Texas · Nonprofit
THE WELMAN PROJECT
THE WELMAN PROJECT (Texas) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $836,243 to it, the largest being COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC ($185,225). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.4M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $836k
- Net assets
- $194k
What The Welman Project does
Mission
The Welman Project is on a mission to fill a classroom, not a landfill. We provide free supplies and support to teachers, along with the training, tools, and workspace they need to engage students in vital hands-on learning. The result is a community where waste is reduced, the burden on teachers is lessened, and creativity and ingenuity thrive in the classroom.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
With our educator resource program, we're tackling two big issues in our community - waste output generated by businesses and lack of resources in our schools - with one innovative solution: creative reuse. We collect surplus materials from companies and donate those items to classrooms, working one-on-one with teachers to provide free, curriculum-enhancing repurpose alternatives to purchasing new supplies. Providing free materials for their classroom provides immediate relief to teachers, giving them meaningful community support and significant cost savings to be able to stay on the job, and enabling them to focus on student outcomes rather than struggling to get the supplies they need. The teachers we serve overwhelmingly report feeling less stressed and better prepared to address their student's needs, both because of the ideas and materials received and the encouragement of coming to a place where they feel supported by the community. By enabling educators to utilize readily-available resources from the community rather than relying on the purchase of expensive educational materials, we're removing the district red tape and financial disparities that contribute to teacher…
$2,984,299 spent$2,707,179 earned by the program90% of program spendingOur creative reuse education program helps teachers bring hands-on, open-ended learning to the classroom, building complex problem-solving and critical thinking skills by challenging students to experiment, design, and see things in a different way. With free access to power tools, crafting equipment, and design software, teachers can create an engaging learning environment and hands-on, creative projects for their students without budget limitations standing in their way. Teachers from across districts, grade levels, and subjects are able to collaborate and exchange ideas, and retired teacher and craftsman volunteers provide inspiration and guidance during our open makerspace hours. In our professional development workshops, we provide teachers with training and materials for unique projects, along with guidance on utilizing creative reuse to make their daily STEAM curriculum more hands-on without having to spend money on supplies. In 2024, 2,375 individuals engaged in a creative reuse class, workshop, or event, and over 700 students participated in our annual recycled art exhibit, practicing teamwork and creativity while learning about waste reduction.
$188,762 spent$62,693 earned by the program6% of program spendingThrough our creative reuse community marketplace, we're reducing waste and making artistic pursuits more accessible by selling affordable secondhand arts and crafts materials both in person and online. In our creative reuse storefront, the Curiosity Shop, artists and makers can find the supplies they need along with unique materials they can't get elsewhere, and kids are able to dream beyond the generic craft kit with our fill-a-bag section of unusual treasures to create with. The community is also able to support local artists in our consignment section, which features art and handmade goods using repurposed materials. We served over 2,847 families and individuals through this program in 2024. We also educate the public about the importance of reducing waste and how they can creatively reuse common materials through presentations to groups and booths at community events, reaching thousands more individuals.
$127,209 spent$113,066 earned by the program4% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,300,270.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2021 to 2022, from $148k to $234k (+58%).
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: 2021 14% · 2022 28% · 2023 1% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of THE WELMAN PROJECT’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $750 → $125k.
5 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% 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 THE WELMAN PROJECT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 25 of 26 funders by total. 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
THE WELMAN PROJECT has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
77% 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 THE WELMAN PROJECT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 68% · 2019 37% · 2020 32% · 2021 64% · 2022 50% · 2023 44% — 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
33% of THE WELMAN PROJECT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
85% of THE WELMAN PROJECT's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $367k 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
THE WELMAN PROJECT has grown faster than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE WELMAN PROJECT receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.2M on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$3.0M
- Corporation for National and Community Service$100k
- National Endowment for the Arts$70k
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 THE WELMAN PROJECT
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
98% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WELMAN PROJECT: 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 THE WELMAN PROJECT?
- THE WELMAN PROJECT (Texas) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $836,243 to it, the largest being COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC ($185,225). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE WELMAN PROJECT have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $836,243 in grants to THE WELMAN PROJECT, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WELMAN PROJECT?
- COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC is the largest funder on record, with $185,225 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WELMAN PROJECT 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 2018–2024), and the filings of 26 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