Sam and Laura Dawson Family Foundation
San Antonio, TX · EIN 83-1264255. Reported 86 grants totalling $3,462,048 to 48 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. 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 $13,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $26,900; 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Baptist Church | San Antonio, TX | $1,607,131 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Triple Dawson Family Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $218,750 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Charity Ball Association of San Antonio Inc | San Antonio, TX | $210,949 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| San Antonio Zoo | San Antonio, TX | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The University of Texas at Austin - Cockrell School of Engineering | Austin, TX | $120,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Cru | Orlando, FL | $115,291 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Tobin Center for the Performing Arts | San Antonio, TX | $115,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Haven for Hope | San Antonio, TX | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| United Way of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Onward Campus Ministries | Auburn, AL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| San Antonio Youth for Christ | San Antonio, TX | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Arboretum San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Clift of the Rock Christian Community Church Inc | San Antonio, TX | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Jewish Federation of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $42,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Remember the Alamo Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $37,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Opera San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $33,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| 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 |
| Cleft of the Rock Church | San Antonio, TX | $22,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Pape-Dawson Charitable Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $22,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The Charity Ball Association | San Antonio, TX | $18,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fellowship of Christian Athletes | Kansas City, MO | $14,792 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio Inc | San Antonio, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cenikor Foundation | Houston, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| 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 |
| San Antonio Area Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| 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 |
| Ballet San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Will Smith Foundation | San Antonio, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The World Affairs Council of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| 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 |
20 of 48 (42%) 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 49%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 51 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 | 12 | $294,250 | $14,250 |
| 2022 | 16 | $346,027 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 19 | $1,520,100 | $20,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $394,059 | $12,500 |
| 2025 | 19 | $907,612 | $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
95% of its giving went to organizations in Texas. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $13,750. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- 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 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: 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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