Texas · Private foundation
The Marilyn and Sonny Oates 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.
- $9.7M
- Granted FY2020
- 13
- Grants FY2020
- 13
- Organizations funded FY2020
- 54%
- First-time grantees FY2020
Read this first · the figures below need context
93% of The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Communities Foundation Of Texas Inc, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 10 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 5 organizations, $10M. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2020
- $25,000
- Largest grant, FY2020
- $7,000,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 11 to 16
- FY2017 to FY2020
- States reached, FY2020
- 2
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2020, 54% of the organizations The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 97% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2020, 3% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9.4M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | 13 | $9.7M | 54% |
| FY2019 | 11 | $400k | 27% |
| FY2018 | 11 | $320k | 55% |
| FY2017 | 16 | $580k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medialliance International Inc | $1,350,000 | 2 | 83% |
| The Salvation Army | $200,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Crystal Charity Ball | $200,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Child Protective Services Community Partners Inc | $180,000 | 4 | 2% |
| Samaritan's Purse | $120,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Children's Health System of Texas | $100,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Stars Scholarship Fund | $100,000 | 4 | 5% |
| Mercy Street | $50,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Boy Scouts of America 571 Circle Ten Council | $50,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Patriot Paws Service Dogs | $50,000 | 1 | 3% |
Show all 26 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 19 recipients with no EIN on record ($10M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 22 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · The Dallas Foundation · Texas Instruments Foundation · Hoblitzelle Foundation · W P & Bulah Luse Foundation · The Moody Foundation · Community Foundation of North Texas (Tax · Marilyn Augur Family Foundation · Arkay Foundation Inc · Hegi Family Foundation · The Bill & Katie Weaver Charitable Trust · The Rosewood Foundation
How this is measured
Compare The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation with peer funders
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Marilyn and Sonny Oates 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.
About The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation
- How much does The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation give?
- The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation reported 13 grants totaling $9,670,000 in its FY2020 IRS filing. It funded between 11 and 16 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2020.
- What does The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (45%), Religion (37%), Health (8%).
- Who are The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Medialliance International Inc ($1.4M), The Salvation Army ($200k), The Crystal Charity Ball ($200k).
- Does The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2020, 54% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Communities Foundation of Texas Inc, The Dallas Foundation, Texas Instruments Foundation.
- Where is The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation based?
- The Marilyn and Sonny Oates Foundation is based in TX.
Play a game based on Marilyn and Sonny Oates’ filings →