· Private foundation
Mervin Bovaird 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k18 grants · $93k
- $10k–50k46 grants · $801k
- $50k–250k6 grants · $480k
- $250k+2 grants · $594k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Philbrook Museum of Art Inc | $330,000 |
| University of Tulsa | $264,000 |
| Oklahoma State University Foundation | $140,000 |
| Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma | $80,000 |
| The Nature Conservancy | $75,000 |
| University of Oklahoma - Tulsa | $75,000 |
| Reading Partners | $60,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $50,000 |
| Tulsa Community Foundation | $45,000 |
| Tulsa Tough Inc | $40,000 |
| Eden Village of Tulsa | $40,000 |
| Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa Inc | $30,000 |
| Tulsa Zoo Management Inc | $25,000 |
| Stand in the Gap Ministries | $25,000 |
| First Tee of Tulsa Inc | $25,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.
122 repeat relationships: 66 still active in FY2024, 56 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
The University of Tulsa8× · 2017–2024 · $2.4M · revenue +8%
THE PHILBROOK MUSEUM OF ART INC2× · 2022–2024 · $410k · revenue +54%- OSOklahoma State University Foundation6× · 2017–2024 · $325k · revenue +46%
Funded once
- GMGilcrease Museumone grant, 2019 · $100k
- UOUNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA FOUNDATION INCone grant, 2023 · $75k · revenue -115%
- UOUniversity of Oklahomaone grant, 2021 · $75k
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.
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.
Provide the poor of the city of tulsa, oklahoma an opportunity to improve their quality of life through guidance and training in the areas of education, employment, family skills, healthcare, housing, socialization and spirituality.
To inspire children, connect families, and build community through exploration, exhibits, programming, and play.
To improve the lives of children and youth in oklahoma's child welfare system by providing resources and building community.
The tulsa regional chamber transforms the tulsa region by attracting and retaining employers, talent and tourism for long-term prosperity.
The operation of a public charter school in the tulsa area with the mission to equip all scholars with the academic skills, content knowledge, and ethical character required for college graduation and life success.
To prepare students for college through a rigorous arts infused program.
The tulsa area united way unites people and resources to improve lives and strengthen our communities.
To support community efforts to provide a greater supply of affordable housing in tulsa county and the surrounding area.
Goodwill empowers people to reach their full potential through work opportunities, training, and support services.
The mission of tsas middle and high school is to provide students a multi-strand liberal arts education in a safe, supportive, individualized and challenging school environment through a college preparatory curriculum.
The Tulsa SPCA's mission is to improve the lives of dogs and cats, and their human companions.
To promote ethical conduct among attorneys, to advance the effective administration of our judicial system, to ensure equal access to justice for all citizens and to engender respect for the legal profession, the law and the governing…
How this is measured
111 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. 111 of the 175 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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.
- Who funds The University of Tulsa ↗
- Who funds TULSA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds TULSA DAY CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds THE PHILBROOK MUSEUM OF ART INC ↗
- Who funds Oklahoma State University Foundation ↗
- Who funds Tulsa ToughInc ↗
- Who funds READING PARTNERS ↗
- Who funds NEWVIEW OKLAHOMA INC ↗
- Who funds Clarehouse Inc ↗
- Who funds TULSA BALLET THEATRE INC ↗
- Who funds The Town & Country School Inc ↗
- Who funds CROSSOVER COMMUNITY IMPACT INC ↗
- Who funds COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA INC ↗
- Who funds Child Abuse Network Inc dba Child Advocacy Network ↗
- Who funds LITTLE LIGHT HOUSE INC ↗
- Who funds STAND IN THE GAP INC ↗
- Who funds DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTERVENTION SERVICES ↗
- Who funds Mental Health Association in Tulsa Inc dba Mental Health Association Oklahoma ↗
- Who funds Fab Lab Tulsa Inc ↗
- Who funds TULSA OPERA INC ↗
- Who funds IRON GATE INC ↗
- Who funds CHAMBER MUSIC TULSA ↗
- Who funds PHILOS HOSPITALITY INC ↗
- Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA INC ↗
- Who funds LEGAL AID SERVICES OF OKLAHOMA INC ↗
- Who funds NEIGHBOR FOR NEIGHBOR INC ↗
- Who funds JOHN 316 MISSION ↗
- Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
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: The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation · The Gelvin Foundation · The Hardesty Family Foundation Inc · George Kaiser Family Foundation · Ralph and Frances McGill Foundation the Trust Company of Oklahoma · Grace & Franklin Bernsen Foundation · The Sharna and Irvin Frank Foundation · Tulsa Community Foundation · Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation · Oneok Foundation Inc · One Gas Foundation Inc · Morningcrest Healthcare Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Mervin Bovaird Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mervin Bovaird Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Newview Oklahoma Inc: 45% of income from government
- Domestic Violence Intervention Services: 15% of income from government
- Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma Inc: 13% of income from government
- Tulsa Community Foundation: 11% of income from government
- Tulsa Day Center Inc: 9% of income from government
- Youth Services of Tulsa Inc: 8% of income from government
- Mental Health Association in Tulsa Inc dba Mental Health Association Oklahoma: 8% of income from government
- The University of Tulsa: 5% of income from government
- The Philbrook Museum of Art Inc: 4% of income from government
- Ywca Tulsa Inc: 3% of income from government
- Oklahoma Arts Institute Inc: 1% of income from government
- Family & Childrens Services Inc: 1% of income from government
- Tulsa Habitat for Humanity Inc: 0% of income from government
- Global Gardens Incorporated: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Mervin Bovaird’s filings →