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Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Elma Dill Russell Spencer 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.

$5.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
38
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$1.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$16MEnvironment$4.7MAnimals$1.8MRecreation & Sports$1.4MYouth Development$800kHuman Services$510kHealth$440kReligion$290kOther$0
02FY2024 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $250k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $1.8M
  • $250k+6 grants · $2.9M
$64,450
Median grant
2
States reached
$106M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD$1,125,000
TEXAS WILDLFE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION$500,000
TRINITY UNIVERSITY$375,000
TEXAS FACILITIES FUND$333,334
SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY$300,000
HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS$250,000
TEXAS AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST$230,000
ST ANDREW'S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$180,000
CHOOSE TO SUCCEED$175,000
TEXAS CAVALIERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$175,000
ST PETER THE APOSTLE CATHOLIC SCHOOL$147,515
NEW FRONTIERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS$125,000
HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH$100,000
CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION FOR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL$100,000
TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE$100,000
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 (FY20–24, $815k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 33% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $150k → 13%KIDS MEALS: $10k → 16%HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $150k → 13%HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $100k → 13%HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $100k → 13%HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $50k → 13%REACHING MAXIMUM INDEPENDECE: $5k → 16%MEALS ON WHEELS: $250k → 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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 23% of Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$24M · 32 repeat orgs$2.3M to everyone else

32 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
22

Total granted

$24M
$890k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+19%

Still filing today

50%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.4M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationEnvironmentHuman ServicesHealthAnimalsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • UO
    University of the Incarnate Word
    6× · 2019–2024 · $6.7M · revenue +12%
  • TA
    Texas Agricultural Land Trust
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.9M · revenue ×13
  • TU
    Trinity University
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.7M · revenue +62%

Funded once

  • MO
    MEALS ON WHEELS
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +19%
  • E3
    EPHESIANS 3 FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • WS
    WILL SMITH ZOO SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $100k
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
Hill Country Alliance

The mission of the Hill Country Alliance is to bring together a diverse coalition of partners to preserve the open spaces, starry night skies, clean and abundant waters, and unique character of the Texas Hill Country.

Environment
2
Houston Botanic Garden

To enrich life through discovery, education, and the conservation of plants and the natural environment.

Environment
3
Texas Tribune Inc

The texas tribune promotes civic engagement and public education across the state by producing and sharing for free public data interactives, statewide events and intensive and daily reporting on texas public policy, politics and current…

Education
4
Coastal Prairie Conservancy

The Coastal Prairie Conservancy (CPC) works to sustain a resilient Texas by preserving coastal prairies, wetlands, farms, and ranches to benefit people and wildlife forever. Continued on Schedule OCPC conserves land, restores and enhances…

Environment
5
Texas a&M Research Foundation

To facilitate research and development within the texas a&m university system and selected other entities.

Education
6
Texas Trees Foundation

The mission of texas trees foundation is to improve the health of cities and people through the transformative power of trees.

—
7
The University of TexasTexas a&M Investment Management Company

To generate superior long-term investment returns to support The University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems as they provide world-class teaching, push the boundaries of discovery, and achieve excellence in patient healthcare for…

Education
8
San Antonio Christian School

Partner with families to provide students a christ-centered education while fostering a life of faith and service. the school desires to associate with like-minded teachers, administrators, staff, parents, and students to communicate the…

—
9
Bexar Land Trust Inc dba Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas

The mission of Bexar Land Trust (Green Spaces) is to sustain the natural environment and enhance urban spaces through land conservation, community engagement, and education.

Environment
10
Texas Land Trust Council

To support texas land trusts and promote land conservation efforts in texas. host texas land conservation conference to educate conservation related professionals and volunteers from across the state.

Environment
11
Southwest Winners Foundation Inc

The mission of Southwest Winners Foundation is to provide an adaptive and effective learning environment that prepares students for success in the workplace and/or college.

Education
12
Texas Association of Business

As the state chamber of commerce, tab is the most influential and dominant voice for public policy issues affecting business in texas. through proven results-oriented advocacy and member services, tab develops a climate in texas which…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Choose to Succeed Inc; the most unlike its peers is Meals On Wheels. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

35 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. 35 of the 69 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/35
Grantees still filing
21/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEXAS WILDLFE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATIO: $2,646,500 · OtherTEXAS WILDLFE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATIOGREAT HEARTS ACADEMIES: $2,625,000 · OtherGREAT HEARTS ACADEMIESTEXAS CAVALIERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATI: $1,005,000 · OtherTEXAS CAVALIERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATITEXAS FACILITIES FUND: $1,000,000 · OtherTEXAS FACILITIES FUNDLEGACY SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDU: $750,000 · OtherLEGACY SCHOOL FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUTEXAS WILDLFE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION: $500,000 · Other+37 more: $2,144,630 · Other+37 moreUniversity of the Incarnate Word: $6,697,500 · EducationUniversity of the Incarnate WordTrinity University: $1,735,000 · EducationTrinity UniversityIDEA Public Schools: $732,000 · EducationIDEA Public SchoolsRIVERWALK EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $340,000 · Education+3 more: $550,000 · Education+3 moreTexas Agricultural Land Trust: $1,911,000 · EnvironmentTexas Agri…FRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS: $362,500 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF…SAN ANTONIO RIVER FOUNDATION: $140,000 · EnvironmentSAN ANTONI…+3 more: $85,000 · EnvironmentCHOOSE TO SUCCEED INC: $1,050,000 · PhilanthropyTHE CHARITY BALL ASSOCIATION OF SAN ANTONIO INC: $500,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $16,000 · PhilanthropyHILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $550,000 · Human ServicesMEALS ON WHEELS: $250,000 · Human Services+2 more: $15,000 · Human ServicesTEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $410,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S ASSOC FOR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL (: $100,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthSAN ANTONIO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $200,000 · AnimalsBORDERLANDS RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $15,000 · AnimalsTexas Foundation for Conservation: $15,000 · Animals
Other$10,671,130Education$10,054,500Environment$2,498,500Philanthropy$1,566,000Human Services$815,000Health$515,000Animals$230,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUniversity of the Incarnate Word: $6,697,500 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTexas Agricultural Land Trust: $1,911,000 over 6y, 6.5% of budgetTrinity University: $1,735,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetIDEA Public Schools: $732,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH: $550,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetTHE CHARITY BALL ASSOCIATION OF SAN ANTONIO INC: $500,000 over 6y, 15% of budgetTEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $410,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS: $362,500 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetRIVERWALK EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $340,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW FRONTIERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $250,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetSAN ANTONIO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $200,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE TEXAS CAVALIERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $175,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetSAN ANTONIO RIVER FOUNDATION: $140,000 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetCHILDREN'S ASSOC FOR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL (: $100,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetCity Kids Adventures: $100,000 over 4y, 8.8% of budgetBobwhite Brigade: $55,000 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetHaven for Hope of Bexar County: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUNSHINE COTTAGE SCHOOL FOR DEAF CHILDREN: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINCARNATE WORD HIGH SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAN ANTONIO MUSEUM OF ART: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOASTAL BEND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $16,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBORDERLANDS RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTexas Foundation for Conservation: $15,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCOMAL COUNTY CONSERVATION ALLIANCE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetWitte Museum: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIDS' MEALS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRanching Heritage Association: $6,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetREACHING MAXIMUM INDEPENDENCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHRIVEWELL CANCER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHeadwaters at Incarnate Word Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% 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 University of the Incarnate Word ↗
  • Who funds Texas Agricultural Land Trust ↗
  • Who funds Trinity University ↗
  • Who funds CHOOSE TO SUCCEED INC ↗
  • Who funds IDEA Public Schools ↗
  • Who funds HILL COUNTRY YOUTH RANCH ↗
  • Who funds THE CHARITY BALL ASSOCIATION OF SAN ANTONIO INC ↗
  • Who funds TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS ↗
  • Who funds RIVERWALK EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS ↗
  • Who funds HARMONY PUBLIC SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds NEW FRONTIERS PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC ↗
  • Who funds SAN ANTONIO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE TEXAS CAVALIERS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAN ANTONIO RIVER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S ASSOC FOR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL ( ↗
  • Who funds City Kids Adventures ↗
  • Who funds Bobwhite Brigade ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC CHARITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Haven for Hope of Bexar County ↗
  • Who funds SUNSHINE COTTAGE SCHOOL FOR DEAF CHILDREN ↗

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.

San Antonio Area Foun…The Ewing Halsell Fou…Mays Family FoundationBetty Stieren Kelso F…Faye L & William L Co…Fb Doane FoundationThe Jeanie Wyatt Fami…The Nancy Wood Moorma…Charitable Foundation…Marcia & Otto Koehler…Pryor Myra Stafford C…Elizabeth Huth Coates…
San Antonio Area FoundationTX27.1× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: San Antonio Area Foundation · The Ewing Halsell Foundation · Mays Family Foundation · Betty Stieren Kelso Foundation · Faye L & William L Cowden Charitable Foundation · Fb Doane Foundation · The Jeanie Wyatt Family Foundation · The Nancy Wood Moorman Foundation · Charitable Foundation Frost F0359600 · Marcia & Otto Koehler Foundation · Pryor Myra Stafford Char Tr F0030100 · Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992

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 Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Elma Dill Russell Spencer 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 69 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 Elma Dill Russell Spencer’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home