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Texas · Nonprofit

Austin Foundation for Architecture

Austin Foundation for Architecture (Texas) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $540,733 to it, the largest being STILL WATER FOUNDATION ($245,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$187k
Funders on record
8
Grants received
$541k
Net assets
$469k
6/8 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 97%
01What it does

What Austin Foundation for Architecture does

Mission

To illuminate the impact of design for all through curated and pop-up programming that expands the understanding and appreciation of design excellence and its myriad applications on behalf of diverse communities.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Architectural Tours In 2024, the organization provided tours of Austin, including architectural boat tours, bicycle and walking tours based on the mobile website guidetoaustinarchitecture.com These tours had guides knowledgeable about the architecture, history, landscape, mobility, and urban planning of Austin, and gave the public the opportunity to get to know more about the citys unique places and spaces.

    $4,010 spentof which $615 as grants$3,960 earned by the program
    8% of program spending
  2. Design Lectures Design Talks is a lecture series showcasing talented designers from Austin and beyond, with each installment focusing on an individual practitioner and their unique approach to their work. Pecha Kucha is a creative speaking event featuring 10 designers from different fields. The unique format invites presenters to make a short presentation on a creative topic, leading to a fast and furious evening of entertainment and creative inspiration.

    $7,642 spent$6,727 earned by the program
    15% of program spending
  3. Exhibitions evolve and change each year. In 2024, the organization participated in several public exhibitions including Las Pinatas ATX & Waterwork. Las Pinatas was a partnership with AIA Austin and the Parks Foundation, and invited the community to engage with pinata-inspired sculptural artworks. WaterWork debuted as a partnership between the Austin Foundation for Architecture and the The Trail Conservancy. The event featured the video artwork of 15 Austin artists projected on the historic Seaholm Intake facility. The immersive experience was visible on land and from Lady Bird Lake. The colossal projection celebrated the many talents of Austins creative community.

    $34,877 spent$16,390 earned by the program
    67% of program spending
  4. The Women in Arcitecture annual scholarship is awarded to minority female identifying students attending the University School of Architecture. Students are also paired with a mentor in the profession. In 2024, two scholarship awards were granted totaling $5,000.

    $5,183 spent$33,300 earned by the program
    10% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $51,712.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($78k) Expenses 100 ($1k) Net assets 100 ($76k)2018 Revenue 66 ($51k) Expenses 2193 ($31k) Net assets 127 ($97k)2019 Revenue 91 ($71k) Expenses 3851 ($55k) Net assets 148 ($113k)2020 Revenue 97 ($75k) Expenses 1537 ($22k) Net assets 218 ($166k)2021 Revenue 155 ($121k) Expenses 2885 ($41k) Net assets 323 ($246k)2022 Revenue 412 ($320k) Expenses 7006 ($99k) Net assets 612 ($467k)2023 Revenue 128 ($99k) Expenses 11685 ($165k) Net assets 525 ($401k)2024 Revenue 241 ($187k) Expenses 8396 ($119k) Net assets 615 ($469k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (241)Expenses (8396)Net assets (615)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $250k to $467k (+87%).

$76k
$98k
$115k
$169k
$250k
$467k
$402k
$469k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2022 2% · 2024 32%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

90% of Austin Foundation for Architecture’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (62% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 12,439 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$76k
’17
$20k
’18
$16k
’19
$54k
’20
$80k
’21
$221k
’22
−$66k
’23
$69k
’24
44
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Ingrid Spencer

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

20222024
Listed109
Joined··
No longer listed··
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $75k → $9k.

4 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 32% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of Austin Foundation for Architecture’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

Austin Foundation for Architecture leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

54% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Austin Foundation for Architecture.

45%
largest funder
77%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 62% · 2021 71% · 2022 95% · 2023 87% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

50% of Austin Foundation for Architecture's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

99% of Austin Foundation for Architecture's grant income comes from Texas funders.

AR
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’20
’21
’22
’23
Texas out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $173k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Austin Foundation for Architecture runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,971 community improvement nonprofits its size.

Operating margin37% · top quartile
Months of reserve44.3mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)13% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,971 community improvement nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like Austin Foundation for Architecture

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Texas

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

43% of spending goes to programs.

Program 43%Management 57%Fundraising 0%

Governance

9
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

53%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

TX

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Austin Foundation for Architecture: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds Austin Foundation for Architecture?
Austin Foundation for Architecture (Texas) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $540,733 to it, the largest being STILL WATER FOUNDATION ($245,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Austin Foundation for Architecture have?
IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $540,733 in grants to Austin Foundation for Architecture, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Austin Foundation for Architecture?
STILL WATER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $245,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Austin Foundation for Architecture find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Austin Foundation for Architecture →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 8 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing