Oklahoma · Private foundation
Mary Lou Lemon Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $594k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 9
- Grants FY2025
- 13
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 31%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $431,608
- Organizations funded a year
- 2 to 13
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 5
- Total assets, FY2025
- $44k
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 31% of the organizations Mary Lou Lemon Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 44% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $49k 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 9 | $594k | 44% |
| FY2024 | 13 | $109k | 31% |
| FY2023 | 10 | $99k | 80% |
| FY2022 | 13 | $255k | 54% |
| FY2021 | 3 | $22k | 33% |
| FY2020 | 2 | $1k | 50% |
| FY2019 | 6 | $9k | 0% |
| FY2018 | 12 | $40k | 67% |
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 FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| VOICE Education Fund | $27,450 | 5 | 14% |
| University Place Christian Church | $21,000 | 2 | n/a |
| American Pops Orchestra | $20,000 | 1 | 1% |
| American Journalism Project Inc | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Dona Ana Village Association | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Could You | $20,000 | 2 | 2% |
| Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Inc | $17,700 | 5 | n/a |
| Congressional Chorus | $15,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc | $15,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Museum of the Palestinian People | $13,000 | 2 | 3% |
Show all 25 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| VOICE Education Fund | $27,450 | 5 | 14% |
| University Place Christian Church | $21,000 | 2 | n/a |
| American Pops Orchestra | $20,000 | 1 | 1% |
| American Journalism Project Inc | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Dona Ana Village Association | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Could You | $20,000 | 2 | 2% |
| Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Inc | $17,700 | 5 | n/a |
| Congressional Chorus | $15,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc | $15,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Museum of the Palestinian People | $13,000 | 2 | 3% |
| Pvblic Foundation Inc | $12,500 | 1 | 0% |
| Phillips Theological Seminary Corporation | $11,500 | 2 | 0% |
| African Indians of the 5 Civilized Tribes Foundation | $11,000 | 2 | n/a |
| National City Christian Church | $11,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Oklahoma Observer Democracy Foundation | $10,850 | 5 | n/a |
| Tulsa Inclusive Entertainment Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Trevor Project Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Artrandi Company | $8,000 | 1 | n/a |
| LGBTQ Victory Institute Inc | $6,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Oklahoma Faith Network Inc | $5,800 | 3 | n/a |
| Juice Radio Show | $2,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Education and Recreation Inc | $2,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Chase Your Dream Youth Sports Inc | $1,000 | 1 | n/a |
| First Christian Church | $350 | 1 | n/a |
| Sally's List | $250 | 1 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 16 recipients with no EIN on record ($860k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Mary Lou Lemon Foundation supplied at peak.
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: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Mary Lou Lemon Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Mary Lou Lemon 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 Mary Lou Lemon Foundation
- How much does Mary Lou Lemon Foundation give?
- Mary Lou Lemon Foundation reported 9 grants totaling $593,708 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 2 and 13 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Mary Lou Lemon Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Religion (41%), Public Benefit (13%), Arts & Culture (12%).
- Who are Mary Lou Lemon Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: VOICE Education Fund ($27k), University Place Christian Church ($21k), American Pops Orchestra ($20k).
- Does Mary Lou Lemon Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 31% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Mary Lou Lemon 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 Mary Lou Lemon Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Amazonsmile Foundation.
- Where is Mary Lou Lemon Foundation based?
- Mary Lou Lemon Foundation is based in OK.
Play a game based on Mary Lou Lemon’s filings →