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Texas · Nonprofit

Byrne Institute

Byrne Institute (Texas) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $999,071 to it, the largest being Foundation For Excellence in Higher Education ($586,071). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$316k
Funders on record
5
Grants received
$999k
Net assets
$276k
5/5 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 87%
01What it does

What Byrne Institute does

Mission

The mission of Houston Institute is to help the people of Rice University think deeply about the best way to live through the study of the liberal arts especially philosophy and literature. Our goal is to help students become better seekers and speakers of the truth.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Hosted reading groups throughout the academic year for students at Rice and surrounding area universities. We also support the scholarly projects of our staff.

    $67,678 spent
    50% of program spending
  2. Hosted speakers debates and other classes discussion on various topics for students and members of the community

    $33,246 spent
    24% of program spending
  3. Hosted a week long course for High School students on philosophy and literature

    $8,176 spent$2,094 earned by the program
    6% of program spending
  4. Take students to cultural events

    $664 spent
    0% of program spending
  5. Faculty lectures discussions and other events for students

    $3,507 spent
    3% of program spending
  6. Optimal Works and Student Worker

    $1,315 spent
    1% of program spending
  7. Payroll Expenses for miscellaneous projects

    $21,197 spent
    16% of program spending

The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $135,783.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($163k) Expenses 100 ($106k) Net assets 100 ($91k)2020 Revenue 95 ($154k) Expenses 109 ($116k) Net assets 145 ($133k)2021 Revenue 121 ($197k) Expenses 122 ($130k) Net assets 219 ($200k)2022 Revenue 172 ($280k) Expenses 201 ($213k) Net assets 292 ($266k)2023 Revenue 153 ($249k) Expenses 251 ($266k) Net assets 274 ($250k)2024 Revenue 195 ($316k) Expenses 273 ($290k) Net assets 303 ($276k)
201920202021202220232024
Revenue (195)Expenses (273)Net assets (303)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 $203k to $269k (+33%).

$93k
$151k
$203k
$269k
$253k
$277k
201920202021202220232024
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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

99% of Byrne Institute’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 24,946 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.

$56k
’19
$38k
’20
$67k
’21
$66k
’22
−$17k
’23
$27k
’24
11
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

Victor Saenz

Executive Director

Board chair

Mark Dulworth

Chairman of the Board

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

202220232024
Listed998
Joined·+1+0
No longer listed·11
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $10k → $217k.

3 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 Byrne Institute’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

Byrne Institute leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

87% 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 Byrne Institute.

59%
largest funder
89%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 92% · 2021 78% · 2022 61% · 2023 58% — 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.

Where its funders are

Byrne Institute draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Texas, across 2 states in all.

IN
NJ

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. $286k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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

Byrne Institute runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin8% · above the median
Months of reserve11.2mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)14% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Government funding Byrne Institute receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $30k on record.

Federal$30k
grants $30kcontracts $0
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Humanities$30k

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like Byrne Institute

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

47% of spending goes to programs.

Program 47%Management 31%Fundraising 23%

Governance

7
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

84%

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 Byrne Institute: 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 Byrne Institute?
Byrne Institute (Texas) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $999,071 to it, the largest being Foundation For Excellence in Higher Education ($586,071). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Byrne Institute have?
IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $999,071 in grants to Byrne Institute, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Byrne Institute?
Foundation For Excellence in Higher Education is the largest funder on record, with $586,071 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Byrne Institute 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 Byrne Institute →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 5 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