Mary Louise Dobson Foundation
Wharton, TX · EIN 76-0690889. Reported 83 grants totalling $2,850,625 to 61 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Mary Louise Dobson Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $6,500 and $26,028; the smallest was $500 and the largest $375,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys & Girls Club of Greater Housto | Houston, TX | $375,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston | Houston, TX | $369,089 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Gh | Houston, TX | $368,250 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boys & Girls Club-Greater Houston | Houston, TX | $349,360 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Oakbend Medical Center | Richmond, TX | $191,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Wharton High School | Wharton, TX | $128,470 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wharton Isd | Wharton, TX | $122,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Just Do It Now Inc | Wharton, TX | $78,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Club of El Campo | El Campo, TX | $49,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hesed House of Wharton | Wharton, TX | $47,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Gulf Coast CASA Inc | Wharton, TX | $40,900 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Stop Inc | Freeport, TX | $37,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Matagorda Episcopal Health Outreach | Bay City, TX | $37,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boling District Improvement | Boling, TX | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boys & Girls of Bay City & Matagorda County | Bay City, TX | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Matagorda County Crisis Center | Bay City, TX | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Team Wharton Inc | Wharton, TX | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Philip the Apostle Catholic School | El Campo, TX | $27,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Wharton Chamber of Commerce | Wharton, TX | $27,070 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Recovery in Jesus Recovery Center | Wharton, TX | $26,210 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Arc of Wharton | Wharton, TX | $26,028 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Billie H Jones Leadership Academy | Wharton, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wcjc | Wharton, TX | $24,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wharton County Junior College | Wharton, TX | $24,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Restoration City Inc | Hungerford, TX | $22,400 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Northside Center in Ec | El Campo, TX | $20,650 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wharton Police Officer Association | Wharton, TX | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Wharton Lions Club | Wharton, TX | $17,981 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Texas Hearing Institute | Houston, TX | $17,582 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Caney Creek Conservation Foundation | Wharton, TX | $17,565 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Ec | El Campo, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Matagorda County Birding Nature Conservation | Bay City, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Philip the Apostle Catholic Sch | El Campo, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Wharton Citizens Police Academy Alu | Wharton, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wharton County JR College | Wharton, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wharton Youth Soccer Association | Wharton, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wharton Police Officer Academy | Wharton, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Boys & Girls Club of Palacios | El Campo, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boys Scouts 326 | Wharton, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Swag | Wharton, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Scholarships for Wharton Ag Students (swag) | Wharton, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wharton Babe Ruth Baseball | Wharton, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Faith Christian Academy | Wharton, TX | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Louise Isd | Louise, TX | $6,650 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Firl Scouts of San Jacinto Council | Houston, TX | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Girl Scouts of San Jacinto | Houston, TX | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Girl Scout of San Jacinto Council | Houston, TX | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council | Houston, TX | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fumc-Small Blessings | Wharton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pioneer County Store-Wcjc | Wharton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pioneer Country Store | Wharton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St James Missionary Baptist Church | Wharton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Scholarships for Wharton Ag | Wharton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wharton Rotary Charity | Wharton, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wharton Lion's Club | Wharton, TX | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of Wharton Texas Animal Control | Wharton, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wharton Ag Department | Wharton, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wharton Co Stray Pet Outreach Team | Wharton, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Institute for Civility in Government | Houston, TX | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Plaza Theatre Inc | Wharton, TX | $1,920 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wharton Chamber of Commercece | Wharton, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
12 of 61 (20%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 26%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Boys & Girls Club of Greater Housto
OPERATING EXPENSE/RENOVATIONS - Oakbend Medical Center
Wharton Campus elevatorqq - Wharton High School
ROAR Academy,Counselor position - Wharton Isd
Support for Community in schools counselors - Matagorda County Crisis Center
New location construction - St Philip the Apostle Catholic School
Upgrade classroom technology
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 33 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | $646,491 | $17,995 |
| 2022 | 23 | $678,525 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 26 | $789,727 | $18,990 |
| 2024 | 22 | $735,882 | $15,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Texas.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Mary Louise Dobson Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 588, Wharton, TX, 77488. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 76-0690889 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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