson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%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
    2report 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 21 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 Watson 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