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The Seawell Elam Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Seawell Elam Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$111k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$11k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Youth Development$168kHuman Services$118kArts & Culture$95kEducation$95kEnvironment$73kFood & Nutrition$50kHousing & Shelter$50kHealth$30kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS$11,000
LIFEWORKS AUSTIN$10,000
AVANCE$10,000
PEAS OFFICE (PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY)$10,000
WELCOME TABLE$10,000
GIRLSTART$10,000
KIPP$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
CREATIVE ACTION$10,000
COLLEGE POSSIBLE$10,000
AUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR$10,000
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 (FY20–25, $81k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%LIFEWORKS AUSTIN: $10k → 10%LIFEWORKS AUSTIN: $10k → 10%LIFEWORKS AUSTIN: $10k → 10%FOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $11k → 10%FOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $10k → 10%OPEN DOOR PRESCHOOLS: $10k → 10%FOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $10k → 10%OPEN DOOR PRESCHOOLS: $10k → 10%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.

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$467k · 21 repeat orgs$345k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
28

Total granted

$467k
$285k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+10%

Still filing today

76%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 46% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentEnvironmentRecreation & 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

  • FA
    FOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2025 · $31k · revenue +64%
  • YA
    YOUTH AND FAMILY ALLIANCE
    3× · 2020–2025 · $30k · revenue +49%
  • G
    GENAUSTIN
    3× · 2020–2024 · $30k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • TU
    THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
    one grant, 2024 · $15k
  • AC
    ATX CHAMBER MUSIC AND JAZZ
    one grant, 2024 · $15k · revenue -51%
  • AB
    ANY BABY CAN OF AUSTIN INC
    one grant, 2024 · $12k · revenue 0%
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
Leadership Austin

Leadership austin connects and develops leaders to courageously engage and transform our communities.

Youth Development
2
Good Work Austin

Good Work Austin's mission is to foster healthy careers in the local food and beverage industry through professional development and advocacy for more equitable practices.

Public Benefit
3
Austin Together Fund

Austin together enables sustained collaborations that strengthen the nonprofit community to create better outcomes for central texans through our unique grant and community engagement model.

Community Improvement
4
Austin Justice Coalition

Austin Justice Coalition educates, organizes, and empowers communities in Austin to build racial equity and dismantle systems of oppression through advocacy, policy change, and community programs.

Human Services
5
Teen and Family Services Austin

Teen and Family Services Austin provides counseling and education on an individual as well as group basis to provide support to parents and teens who are coping with teen high risk behavior.

—
6
Austin Partners in Education

Apie provides college and career readiness support through individualized academic and mentoring programs to prepare students for success.

Education
7
Austin Creative Alliance

The mission of Austin Creative Alliance is to advance, connect, and celebrate Austin's arts, culture, and creative communities in order to nourish and strengthen the character, quality of life, and economic prosperity of our region.

Arts & Culture
8
Friends of the Children - Austin

Friends of the children - austin is a texas based nonprofit with the mission of impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors - 12+ years,no matter…

Youth Development
9
Center for Austin Independent Journalism

To equip Austinites to make informed decisions through independent, in-depth reporting, diverse opinions, and civil dialogue. A strong local press is essential for a healthy community and democracy. We work to make Austin a more empowered…

Arts & Culture
10
Atx Helps

ATX Helps was created to fill gaps in the spectrum of services available to people in Austin who are experiencing homelessness.

Human Services
11
Austin Coming Together

To increase the collective impact of our member organization on improving education economic development outcomes within the Austin Community.

Education
12
Atx Kids Club

ATX KIDS CLUB's mission is to empower youth through educational adventures that promote independence, confidence, and a deeper connection to their community - one field trip at a time.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Center for Child Protection; the most unlike its peers is Families in Nature. 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

38 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. 38 of the 55 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
29/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SAFE ALLIANCE: $25,000 · OtherTHE SAFE ALLIANCEAUSTIN BAT CAVE: $20,000 · OtherAUSTIN BAT CAVEFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN: $20,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE CHILDRENUTEACH: $20,000 · OtherUTEACHAUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETY: $20,000 · OtherAUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETYPEAS OFFICE (PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY): $20,000 · OtherPEAS OFFICE (PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION AGRICULTURE AND…ASSISTANCE LEAGUE AUSTIN: $20,000 · OtherASSISTANCE LEAGUE AUSTINTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $15,000 · OtherJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $20,000 · OtherJEREMIAH PROGRAM+19 more: $187,000 · Other+19 moreFOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS FOUNDATION: $31,000 · Human ServicesFOSTER ANGELS O…YOUTH AND FAMILY ALLIANCE: $30,000 · Human ServicesYOUTH AND FAMIL…GENAUSTIN: $30,000 · Human ServicesGENAUSTINOPEN DOOR PRESCHOOL: $20,000 · Human ServicesOPEN DOOR PRESC…Creative Action: $30,000 · Arts & CultureCreative Acti…BALLET AUSTIN INCORPORATED: $20,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET AUSTIN…ATX CHAMBER MUSIC AND JAZZ: $15,000 · Arts & CultureATX CHAMBER M…AUSTIN THEATRE ALLIANCE: $10,000 · Arts & CultureAUSTIN THEATR…Austin Film Festival Inc: $10,000 · Arts & CultureAustin Film F…ZACHARY SCOTT THEATRE CENTER: $10,000 · Arts & CultureZACHARY SCOTT…BREAKTHROUGH: $20,000 · EducationBREAKTHROU…AUSTIN EXPLORE INC: $18,300 · EducationAUSTIN EXP…AUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $10,000 · EducationAUSTIN ACH…COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $10,000 · EducationCOMMUNITIE…COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $10,000 · EducationCOLLEGE PO…SEEDLING FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationSEEDLING F…AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH: $25,000 · EnvironmentKEEP AUSTIN BEAUTIFUL INC: $17,500 · EnvironmentFAMILIES IN NATURE: $10,000 · EnvironmentTravis Audubon Society Inc: $7,500 · EnvironmentAUSTIN YOUTH & COMMUNITY FARM INC DBA URBAN ROOTS: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentUprise Circus: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentAUSTIN YMBL SUNSHINE CAMP: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsGIRLSTART: $10,000 · Recreation & SportsPease Park Conservancy: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$367,000Human Services$111,000Arts & Culture$95,000Education$78,300Environment$60,000Youth Development$60,000Recreation & Sports$40,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFOSTER ANGELS OF CENTRAL TEXAS FOUNDATION: $31,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetYOUTH AND FAMILY ALLIANCE: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGENAUSTIN: $30,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCreative Action: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetAUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH: $25,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetTHE SAFE ALLIANCE: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETY: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetAUSTIN YOUTH & COMMUNITY FARM INC DBA URBAN ROOTS: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN YMBL SUNSHINE CAMP: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetBALLET AUSTIN INCORPORATED: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOPEN DOOR PRESCHOOL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN EXPLORE INC: $18,300 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetKEEP AUSTIN BEAUTIFUL INC: $17,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetATX CHAMBER MUSIC AND JAZZ: $15,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetANY BABY CAN OF AUSTIN INC: $12,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAUSTIN ACHIEVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAUSTIN THEATRE ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAMSON COUNTY CRISIS CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCamp Fire Central Texas: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF CENTRAL TEXAS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR CHILD PROTECTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAustin Film Festival Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFAMILIES IN NATURE: $10,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetZACHARY SCOTT THEATRE CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCARITAS OF AUSTIN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPease Park Conservancy: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFOUNDATION COMMUNITIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEEDLING FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTravis Audubon Society Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetAUSTIN AREA ART FROM THE STREETS: $5,000 over 1y, 1.8% 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.

Austin Community Foun…Better Business BureauShield-Ayres Foundati…Topfer Family Foundat…The Applied Materials…St David's FoundationThe Moody FoundationUnited Way for Greate…Alice Kleberg Reynold…The Powell FoundationThe Webber Family Fou…Impact Austin Foundat…
Austin Community Foundation IncTX51.1× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Austin Community Foundation Inc · Better Business Bureau · Shield-Ayres Foundation · Topfer Family Foundation · The Applied Materials Foundation · St David's Foundation · The Moody Foundation · United Way for Greater Austin · Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundat A0479800 · The Powell Foundation · The Webber Family Foundation · Impact Austin 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 The Seawell Elam Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Seawell Elam Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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.

    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 55 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 Seawell Elam’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