Skip to content

· Private foundation

Don a Sanders Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$254k
Granted FY2024still arriving
38
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$39k
Largest
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$1.4MAnimals$959kPublic Safety & Disaster$376kHuman Services$215kArts & Culture$204kHealth$197kPhilanthropy$153kYouth Development$120kOther$0
02FY2024 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k31 grants · $115k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $139k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$51k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON$39,410
HOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION$32,500
SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY$21,800
Individual grant recipient$15,000
HOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION$10,000
SUNSHINE KIDS FOUNDATION$10,000
HOUSTON PET SET$10,000
EAST TEXAS ANGEL NETWORK$6,000
HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY$5,500
EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING FOUNDATION$5,000
SPORTS AUTHORITY FOUNDATI$5,000
THE LOUISIANA MUSEUM FOUNDATION$5,000
HSPVA FRIENDS$5,000
ADVANTAGE ADOPTIONS$5,000
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION$5,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $86k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 61% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $5k → 14%ADVANTAGE ADOPTIONS: $5k → 11%PARARESCUE FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS OF AMERICA: $8k → 8%ADVANTAGE ADOPTIONS: $5k → 11%PARARESCUE FOUNDATION: $5k → 8%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS OF AMERICA: $5k → 8%YMCA OF GREATER HOUSTON: $5k → 16%PATHWAYS FOR LITTLE FEET: $5k → 16%PATHWAYS FOR LITTLE FEET: $5k → 16%PATHWAYS FOR LITTLE FEET: $5k → 16%CYPRESS ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $1k → 16%JUSTICE FORWARD: $5k → 16%ASSIST THE OFFICER: $7k → 16%TODAY'S HARBOR FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 16%TODAY'S HARBOR FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 16%ASSIST THE OFFICER: $5k → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MI
NY
MA
CA
UT
CO
NC
OK
LA
MS
AL
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 59 repeat orgs$494k to everyone else

59 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2024, 33 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

59
87

Total granted

$3.5M
$458k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+32%

Still filing today

53%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $37k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsHuman ServicesHealthEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TK
    The Kinkaid School Inc
    4× · 2017–2022 · $934k · revenue +87%
  • RP
    RESCUED PETS MOVEMENT INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $272k · revenue +15%
  • HP
    HOUSTON PETSET
    5× · 2020–2024 · $137k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • KA
    K-9 ANGELS RESCUEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $39k · revenue +32%
  • SO
    STAR OF HOPE MISSION
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue -60%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Pippys Pals Rescue

Pippys Pals Rescue is dedicated to saving the lives of dogs facing euthanasia in Houston. Our mission is to provide a second chance to these beloved companions by rescuing them from shelters, providing them with necessary medical care, and…

Animals
2
Heb Tournament of Champions Charitable Trust
Philanthropy
3
Houston Geological Society Foundation
—
4
Chances - Dog Rescue and Relocation

Animal Rescue

—
5
Houston Local Information Initiative Inc

The Houston Local Information Initiative, Inc. provides public service journalism that reflects the civic needs of the diverse communities comprising Greater Houston.

Arts & Culture
6
Houston Museum of Natural Science

The mission of the Houston Museum of Natural Science shall be to preserve and advance the general knowledge of natural science; to enhance in individuals the knowledge of and delight in natural science and related subjects; and to maintain…

Arts & Culture
7
Red Collar Rescue Inc

RED COLLAR RESCUE is an all-volunteer 501 (c) (3) animal welfare charity dedicated to rescuing and providing extensive medical care, foster care, training, rehabilitation, and adoptive placement to stray, abandoned, and abused dogs in…

Animals
8
Kimbell Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
9
Trees for Houston

Plant, protect and promote trees all over the greater Houston area.

—
10
Houston Family Association
—
11
Houston Bar Foundation

The Houston Bar Foundation supports programs that help provide legal representation to the indigent, promote community understanding of our legal system, and foster the administration of justice.

Crime & Legal
12
Houston Zoo Inc

Mission: Connect communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife. Vision: Be a leader in the global movement to save wildlife. (Continued on Schedule O) Houston Zoo, Inc. (HZI) strives to be a zoo that practices exemplary…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Houston Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Farrah Fawcett Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

81 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 81 of the 158 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
79/81
Grantees still filing
59/81
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $155,440 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONSAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY: $133,800 · OtherSAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITYTHE RISE SCHOOL: $65,200 · OtherUT HEALTH: $42,000 · OtherHOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION: $112,000 · OtherHOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION+92 more: $735,465 · Other+92 moreThe Kinkaid School Inc: $933,500 · EducationThe Kinkaid School Inc+8 more: $52,500 · EducationRESCUED PETS MOVEMENT INC: $272,257 · AnimalsRESCUED PETS MOVE…HOUSTON PETSET: $137,000 · AnimalsHOUSTON PETSETBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $96,000 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS ANIM…K-9 ANGELS RESCUE: $38,600 · AnimalsK-9 ANGELS RESCUECitizens For Animal Protection Inc: $25,000 · Animals+8 more: $59,461 · Animals+8 moreHOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION: $320,729 · Human ServicesHOUSTON POLI…TODAYS HARBOR FOR CHILDREN: $25,000 · Human ServicesTODAYS HARBO…Pathways for Little Feet: $15,000 · Human Services+9 more: $65,525 · Human Services+9 moreHouston BARC Foundation: $260,000 · PhilanthropyHouston BA…EAST TEXAS ANGEL NETWORK INC: $46,000 · PhilanthropyEAST TEXAS…ASTROS FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropyASTROS FOU…GREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $21,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER HO…THE ROGER CLEMENS FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Philanthropy+4 more: $12,000 · PhilanthropyFRIENDS FOR LIFE: $82,700 · HealthHEARTGIFT FOUNDATION: $45,000 · HealthTHE SUNSHINE KIDS FOUNDATION: $30,500 · HealthWards Foundation: $7,000 · Health+6 more: $18,500 · HealthNOLAN RYAN FOUNDATION: $130,350 · Arts & CultureGEORGE RODRIGUE FOUNDATION OF THE ARTS INC: $11,150 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $24,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,243,905Education$986,000Animals$628,318Human Services$426,254Philanthropy$384,000Health$183,700Arts & Culture$165,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Kinkaid School Inc: $933,500 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetHOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION: $320,729 over 8y, 2.6% of budgetRESCUED PETS MOVEMENT INC: $272,257 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetHouston BARC Foundation: $260,000 over 2y, 59% of budgetHOUSTON PETSET: $137,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetNOLAN RYAN FOUNDATION: $130,350 over 8y, 6.0% of budgetHOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION: $112,000 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $96,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS FOR LIFE: $82,700 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetEAST TEXAS ANGEL NETWORK INC: $46,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetHEARTGIFT FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetK-9 ANGELS RESCUE: $38,600 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetHARMON FAMILY FOUNDATION (FKA THE CLAUDE HARMON FOUNDATION): $35,500 over 6y, 18% of budgetTHE SUNSHINE KIDS FOUNDATION: $30,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTODAYS HARBOR FOR CHILDREN: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCitizens For Animal Protection Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $21,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSTAR OF HOPE MISSION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHouston Botanic Garden: $17,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Brookwood Community Inc: $17,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Pets Alive: $15,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE ROGER CLEMENS FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetPathways for Little Feet: $15,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFREEDOM SERVICE DOGS INC: $13,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAssist the Officer Inc: $11,525 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetGEORGE RODRIGUE FOUNDATION OF THE ARTS INC: $11,150 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetHOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $10,961 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITY FOR THE ANIMALS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF HOUSTON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARARESCUE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetK9S4COPS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTEXAS HUMANE LEGISLATION NETWORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetSPORTS AUTHORITY FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMen of Distinction of Greater Houston: $7,500 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetWards Foundation: $7,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetBuffalo Bayou Partnership Inc: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBELONG BAKERY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD ADVOCATES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDiscovery Green Conservancy: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDISCOVERY PROGRAMS: $5,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN INCORPORATED: $5,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetSECOND BAPTIST SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJUSTICE FORWARD: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMr October Foundation for Kids: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds The Kinkaid School Inc ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON POLICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RESCUED PETS MOVEMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds Houston BARC Foundation ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON PETSET ↗
  • Who funds NOLAN RYAN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS FOR LIFE ↗
  • Who funds EAST TEXAS ANGEL NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds HEARTGIFT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds K-9 ANGELS RESCUE ↗
  • Who funds HARMON FAMILY FOUNDATION (FKA THE CLAUDE HARMON FOUNDATION) ↗
  • Who funds THE SUNSHINE KIDS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ASTROS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TODAYS HARBOR FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds Citizens For Animal Protection Inc ↗
  • Who funds GREATER HOUSTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds STAR OF HOPE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds Houston Botanic Garden ↗
  • Who funds The Brookwood Community Inc ↗
  • Who funds Houston Pets Alive ↗
  • Who funds THE ROGER CLEMENS FOUNDATION ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Greater Houston Community FoundationTX45.9× affinity31 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · Houston Petset · Baker Hughes Foundation · Strake Foundation · Dan L Duncan Foundation · John P McGovern Foundation · The Methodist Hospital · Mechia Foundation · Houston Arts Alliance

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Don a Sanders Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Don a Sanders Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Don a Sanders Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Don a Sanders Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 158 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Don a Sanders Family’s filings →

More from the funding graph