How much does The Fondren Foundation give?

The Fondren Foundation reported 74 itemized grants totaling $12,559,361, out of $13,630,193 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2021 IRS filing. It funded between 69 and 73 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2021.

What does The Fondren Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2021, its largest causes are Health (11%), Education (6%), Arts & Culture (4%).

Who are The Fondren Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2020 to FY2021: The Methodist Hospital Foundation ($4.1M), St Francis Episcopal Day School ($900k), The Museum of Fine Arts Houston ($890k).

Does The Fondren Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2021, 45% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Does The Fondren Foundation accept unsolicited applications?

Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.

Which funders back the same organizations as The Fondren Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Greater Houston Community Foundation, Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, The Brown Foundation Inc.

Where is The Fondren Foundation based?

The Fondren Foundation is based in TX.

Foundation Dossiers

Texas · Private foundation

The Fondren Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$14M
Granted FY2021: 74
Itemized grants FY2021: 73
Organizations funded FY2021: 45%
First-time grantees FY2021

Read the full brief

Itemized, FY2021: $13M; The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2021: $100,000
Largest grant, FY2021: $2,600,000
Organizations funded a year: 69 to 73; FY2020 to FY2021
States reached, FY2021: 3
Total assets, FY2021: $217M
Applications: Takes unsolicited applications; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2021, 45% of the organizations The Fondren Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 34% of its grant dollars.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2021	73	$13M	45%
FY2020	69	$8.1M	n/a

95% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$7.6MEducation$4.4MArts & Culture$2.7MHuman Services$1.6MRecreation & Sports$1.2MAnimals$609kHousing & Shelter$571kReligion$409kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2021, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
The Methodist Hospital Foundation	$4,100,000	2	3%
St Francis Episcopal Day School	$900,000	2	n/a
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston	$890,000	2	0%
The Center for Pursuit	$750,000	1	2%
Asia Society Texas Center	$500,000	1	6%
Yellowstone Academy Inc Dba Yellowstone Schools	$500,000	1	3%
New Hope Housing Inc	$500,000	2	7%
Texas Children's Hospital	$400,000	2	0%
Houston Zoo Inc	$400,000	2	0%
Memorial Park Conservancy Inc	$400,000	2	1%

Show all 93 grantees

All grantees of The Fondren Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
The Methodist Hospital Foundation	$4,100,000	2	3%
St Francis Episcopal Day School	$900,000	2	n/a
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston	$890,000	2	0%
The Center for Pursuit	$750,000	1	2%
Asia Society Texas Center	$500,000	1	6%
Yellowstone Academy Inc Dba Yellowstone Schools	$500,000	1	3%
New Hope Housing Inc	$500,000	2	7%
Texas Children's Hospital	$400,000	2	0%
Houston Zoo Inc	$400,000	2	0%
Memorial Park Conservancy Inc	$400,000	2	1%
The Council on Recovery	$375,000	1	5%
Memorial Hermann Health System	$350,000	2	0%
Astros Golf Foundation	$333,328	2	1%
IDEA Public Schools	$333,328	2	0%
Glenwood Cemetery Historic Preservation Foundation	$333,328	2	11%
Christian Community Service Center Inc	$320,000	2	3%
Young Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area	$320,000	2	0%
Alley Theatre	$318,184	2	1%
St Martins Episcopal Preschool	$318,184	2	n/a
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston	$300,000	1	9%
The Center for Hearing and Speech	$266,668	2	3%
Upbring	$233,336	2	n/a
Asian American Health Coalition of the Greater Houston Area	$218,750	2	0%
Houston's Amazing Place Inc	$200,000	2	3%
KIPP Texas Inc	$200,000	1	0%
Stoney Creek Foundation	$187,500	2	2%
Central Houston Civic Improvement Inc	$175,000	2	9%
YES Prep Public Schools Inc	$170,835	2	0%
Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals	$166,664	2	1%
Covenant House Texas	$150,000	2	1%
Grotta Stroke Research Foundation	$150,000	2	n/a
Small Steps Nurturing Center	$150,000	2	2%
Inspiration Ranch Inc	$150,000	1	8%
Joy Development School	$150,000	1	1%
Houston Botanic Garden	$141,672	1	4%
Camp Allen Camp & Conference Center	$125,000	2	2%
Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston	$125,000	2	0%
Houston Golf Association Inc	$125,000	2	56%
Ft Bend County Child Advocates Inc	$125,000	1	3%
Gulf Offshore Research Institute	$125,000	2	28%
The Beta Foundation	$116,664	1	1%
Ser-Jobs for Progress of the Texas Gulf Coast Inc	$112,500	2	1%
William Marsh Rice University	$108,000	2	0%
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest	$105,000	2	n/a
Depelchin Children's Center	$100,000	1	0%
Houston Museum of Natural Science	$100,000	1	0%
NextOp Inc	$100,000	2	6%
The Sanctuary Foster Care Services	$100,000	1	5%
The Kinkaid School Inc	$100,000	1	0%
Switch Energy Alliance	$100,000	1	6%
Washington and Lee University	$100,000	1	0%
Agape Development Ministries	$100,000	1	4%
Legacy Community Health Services Inc	$100,000	2	0%
Galveston Bay Foundation Inc	$100,000	1	1%
Wonders & Worries Inc	$87,500	2	3%
Friends of the Texas Historical Commission Inc	$83,336	1	12%
Houston Police Foundation	$83,336	1	2%
Good Reason Houston Inc	$83,333	1	1%
St Stephen's Episcopal School	$83,332	1	2%
Woodberry Forest School	$83,332	1	0%
A D Players	$80,000	2	1%
The Menninger Clinic Foundation	$75,000	1	1%
The Gateway Academy Inc	$70,000	1	1%
Healthcare for the Homeless-Houston	$65,000	1	1%
National Mounted Warfare Foundation	$62,500	1	9%
Presbyterian School	$62,500	1	0%
Precinct2gether Inc	$62,499	1	4%
The W Oscar Neuhaus Memorial Foundation	$60,000	1	1%
Houston Ballet Foundation	$55,000	1	0%
San Francisco Nativity Academy	$50,000	1	n/a
FuelEd Schools Inc	$50,000	1	4%
William a Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity	$50,000	1	n/a
Childbuilders	$50,000	1	18%
Neighborhood Schools Inc	$50,000	1	9%
Houston Christian University	$50,000	1	0%
Holocaust Museum Houston	$44,128	1	1%
The Houston Audubon Society	$42,000	1	2%
Avenue Community Development Corporation	$41,670	1	0%
Teen & Family Services	$40,000	1	4%
Houston Arts Alliance	$40,000	1	1%
Houston Achievement Place	$37,500	1	2%
The Center for Urban Transformation Inc	$37,500	1	7%
Work Texas Training Center	$37,500	1	1%
Resource & Crisis Center of Galveston County Texas	$33,334	1	1%
Homefront Fund	$29,000	1	18%
Chinquapin Preparatory School	$25,000	1	1%
AIDS Foundation Houston Inc	$25,000	1	0%
Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center	$25,000	1	2%
Cherish Our Children Inc	$25,000	1	5%
Fort Bend Ramps Inc	$25,000	1	n/a
Memorial Assistance Ministries	$25,000	1	0%
Prayers of the People	$12,500	1	5%
The Garden Club of America	$10,000	1	0%

Plus 9 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.3M), not named here.

The Fondren Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 85 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 85.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Greater Houston Community FoundationTX77.8× affinity57 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · Houston Endowment Inc · MD Anderson Foundation · Strake Foundation · Vivian L Smith Foundation · The Elkins Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund · Shell USA Company Foundation · The Methodist Hospital · The Powell 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.

Compare The Fondren Foundation with peer funders

About The Fondren Foundation

How much does The Fondren Foundation give?: The Fondren Foundation reported 74 itemized grants totaling $12,559,361, out of $13,630,193 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2021 IRS filing. It funded between 69 and 73 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2021.
What does The Fondren Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2021, its largest causes are Health (11%), Education (6%), Arts & Culture (4%).
Who are The Fondren Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2020 to FY2021: The Methodist Hospital Foundation ($4.1M), St Francis Episcopal Day School ($900k), The Museum of Fine Arts Houston ($890k).
Does The Fondren Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2021, 45% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Fondren Foundation accept unsolicited applications?: Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Fondren Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Greater Houston Community Foundation, Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, The Brown Foundation Inc.
Where is The Fondren Foundation based?: The Fondren Foundation is based in TX.