Nevada · Nonprofit
ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION
ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION (Nevada) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,209,193 to it, the largest being COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION ($1,050,695). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $53M
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $314M
What Alexander Dawson Foundation does
Mission
The mission of the Alexander Dawson Foundation is to establish, operate and maintain an educational organization that will provide students with the highest quality education, nurture future leaders, prepare young adults to excel in college and society, and develop the self-respect, self-discipline, and self-reliance of each student by stressing the value of hard work and personal responsibility and respect for authority.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The alexander dawson school in boulder county, colorado, a $68.2 million facility built by the Alexander Dawson Foundation in 1970, provides challenging and relevant learning to 517 students in kindergarten through grade 12 to become creative, resilient problem-solvers who bring their best to the world.during the 2024-2025 school year, the school provided $2,163,312 in financial aid to 83 deserving and talented students who otherwise would not have been able to afford a dawson education. In june 2025, the school awarded diplomas to 66 graduates, who were accepted to such colleges as colorado school of mines, columbia university, university of california (los angeles), university of southern california, university of wisconsin (madison), and willamette university and were offered $8.41 million in scholarships. In addition, the school owned and operated a summer camp, open to the public, in 2024-2025 that offered instruction in sports, arts, technology, specialty camps and more for 2,525 boys and girls.
$16,990,860 spentof which $2,163,312 as grants$19,575,902 earned by the program56% of program spendingThe alexander dawson school at rainbow mountain in las vegas, nevada, a $46.1 million facility built by the Alexander Dawson Foundation in 2000, provides a nurturing learning community for 581 students in pre-school through grade eight that challenges students to achieve excellence in mind, body, and character. During the 2024-2025 school year, the school provided $1,643,821 in financial aid to 95 deserving and talented students who otherwise would not have been able to afford a dawson education. In june 2025, the school graduated 56 eighth graders, who have gone on to attend local public and independent high schools, as well as, such boarding schools as rowland hall and the thacher school.
$12,991,201 spentof which $1,643,821 as grants$17,398,289 earned by the program43% of program spendingThe Alexander Dawson Foundation supports the dawson summer initiative (colorado). This program consists of a summer and a year-round mentoring program. The program provides enriching, intellectual opportunities for high-achieving public middle school and high schools students at no cost to the participants.dawson summer initiative is an enrichment program for high-achieving public school students currently in grades 6 and 7. 156 students from over 35 public schools in boulder county and surrounding areas attended 2-5 weeks of intensively collaborative, hands-on study of a particular theme. The program is held at the colorado campus and provides opportunities for inquisitive students to meet other students from many different schools, delve into one of the most talked about topics in the news, and identify real-world solutions.
$383,564 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $30,365,625.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $282M to $319M (+13%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
3% of ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Kimberley Johnston
Trustee, chairman & treasurer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $352k → $450k.
16 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 33% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
86% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 84% · 2018 56% · 2019 47% · 2020 43% · 2021 42% · 2022 31% · 2023 27% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
59% of ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
76% of ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $786k that is directly attributable, 54% of it comes from funders outside Nevada, across 8 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Nevada
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- The Alexander Dawson School LLC · disregarded
- The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain LLC · disregarded
- Hko LLC · disregarded
- Hko Blue Diamond LLC · disregarded
- Alexander Dawson Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION?
- ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION (Nevada) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,209,193 to it, the largest being COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION ($1,050,695). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $3,209,193 in grants to ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION?
- COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,050,695 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Nevada. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Alexander Dawson →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 33 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing