Gifts that Give Back, the San Antonio Area Foundation’s 2025 holiday giving guide, connects you with 28 nonprofits transforming our community, one generous gift at a time.
Gifts that Give Back connects you to missions that reflect your values and reveal new opportunities to make a lasting difference.
When you give to a promising nonprofit featured in this guide, you’re helping a vital organization meet a $3,000 goal to carry its mission forward into the new year.
Each gift strengthens capacity, unlocks new partnerships, and fuels lasting change. And that spark between generosity and possibility? That’s holiday magic!
View detailed donation instructions (PDF)
Use the “Donate Directly” link in the information provided for each nonprofit.
After you’ve made your gift(s), we’d love to hear from you—your generosity helps us chart each nonprofit’s progress toward its $3,000 goal.
Every day, local organizations work tirelessly to rescue, heal, and protect animals in need, providing safe shelter, medical care, and loving homes. Your generosity makes this compassion possible. Support the organizations in this guide, curated by our animal care experts, to give every creature a chance at safety, comfort, and dignity. Together, we will create a more humane community—because every life, big or small, deserves care.
Boerne, Texas and Kendall County
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Charming Pet Rescue gives dogs and cats abandoned in Kendall and Bexar Counties and the surrounding areas the chance to find their happily ever after. With the help of staff, fosters, and volunteers, more than 1,200 animals each year find safety and second chances.
New Braunfels, Texas and Comal County
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Each year, the Humane Society of the New Braunfels Area provides care, comfort, and compassion to more than 4,000 homeless pets. They provide lifesaving care and medical treatment, reunite lost pets with families, and help adoptable animals find loving homes.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
For more than 40 years, Last Chance Forever has rescued, rehabilitated, and released injured and orphaned birds of prey across the nation. Each year, up to 300 hawks, owls, falcons, and eagles receive expert care in their San Antonio center.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Primarily Primates is an animal sanctuary providing permanent, lifetime care for more than 300 chimpanzees, lemurs, monkeys, and birds. They offer safe, dignified homes where animals can heal, form social bonds, and live freely.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Petri’s Place rehabilitates native wildlife and educates the public about the vital role these animals play in our ecosystem, providing hands-on care of opossums and other nocturnal friends, community education, and advocacy.
Creative spirit shapes who we are as a community. By supporting local arts and cultural organizations, you help people find their voices, preserve our shared heritage, and keep creativity thriving in every neighborhood. Support the organizations on this curated list and help ensure that San Antonio’s cultural vibrancy shines por vida.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Conjunto Heritage Taller preserves, perpetuates, and celebrates traditional Conjunto music through free intergenerational community classes taught by master musicians, immersive workshops, and vibrant public performances. CHT keeps this cherished South Texas sound alive, connecting generations through music, culture, and community pride.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Founded in 1986, Contemporary at Blue Star is San Antonio’s first and longest-running nonprofit for contemporary art. Through bold exhibitions and free education programs for youth and adults, the Contemporary nurtures artists and invites our community to engage with creativity firsthand.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Magik Theatre creates transformative theatrical experiences that spark curiosity, inspire empathy, and nurture a lifelong love of learning in young people. Since its inception in 1994, Magik Theatre has used imaginative storytelling and inclusive programming to empower more than 3 million children, families, and educators to build a brighter, more equitable world.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
The San Pedro Playhouse produces professional, transformative theater that reflects and unites our community. As South Texas’s longest-running theater, it continues a century-long legacy of championing “theater for all” through powerful performances and arts education.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
For more than 5 decades, URBAN-15 has inspired creativity and connection through music, movement, and media. Blending traditional Latino culture with contemporary art and technology, URBAN-15 cultivates talent, imagination, and inclusion across San Antonio.
Aging is universal—and with care, it is joyful, too! From accessible transportation to social connection, we can help older adults live with dignity, purpose, and connection. Invest in the organizations in this guide to empower older adults, strengthen caregiver networks, and ensure every generation benefits from a true longevity dividend.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Each year, I Care San Antonio provides comprehensive eye care to more than 2,000 people living in poverty. Guided by a Christ-centered mission, the organization serves children, seniors, and veterans through specialized programs delivered by over 40 volunteer optometrists and ophthalmologists, ensuring everyone receives the gift of clear vision and the dignity it brings.
San Antonio, Texas and surrounding counties
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Meals on Wheels San Antonio nourishes and cares for seniors across Bexar and surrounding counties. Each weekday, together with community partners, volunteers and staff deliver more than 4,000 meals—along with companionship, safety checks, and compassion—to help older and disabled adults remain independent in their homes.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Northeast Senior Assistance helps older adults live independently by providing free transportation and support services. Providing more than 7,000 trips annually, volunteers reflect God’s love through companionship and care by driving seniors to appointments, staying with them during visits, and ensuring they return home safely.
San Antonio, Texas
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Project MEND refurbishes and reuses medical equipment to improve the quality of life for people living with disabilities and illnesses. By providing essential tools for mobility and independence, Project MEND helps thousands across Texas overcome barriers to health and self-sufficiency, ensuring access to the equipment they need to thrive.
Bandera, Texas and Bandera County
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Bandera County’s primary food distribution service, Silver Sage delivers nearly 300 meals daily across 81-mile routes while also providing affordable senior housing, healthcare outreach, benefits enrollment, social support, and veterans’ services.
More than 110,000 children in Bexar County live in poverty, growing up with limited access to opportunity. Together, we can bridge this opportunity gap by supporting organizations that eliminate food insecurity, expand education and leadership programs, and revive community spaces. Champion these expert-curated organizations to help every child learn and grow on their pathway to success.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Autism Community Network empowers autistic children and the people who love them to achieve big futures. Through accessible early diagnosis, innovative and evidence-based therapy, education, and community support, ACN is concentrated on helping children and their support systems to reach their full potential in an inclusive and neuroaffirming community.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
The Lemonade Circle empowers young women of color, particularly Black girls in 5th grade and beyond, to become confident leaders and changemakers. Through mentorship, education, service, and personal development, the organization helps girls turn life’s “lemons” into sweet opportunities to make a positive impact on their communities.
San Antonio, Austin, and the Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Project Transformation empowers children, college students, and communities through faith-based learning and service. Each year, 45 young adults lead literacy and enrichment programs for 250+ children across South Texas, building confidence and connection.
Seguin, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Teatro De Artes De Juan Seguin preserves and celebrates Mexican American and Tejano heritage through Ballet Folklórico, Mariachi, and traditional arts. Its educational programs and cultural events foster learning, leadership, and cultural pride across generations and nurture future artists and leaders while keeping rich traditions alive and empowering the community.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Thrive Youth Center empowers LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness by providing safe shelter, compassionate support, and resources for lasting independence. With a vision for an equitable community where all LGBTQ+ young adults can flourish, Thrive creates a space where every young person is seen, respected, and encouraged to pursue their future with confidence.
Too many of our neighbors face daily barriers to stability: housing insecurity, hunger, and limited access to health and human services. Every family deserves the security not just to survive, but to thrive. Together, we can build more resilient communities by supporting the organizations in this guide that restore dignity, meet urgent needs, and create lasting pathways out of poverty.
San Antonio, Texas Bandera, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Arthur Nagel Community Clinic provides low-cost primary and preventive healthcare for low-income residents of Bandera County, offering medical care, behavioral health counseling, prescription assistance, and wellness education.
San Antoino, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Corazón Ministries serves San Antonio’s unhoused and marginalized neighbors with compassion and dignity. Through meals, healthcare, and community connection, the organization meets immediate needs while fostering stability and hope.
San Antoino, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
The Food Policy Council of San Antonio promotes food accessibility and sustainability by uniting community voices to build a just, healthy, and resilient local food system. They advance policies that support fresh, affordable, and nutritious food for all.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Fuerza Unida empowers women workers and their families to achieve social, economic, and environmental justice through education, organizing, and advocacy. The organization advances fair labor rights and provides training, support, and community resources to ensure workers have the knowledge and power to build stronger, more equitable futures.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Jewish Family Service of San Antonio strengthens individuals and families through accessible mental health counseling, social services, and education. Guided by Jewish values of compassion and community care, JFS helps people of all backgrounds improve their well-being and quality of life.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
San Antonio Christian Dental Clinic provides high-quality dental care at no cost to low-income and homeless adults throughout Bexar County. Guided by Christ’s healing mission, the clinic helps restore each patient’s health, confidence, and dignity through compassionate care.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
Through housing, counseling, education, and parenting support, Seton Home empowers pregnant and parenting teen mothers to heal from trauma and form healthy bonds with their children. With compassion and guidance, Seton Home helps break the cycle of abuse and poverty so mothers can create safe, self-sufficient futures.
San Antonio, Texas
Website | Donate Directly | Donate Through Your Fund
TEAMability empowers individuals with disabilities to reach their potential through collaborative, hands-on physical, occupational, and speech therapy. In partnership with expert therapists, special educators, families, and communities, TEAMability creates joyful, meaningful, and inclusive learning experiences that foster confidence and independence.
Consider making a gift through a San Antonio Area Foundation fund to support even more of the organizations, students, and storytellers who strengthen San Antonio every day.
A gift of $10,000 to our five Impact Area funds—Animal Services, Cultural Vibrancy, Livable and Resilient Communities, Successful Aging, and Youth Success—helps local partners expand programs and deliver measurable results.
A gift of $10,000 to the Scholarship Support Fund helps deserving students remove financial barriers and reach their full potential in their pursuit of higher education.
A gift of $5,000 to the Local News Fund sustains nonprofit journalism and keeps trusted, unbiased news accessible to everyone in our community.
Save and share the full holiday giving guide with family and friends.
Ideas and prompts to help you and your family use this holiday guide.
Call 210-782-8118 or email DonorServices@saafdn.org to speak with a philanthropic advisor about allocating your preferred grant(s).
