Buena Vista Foundation
Houston, TX · EIN 74-2869876. Reported 236 grants totalling $7,472,156 to 83 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". Buena Vista Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations Buena Vista Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 10 grants totalling $588,798 to them. That is 12% of the $4,774,833 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Way for Greater Austin | federated giving programme | Texas | $498,798 | 5 | 5 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Austin Community Foundation Inc | community foundation | Texas | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
| Waco Foundation | community foundation | Texas | $30,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $6,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,000 and $35,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $550,000.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communities in Schools | Austin, TX | $1,000,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Edward's University | Austin, TX | $790,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| United Way for Greater Austin | Austin, TX | $498,798 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Waterloo Greenway | Austin, TX | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Todos Juntos Learning Center | Austin, TX | $378,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Austin Ed Fund | Austin, TX | $368,111 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Austin Education Fund | Austin, TX | $267,400 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Explore Austin | Austin, TX | $235,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Humanities Texas | Austin, TX | $230,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St David's Episcopal Church | Austin, TX | $212,675 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| University of Texas at Austin College of Education | Austin, TX | $194,548 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Univ of Texas at Austinblanton Museum | Austin, TX | $180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood Greater Texas | Austin, TX | $165,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Texas Book Festival | Austin, TX | $163,375 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Univ of Texas Elementary School | Austin, TX | $150,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St David's Foundation Community Fund | Austin, TX | $149,100 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Creative Action | Austin, TX | $140,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Retina Foundation | Dallas, TX | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Teach for America | Austin, TX | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Social Good Fund | Austin, TX | $120,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Univ of Texas at Austindell Medical | Austin, TX | $120,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Austin Pals Campaign for the Future | Austin, TX | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | $100,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Power for Parkinson's | Austin, TX | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Mainspring School | Austin, TX | $75,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Social Good Fund - Austin 2030 | Austin, TX | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Teach for America - Austin | Dallas, TX | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Texas State History Museum Foundation | Austin, TX | $74,562 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Austin Ymbl Sunshine Camp | Austin, TX | $72,900 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Austin Community Foundation | Austin, TX | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Univ of Texas at Austindevelopment Ofc | San Antonio, TX | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Contemporary Austin | Austin, TX | $57,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Rooted Wholeway House Inc | Austin, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Central Texas Food Bank | Austin, TX | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Pease Park Conservancy | Austin, TX | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Texas Tribune | Austin, TX | $34,600 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Waco Foundation | Waco, TX | $30,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| 19TH News | Austin, TX | $27,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Avance - Austin | Austin, TX | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Barton Springs Conservancy | Austin, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Amala Foundation | Austin, TX | $24,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Lbj Library | Austin, TX | $20,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Philanthropy Advocates | Austin, TX | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Children Austin | Austin, TX | $19,041 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Texans Care for Children | Austin, TX | $18,183 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Open Door Preschools | Austin, TX | $15,435 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Harry Ransom Center - University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Heartgift Foundation | Austin, TX | $15,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management | Kingsville, TX | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Trinity Street at St David's | Austin, TX | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, TN | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Austin Child Guidance Center | Austin, TX | $14,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Shoal Creek Conservancy | Austin, TX | $13,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Trail Conservancy | Austin, TX | $13,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Saint Louise House | Austin, TX | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Center for Child Protection | Austin, TX | $10,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Chancellor's Council | San Antonio, TX | $10,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Leukemia and Lymphoma Society | Austin, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Austin PBS Klru-Tv | Austin, TX | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Borderlands Research Institute | Alpine, TX | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Rodeo Austin | Austin, TX | $6,799 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Klru-Tv Austin PBS | Austin, TX | $6,750 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Foundation of San Saba | San Saba, TX | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Parkinson Voice Project | Richardson, TX | $5,200 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Exchange for Change | Miami, FL | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Philanthropy Advocates - Waco Foundation | Waco, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Trinity Center | Austin, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Choice-Filled Lives Enterprise LLC | Sandy Springs, GA | $4,050 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Kmfa 895 | Austin, TX | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| San Saba County Young Farmers | San Saba, TX | $3,450 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Colfax County Fair Association | Springer, NM | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Colorado River Alliance | Austin, TX | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Community Foundation of San Saba County | San Saba, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Culberson Livestock Association | Van Horn, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St John's School | Houston, TX | $2,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Trail Foundation | Austin, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Texas at Austinharry Ransom Center | Austin, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kut 905 | Austin, TX | $2,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Imprint | Houston, TX | $1,979 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Carmel Borders | Austin, TX | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Kut 905 Austin | Austin, TX | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Esc Region 13 | Austin, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Vrain Mill Foundation | Mora, NM | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
56 of 83 (67%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 82%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
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.
- St Edward's University
BUENA VISTA FOUNDATION CAMP ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP - Communities in Schools
EXPANDING MENTAL HEALTH CAPACITY - Humanities Texas
DONATION FOR EMERGENCY FUNDS - Teach for America
IGNITE AND SCHOOL LEADERSHIO LEARNING LAB - Univ of Texas at Austindell Medical
DELL MED - CENTER FOR HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS - University of Texas at Austin
TEXAS INSTITUTE FOR CHILD & FAMILY WELL BEING
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 109 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | $1,527,562 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 45 | $1,219,801 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 45 | $1,111,633 | $7,500 |
| 2024 | 51 | $1,670,557 | $10,000 |
| 2025 | 51 | $1,942,603 | $10,000 |
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
100% of its giving went to organizations in Texas.
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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Buena Vista Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 701 N Post Oak Road Suite 635, Houston, TX, 77024. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 74-2869876 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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