How much does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation give?

The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation reported 40 grants totaling $821,985 in its FY2026 IRS filing. It funded between 34 and 43 organizations a year over FY2021 to FY2025.

Who are The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2021 to FY2026: Baylor University ($280k), Texas Heart Institute ($190k), University of St Thomas ($185k).

Does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2025, 15% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith 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 The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Ralph H and Ruth J McCullough Foundation, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Shell USA Company Foundation.

Foundation Dossiers

Texas · Private foundation

The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$822k
Granted FY2026(still arriving): 40
Grants FY2026: 34
Organizations funded FY2025: 15%
First-time grantees FY2025

Read the full brief

Median grant, FY2026: $20,000
Largest grant, FY2026: $55,000
Organizations funded a year: 34 to 43; FY2021 to FY2025
States reached, FY2026: 5
Total assets, FY2026: $16M
Applications: Preselected organizations only; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2025, 15% of the organizations The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 10% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesCivil RightsAnimalsOther

How this is measured

First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2026still arriving	33	$822k	18%
FY2025	34	$823k	15%
FY2024	36	$795k	14%
FY2023	43	$892k	21%
FY2022	38	$739k	32%
FY2021	39	$713k	n/a

100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Health$1.4MEducation$1.3MArts & Culture$590kReligion$220kRecreation & Sports$175kHuman Services$75kEnvironment$45kCrime & Legal$45kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2021 to FY2026, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Baylor University	$280,000	6	0%
Texas Heart Institute	$190,000	6	0%
University of St Thomas	$185,000	6	0%
Phi Delta Theta Foundation	$177,500	6	1%
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Inc	$175,000	5	0%
The Council on Recovery	$150,000	6	0%
St Thomas High School	$140,145	6	n/a
The Methodist Hospital Foundation	$135,000	6	0%
Houston Maritime Museum	$95,000	4	7%
Pathways for Little Feet	$90,000	6	2%

Show all 48 grantees

All grantees of The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Baylor University	$280,000	6	0%
Texas Heart Institute	$190,000	6	0%
University of St Thomas	$185,000	6	0%
Phi Delta Theta Foundation	$177,500	6	1%
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Inc	$175,000	5	0%
The Council on Recovery	$150,000	6	0%
St Thomas High School	$140,145	6	n/a
The Methodist Hospital Foundation	$135,000	6	0%
Houston Maritime Museum	$95,000	4	7%
Pathways for Little Feet	$90,000	6	2%
Alley Theatre	$85,000	4	0%
Retina Research Foundation	$85,000	6	1%
University of Texas Health Science Center Houston	$80,000	5	n/a
Student Mobilization Inc	$75,000	4	n/a
Seeds of Hope Inc	$65,000	2	6%
The Museum of Fine Arts Houston	$65,000	5	0%
The Blue Bird Circle	$60,000	6	1%
John P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science	$50,000	2	1%
Glenwood Cemetery Historic Preservation Foundation	$50,000	5	1%
Nerys Promise	$50,000	5	5%
Strake Jesuit College Prep	$46,000	2	n/a
Docfest Inc	$45,000	6	27%
Bayou Land Conservancy	$45,000	3	4%
Broken Halos	$35,000	1	n/a
Houston Jazz Orchestra	$35,000	5	n/a
Joy Development School	$25,000	2	0%
Lafayette College	$25,000	1	0%
Texas Children's Hospital	$25,000	1	0%
Ft Bend County Child Advocates Inc	$25,000	1	n/a
Bach Society Houston	$25,000	4	2%
Rescued Pets Movement Inc	$25,000	2	0%
Atascocita Methodist Church	$20,000	1	n/a
Magnificat Houses Inc	$20,000	2	0%
Fort Bend Christian Academy	$20,000	1	n/a
Christ Church Cathedral	$20,000	2	n/a
Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels	$15,000	5	1%
Orpheum Performing Arts Centre Ltd	$15,000	1	n/a
Andover Augusta Rail Trail Initiative Inc	$15,000	1	n/a
Freestone County Historical and Museum Association Inc	$15,000	1	7%
Young Life	$10,000	2	0%
The Houston Audubon Society	$10,000	1	n/a
Houston's Amazing Place Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Southern Oaks Volunteer Fire Department	$10,000	1	7%
Emancipet Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Round Top Library Association Inc	$7,500	4	1%
Kappa Kappa Gamma Charitable Foundation of Houston	$5,000	1	4%
Alberto Esco Foundation Inc	$5,000	1	46%
Muy Grande Ministries	$5,000	1	2%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 28 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.9M), not named here.

The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 35 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 35.

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.

The Ralph H and Ruth J McCullough FoundationTX51.6× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ralph H and Ruth J McCullough Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Strake Foundation · Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation · The Brown Foundation Inc · MD Anderson Foundation · Sterling-Turner Foundation · Vivian L Smith Foundation · Harry S & Isabel C Cameron Foundation Sentinel Trust Company · The Elkins Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund

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 William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation with peer funders

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How do I get to The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The William a and Madeline Welder Smith 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 The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation

How much does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation give?: The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation reported 40 grants totaling $821,985 in its FY2026 IRS filing. It funded between 34 and 43 organizations a year over FY2021 to FY2025.
What does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2021 to FY2026, its largest causes are Health (35%), Education (32%), Arts & Culture (15%).
Who are The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2021 to FY2026: Baylor University ($280k), Texas Heart Institute ($190k), University of St Thomas ($185k).
Does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2025, 15% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The William a and Madeline Welder Smith 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 The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Ralph H and Ruth J McCullough Foundation, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Shell USA Company Foundation.
Where is The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation based?: The William a and Madeline Welder Smith Foundation is based in TX.