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Semmes Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Semmes Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$272k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$250k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$35MPhilanthropy$6.2MArts & Culture$832kEnvironment$250kHuman Services$85kHealth$65kFood & Nutrition$50kScience & Tech$49kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $4k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $18k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$2,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA$250,000
MCNAY ART MUSEUM$18,300
TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION$2,000
TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE$1,150
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO$500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN: $4k → 10%PHILANTHROPY SOUTHWEST: $2k → 14%MCNAY ART MUSEUM: $151k → 16%THE SANTA FE OPERA: $10k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: $215k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN: $22k → 10%MCNAY ART MUSEUM: $18k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN: $20k → 10%SNIPSA SAN ANTONIO SPAY-NEUTER: $10k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN: $5k → 10%MCNAY ART MUSEUM: $3k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN: $2k → 10%UNITED WAY SAN ANTONIO: $150k → 16%TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%UNITED WAY SAN ANTONIO: $100k → 16%TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%SAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $2.5M → 16%TEXAS BAR FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%SAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $1.8M → 16%SAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 16%SAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $750k → 16%OUR LADY OF THE LAKE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 16%ALAMO COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $100k → 16%OUR LADY OF THE LAKE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 16%OPERA SAN ANTONIO: $5k → 16%CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF SAN ANTONIO FOUNDATIOIN: $20k → 16%TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $11k → 16%SAN ANTONIO CHRISTIAN HOPE RESOURCE CENTER: $5k → 16%OPERA SAN ANTONIO: $25k → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $26.5M → 16%SAN ANTONIO ACADEMY OF TEXAS: $5.0M → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $650k → 16%MCNAY ART MUSEUM: $253k → 16%MCNAY ART MUSEUM: $250k → 16%BRACKENRIDGE PARK CONSERVANCY: $250k → 16%CHILDRENS BEREAVEMENT CENTER: $75k → 16%THE SAN ANTONIO LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $70k → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $50k → 16%MCNAY ART MUSEUM: $15k → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $10k → 16%TRINITY UNIVERSITY: $10k → 16%MEALS ON WHEELS SAN ANTONIO: $50k → 16%UT HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER - SA: $26k → 16%BLESSED SACRAMENT ACADEMY: $8k → 16%TEXAS DIAPER BANK: $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.
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$30M · 12 repeat orgs$5.7M to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
15

Total granted

$30M
$5.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+48%

Still filing today

58%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHealthCrime & LegalPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • TU
    Trinity University
    4× · 2019–2024 · $27M · revenue +66%
  • TO
    THE OPERA SAN ANTONIO DBA OPERA SAN AN
    2× · 2019–2023 · $30k · revenue +61%
  • TB
    TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    6× · 2019–2025 · $16k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • SA
    SAN ANTONIO ACADEMY OF TEXASgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5.0M · revenue +45% · 41% of their budget
  • BP
    Brackenridge Park Conservancygraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +29% · 31% of their budget
  • AC
    ALAMO COLLEGES FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue +236%
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
San Antonio Medical Foundation

The mission of the san antonio medical foundation is to improvehealth care, advance biomedical science, and enhance communitywell-being by providing leadership & active stewardship of our landand other assets.

Health
2
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
3
San Antonio Automobile Dealers Association Foundation Inc
—
4
Witte Museum

The witte museum inspires people to shape the future of texas through transformative and relevant experiences in nature, science and culture.

Arts & Culture
5
Texas a&M San Antonio Foundation

To furnish Texas AM University-San Antonio with provisions for future and perpetual financial support for its students to help them succeed during college and in the future as valuable contributing members of the community

Education
6
Texas Medical Association

The texas medical association (tma), the nation's largest and one of the oldest state medical societies, represents over 59,000 physicians and medical students dedicated to enhancing the health of all texans. in collaboration with 110…

—
7
San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts

The mission of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts shall be to establish and maintain a museum in order to house and exhibit a permanent collection of art as well as to provide space for traveling exhibitions, for the purpose of the…

Arts & Culture
8
Tennis Officials of San Antonio Association
Recreation & Sports
9
Uatx

Uatx is a nonprofit dedicated to building a liberal arts university committed to freedom of inquiry, freedom of conscience, and civil discourse. to maintain these principles, the university will be fiercely independent financially,…

Education
10
Symphony Society of San Antonio

The san antonio symphony's mission is to delight, engage, and inspire the entire community through excellent performance, education, and outreach

—
11
Site Santa Fe

Guided by artists, rooted in new mexico, site santa fe celebrates contemporary creative expression.

Arts & Culture
12
The Montessori School of San Antonio

The montessori school of san antonio (mssa) guides children to be passionate learners, independent thinkers, and engaged citizens. through the guiding principles of montessori curriculum and the school culture, children develop critical…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Antonio Area Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Texas Diaper Bank. 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

19 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. 19 of the 28 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/19
Grantees still filing
15/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Trinity University: $27,221,000 · EducationTrinity University+2 more: $300,000 · EducationSAN ANTONIO ACADEMY OF TEXAS: $5,000,000 · OtherSAN ANTONIO ACADEMY…THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: $1,965,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF A…UNITED WAY SAN ANTONIO: $250,000 · Other+10 more: $233,000 · OtherSAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $6,050,000 · PhilanthropySAN ANTONIO AREA…+1 more: $2,300 · PhilanthropyMCNAY ART MUSEUM: $689,600 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Arts & CultureSAN ANTONIO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $70,000 · Arts & CultureTHE OPERA SAN ANTONIO DBA OPERA SAN AN: $30,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $10,000 · Arts & CultureBrackenridge Park Conservancy: $250,000 · Recreation & SportsCHRISTUS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $20,000 · HealthTEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $16,300 · HealthTEXAS DIAPER BANK: $5,000 · HealthTexas Bar Foundation: $14,000 · Crime & Legal
Education$27,521,000Other$7,448,000Philanthropy$6,052,300Arts & Culture$899,600Recreation & Sports$250,000Health$41,300Crime & Legal$14,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTrinity University: $27,221,000 over 4y, 7.8% of budgetSAN ANTONIO AREA FOUNDATION: $6,050,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetSAN ANTONIO ACADEMY OF TEXAS: $5,000,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetMCNAY ART MUSEUM: $689,600 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetBrackenridge Park Conservancy: $250,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetOUR LADY OF THE LAKE UNIVERSITY OF SAN ANTONIO: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALAMO COLLEGES FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSAN ANTONIO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS SAN ANTONIO: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE OPERA SAN ANTONIO DBA OPERA SAN AN: $30,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetCHRISTUS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $16,300 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTexas Bar Foundation: $14,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS DIAPER BANK: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPHILANTHROPY SOUTHWEST: $2,300 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOUTHWEST SCHOOL OF ART: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% 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.

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.

Elizabeth Huth Coates…Impetus FoundationCharitable Foundation…Betty Stieren Kelso F…Nancy Smith Hurd Foun…San Antonio Area Foun…Fb Doane FoundationJohn R & Greli N Less…The Texas Cavaliers C…Pryor Myra Stafford C…Faye L & William L Co…Shell USA Company Fou…
Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992TX22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992 · Impetus Foundation · Charitable Foundation Frost F0359600 · Betty Stieren Kelso Foundation · Nancy Smith Hurd Foundation · San Antonio Area Foundation · Fb Doane Foundation · John R & Greli N Less Charitable Trust #FE324 · The Texas Cavaliers Charitable Foundation · Pryor Myra Stafford Char Tr F0030100 · Faye L & William L Cowden Charitable Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation

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 Semmes Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Semmes Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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 Semmes Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Semmes Foundation Inc 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 28 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Semmes’ 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