Sam and Laura Dawson Family Foundation
San Antonio, TX · EIN 83-1264255. Reported 67 grants totalling $2,554,436 to 42 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. Sam and Laura Dawson Family 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 $12,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $25,059; the smallest was $500 and the largest $1,106,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Baptist Church | San Antonio, TX | $1,452,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Triple Dawson Family Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $218,750 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Tobin Center for the Performing Arts | San Antonio, TX | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Haven for Hope | San Antonio, TX | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Cru | Orlando, FL | $72,059 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Charity Ball Association of San Antonio Inc | San Antonio, TX | $71,900 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Onward Campus Ministries | Auburn, AL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Clift of the Rock Christian Community Church Inc | San Antonio, TX | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Jewish Federation of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $37,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| San Antonio Youth for Christ | San Antonio, TX | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Opera San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $30,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Arboretum San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Scouting America | Irving, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Texas Biomed | San Antonio, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Texas Cavaliers Charitable Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| United Way of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The University of Texas at Austin Cockrell School of Engineering | Austin, TX | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Charity Ball Association | San Antonio, TX | $18,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pape-Dawson Charitable Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fellowship of Christian Athletes | Kansas City, MO | $14,792 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Cleft of the Rock Church | San Antonio, TX | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Remember the Alamo Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio Inc | San Antonio, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Fellowship of Christian Athletes | San Antonio, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Special Reach Inc | San Antonio, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Hidalgo Foundation of Bexar County | San Antonio, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Klrn | San Antonio, TX | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| San Pedro Playhouse | San Antonio, TX | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Youth for Christ | San Antonio, TX | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Classical Music Institute | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Las Misiones | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Lift Fund | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Onward Campus Ministry | Auburn, AL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rotary Club of San Antonio Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| United Negro College Fund | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Witte Museum | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Houston, TX | $4,435 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Will Smith Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Leija Family Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc | San Antonio, TX | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Youth Center of Texas | San Antonio, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
14 of 42 (33%) 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 42%, 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 kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 40 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 | $294,250 | $14,250 |
| 2022 | 16 | $346,027 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 19 | $1,520,100 | $20,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $394,059 | $12,500 |
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
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 94% of this one's giving went to organizations in Texas. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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 $12,500. 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 Sam and Laura Dawson Family 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: 3 Ceylon, San Antonio, TX, 78230. 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 83-1264255 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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