Texas · Nonprofit
Houston Advanced Research Center
Houston Advanced Research Center (Texas) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,042,928 to it, the largest being Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science ($26,510,202). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $7.8M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $31M
- Net assets
- $6.0M
What Houston Advanced Research Center does
Mission
To use independent research in air, water, climate and equity issues, developing sustainable solutions to improve the quality of life for generations to come. Continued on Schedule O.Our Mission: HARC applies science to drive energy, air, water, and resilience solutions for a sustainable and equitable future. Our Vision: HARC envisions a world where:- Natural resources are sustainably used and equitably distributed;- The economy is viable and ensures the well-being of current and future generations;- Society is fully engaged in the stewardship and enrichment of nature; and- Effective action is consistently taken to ensure all communities thrive.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Strong, Engaged, and Resilient Communities: Our greatest challenges are connected, which is why HARC applies a systems approach to all of its work. This is especially true of HARC's resilience research, which brings together air, energy, and water expertise to provide practical, science-based solutions to mitigate risk, strengthen and increase communities' ability to bounce back from extreme events, and sustain a healthy economy. HARC works with communities and leaders to co-create and implement economic, environmental, and social solutions, grounded in research and people's lived experiences, that strengthen communities, generate good jobs, improve health outcomes, and expand opportunity.
$2,757,469 spent$190,350 earned by the program54% of program spendingClean, Reliable, and Affordable Energy: Energy drives the economy, especially in Texas, and the energy choices we all make directly impact the environment, our health, and the economy. HARC provides research, planning services, tools and technical assistance on the implementation of energy technologies and policies that generate economic development and mitigate environmental risks.
$1,688,657 spent$67,916 earned by the program33% of program spendingClean & Accessible Water: HARC provides in-depth water research analysis to policymakers, communities, and local governments. HARC emphasizes the protection of watersheds, a holistic approach to water management, nature-based infrastructure solutions, and the importance of healthy coastal ecosystems.
$660,435 spent$32,607 earned by the program13% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,106,561.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $8.4M to $7.7M (−8%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 20% · 2018 21% · 2019 28% · 2020 16% · 2021 39% · 2022 36% · 2023 34% · 2024 43%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of Houston Advanced Research Center’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
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
John L Hall
President & CEO
Board chair
J Todd Mitchell
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $3.3M → $3.5M.
4 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 Houston Advanced Research Center’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
Houston Advanced Research Center leans on a few funders — its largest provides 85% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 97% · 2018 91% · 2019 75% · 2020 90% · 2021 71% · 2022 70% · 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 Houston Advanced Research Center's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% give in more than one year at all.
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
93% of Houston Advanced Research Center's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $76k 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.
Against its field
Houston Advanced Research Center's funding base is broadening — from 3 funders to 6 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 482 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Houston Advanced Research Center
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
48%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- HARC Living Lab LLC · exempt
- HARC Research Innovations Inc · corp_trust
- Pythias Analytics Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Houston Advanced Research Center: 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.
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 Houston Advanced Research Center?
- Houston Advanced Research Center (Texas) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $31,042,928 to it, the largest being Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science ($26,510,202). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Houston Advanced Research Center have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $31,042,928 in grants to Houston Advanced Research Center, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Houston Advanced Research Center?
- Endowment for Regional Sustainability Science is the largest funder on record, with $26,510,202 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Houston Advanced Research Center 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.
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 18 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