Search Through Diversity Grants for Nonprofits in Texas in the U.S.

Collections-Related Grants for Nonprofits 

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation provides a variety of grants related to our art collections for individuals and nonprofits. Through these programs, we seek to heighten public interest and awareness, fuel innovative scholarship, and promote dynamic partnerships in the fields of art and art history.

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations whose innovative projects and original ideas will provide promising insights into the fields of art which we collect: Art of the Spanish Americas, Digital & Media Art, Japanese Bamboo, and Post-War Painting & Sculpture. We also welcome requests pertaining to the arts and culture of the American Southwest.

Grant Categories

The projects we support through our Collections-Related Grants for Nonprofits fall within one or more of the following categories:

Exhibitions

As of Spring 2023, we are excited to learn about exhibitions that are slated to open in Spring 2024 through 2026. We welcome the opportunity to become an early funder of landmark exhibitions that relate to our collections, and which significantly raise the public profile of those genres while also advancing art historical scholarship. Historically, we have cultivated strong relationships with medium-size museums across the country that reach a diverse regional audience and value innovative curation. Exhibition funding can include:

• development,
• scholarship,
• construction,
• outreach,
• traveling costs,
• admissions subsidies, and more.

Convenings

To encourage scholarly debate and dialogue, we fund academic conferences and workshops that will significantly advance the fields of art scholarship related to our collections. We urge applicants to familiarize themselves with industry standards for honoraria and per diems in advance of creating a convening budget.

Academic

Research, travel, manuscript development, hiring research assistants, equipment, etc. to support original scholarship related to our collection areas. Academic projects should culminate in a clear final deliverable such as a book manuscript or peer-reviewed article. For potential partners working in university settings, a letter stating our policy on funding indirect costs is available on our Grantee Resources page.

Exhibition Catalog Support

In conjunction with our exhibition support, we are pleased to support development, research, and publication costs associated with museum catalogs relating to artists in our collection.

• As of January 2022, our previous Publication Grant program is currently on hold while we reevaluate our strategic priorities. 

Before submitting your application, please read our Criteria for Collections-Related Nonprofit Grants and FAQ page.

Background

Our Community Investment Program contributes to nonprofit organizations that operate within the immediate H-E-B service area. Depending on the need we may contribute in-kind product, volunteers, or monetary funding towards activities, projects, and causes that make a visible and possible difference. Our Community Investment Program primarily supports organizations focused on arts and humanities, disaster relief, diversity and inclusion, education and literacy, environmental and sustainability, health and wellness, hunger relief, military and veteran support, and general social services.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Humanities Texas 

Humanities Texas advances education through programs that improve the quality of classroom teaching, support libraries and museums, and create opportunities for lifelong learning.

We strengthen Texas communities by conducting and supporting programs that cultivate the knowledge and judgment that representative democracy demands of its citizens. These programs also contribute to Texas’s thriving economy, culture, and civic life.  

Founded in 1973 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Humanities Texas is one of fifty-six state and jurisdictional humanities councils in the U.S. We are a nonprofit, educational organization supported by federal and state appropriations, as well as by foundations, corporations, and individuals. Our volunteer board is a model of leadership, ensuring we execute our mission while providing careful stewardship of our funding resources.

The Humanities Texas Grants Program

Working in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Humanities Texas provides financial support to nonprofit organizations and institutions for humanities programs that serve public audiences.

What are the humanities?

The humanities include but are not limited to the study of history, literature, modern and classical languages; linguistics; jurisprudence; philosophy; comparative religion; ethics; and the history, criticism, and theory of the arts. Social sciences that employ qualitative approaches such as cultural anthropology, archaeology, and political science are considered part of the humanities, as are interdisciplinary areas such as women’s studies, American studies, and the study of folklore and folklife. In elementary and secondary education, the humanities are found in social studies and English language-arts courses, as well as in advanced courses in history, literature, foreign languages, art or music history, and related subjects. 

Projects may also apply humanities perspectives to current political, social, or economic concerns and issues.

Mini-grants

Mini-grants support costs associated with public humanities programs. These small grants—which are easy to apply for and administer, and are available on a rolling basis throughout the year—are particularly appropriate for funding a speaker and/or the rental of a traveling exhibition, including those provided by Humanities Texas. Before submitting a mini-grant application for a Humanities Texas exhibition rental, please complete our online rental form, found here. In the current crisis, as Texas communities continue to practice physical distancing, we are eager to support projects that use the humanities to connect people, either through the use of digital technologies or by connecting people without access to digital tools. Contact our grants staff to discuss how Humanities Texas can support projects you’re currently working on.

Humanities Scholar

A humanities scholar is an individual with particular training or experience in one or more of the academic disciplines in the humanities. The typical qualifications are an advanced degree (M.A. or Ph.D.) in a humanities field of study. However, individuals without an advanced degree may qualify as humanities scholars because of their accomplishments and/or methods of research, inquiry, and teaching.

The qualifications of a project’s principal Humanities Advisor and participating scholars significantly determine an application’s competitiveness. For example, it is unlikely that Humanities Texas would fund a lecture series on Texas in the twentieth century that does not include any credentialed historians who specialize in twentieth-century Texas. 

Humanities Texas encourages applicants to involve a broad and diverse group of scholars in their proposed projects. For major grant applications in particular, it is important that organizations include guidance and perspectives from scholars outside the sponsoring organization. For example, a museum or academic institution seeking a Humanities Texas major grant for a year-long lecture series or major exhibit should include outside scholars and advisors. Major grant applications that draw exclusively on in-house humanities expertise are typically not competitive. 

The McKesson Foundation 

Founded in 1943, the McKesson Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporate foundation dedicated to advancing health outcomes for all. The Foundation’s mission is to remove barriers to quality healthcare across North America, especially for vulnerable and underserved communities.

Strategic Giving Pillars and Areas of Focus

The McKesson Foundation champions health equity by partnering with nonprofit organizations to advance efforts aligned with three strategic giving pillars and corresponding areas of focus:

Reducing the Burden of Cancer

The American Cancer Society states that one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. These cancer diagnoses often create both a health and financial crisis for patients and their families. Studies show factors including race/ethnicity, health insurance status and income can affect the timing of a patient’s diagnosis and treatment, as well as their survival and financial impact. Working with our partners, we aim to reduce the risk of getting cancer and address socioeconomic barriers to care.

• Prevention
  • provide education and services to encourage people to adopt healthy diets, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco, and protect their skin.
• Screening and Treatment
  • increase awareness of the importance of screenings, early detection and timely treatment among vulnerable populations; provide free health screenings for patients and connect them to care.
• Financial/Logistical Assistance
  • connect uninsured and underinsured patients to programs providing low or no-cost co-pays and social determinants of health (SDOH) interventions, e.g., transportation, childcare, healthy food, home meal delivery; reduce the economic burden of low-income patients with emergency funds for rent, utilities and other household expenses.

Preparing Tomorrow's Healthcare Workforce

• Patients report that they feel more heard and are more compliant with medical guidance when they share race/ethnicity with their healthcare practitioner. Nearly a third of the U.S. population is Black or Hispanic, yet the combined Black and Hispanic representation among oncologists is 8 percent and the combined Black, Indigenous and Hispanic representation among pharmacists is 10.7 percent. Closing the gap between diverse representation among the general population and among healthcare practitioners will improve health equity and patient outcomes.
• Oncology Professionals
  • increase underrepresented in medicine (URiM) student recruitment and retention;
  • increase all health professionals’ cultural competency to better serve a diverse patient population.
• Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians 
  • increase URiM recruitment and retention;
  • prepare students for broader pharmacist roles;
  • leverage pharmacists’ extensive training, community presence and public trust to serve vulnerable and rural patient populations.
• Student Engagement
  • increase students’ awareness of STEM careers;
  • support students’ financial literacy;
  • help prepare middle and high school students for higher education.

Accelerating Crisis Response

With the increased frequency and intensity of climate events, more people across North America need temporary or extended shelter, as well as food and medications, during and in the aftermath of crises. And with 10 percent of the population in both Canada and the U.S. living in food insecure households, programs to provide regular, nutritious meals to children, families and seniors can reduce chronic disease and improve long-term health.

• Preparedness
  • support relief agencies’ efforts to prepare for forecasted as well as unforeseen emergencies;
  • support relief agencies’ efforts to help people become Red Cross Ready.
• Disaster Relief and Recovery
  • mobilize resources to provide acute services, such as water, food, shelter, comfort kits, medicines, and healthcare for people affected by natural disasters or crises;
  • help families return to normalcy after a disaster.
• Medicine and Food
  • assist vulnerable individuals and communities by supporting acute and chronic care services that provide medicines and food.

We are a private family foundation on a mission to improve the quality and circumstances of life for the people of Texas now and in the future.

What We Fund: Our Program Areas

Texas is diverse. So is our giving.

We provide grants throughout Texas within our program areas and also our initiatives in education, environment, homelessness, and mental health.

Arts and Culture

Our founders were passionate about the arts’ ability to illuminate and reflect our communities, reimagine conversations, promote public engagement, and preserve memories. We support organizations throughout the state that provide opportunities for all Texans to experience and benefit from the arts. Our most significant partner is Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts and the Meadows Museum.

Civic and Public Affairs

Communities thrive when effective civic leadership and healthy public systems are supported by a strong network of nonprofit organizations. We assist communities in developing leadership talent, promoting civic and public collaboration, supporting nonprofits through management and capacity-building, and improving processes and infrastructures for delivery of services to all residents. We also recognize the importance of animals and the role they have in many people’s lives. We fund projects that improve their welfare and enhance the human-animal connection.

Education

The link between quality of education and quality of life is undeniable. Knowledge empowers choices that influence our social and family environment, health and mental well-being, home and community, and career and income. Each additional year of schooling increases earnings by 8-10%. In addition, early reading, high-quality instructors, access to resources, and high expectations for all students improve life-long study skills and academic achievements.

Environment

With our population in Texas expected to increase by 73% to 51.5 million people in 2070, the impacts on our environment will be significant. We focus on preserving our rich ecological and biological resources for future generations while meeting our growing needs.

Health

Access to quality health care is essential. Health and mental health programs that offer a chance to rethink what can be accomplished with new knowledge and technology ultimately lead to Texans living healthier lives. We invest in programs and initiatives that promote innovation in services and delivery and strengthen the ecosystem of health and mental health care.

Human Services

In communities across Texas, people face overwhelming challenges and times of personal or family crisis. We support programs and agencies that thoughtfully weave compassion and respect into the support systems that improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable Texans. We also place emphasis on supporting efforts that reduce homelessness in the Dallas area.

What We Fund: Initiatives 

Five initiatives are linked to our long-term goals, and requests in these areas receive additional consideration in the review process.

Postsecondary Completion

The changing economic landscape requires a shift in the kind of preparation offered to connect Texans to jobs, career paths, livable wages, and economic and social mobility. By 2030, 60% of the Texas workforce will need a postsecondary credential to be gainfully employed, a driving factor for the state’s higher education plan. We aim to ensure that awarded postsecondary degrees, credentials, and certificates align to real-time labor needs, are affordable for all Texans, and offer value to students and society. We are working with our partners to increase postsecondary completion rates beyond current projections to meet current and future workforce demands.

Educator Preparation

Quality teachers are consistently identified as the most important school-based factor in student achievement. On average, a high-performing teacher increases student learning by 50% more than expected growth over the course of a school year. Texas has hundreds of educator preparation programs of varying quality and varying levels of accessibility to aspiring teachers. The teacher pipeline must be robust to meet the needs of a growing state with a growing student population. We are working with our partners to define, build, and scale models of high-quality educator preparation. 

Water Conservation

Texas has grown rapidly, and the state’s population is projected to expand by 70% from 2020 to 2070. While this growth can fuel robust economic development, ensuring the vitality of Texas’ cities, industries, and agriculture while also protecting natural resources will require careful water management. As water demand increases, state water supplies will drop by 18%. The state water plan suggests that water conservation strategies could meet 30% of future water supplies. 

While conservation success can be determined in part by policies, everyday water users are the conservation decision makers, and how they value water is the most crucial element of achieving an overall demand reduction. We are working with our partners to advance water conservation, with the goal of reducing the planned use of water by 30% by 2030.

Depression

Depression is the most common mental illness in the U.S. In North Texas alone, 300,000 adults and children experience depression annually. We know that mental health treatment works: two-thirds of individuals who receive evidence-based, measurement-based care get better. However, less than one in 10 receive this type of care. 

With appropriate training and support, primary care physicians can screen, identify, and provide effective behavioral and mental health treatment and referrals to their patients, which could fill this gap in care. In fact, at least 80% of individuals diagnosed with depression can be treated by their primary care physician. We are working with our partners to integrate evidence-based practices into primary care at large healthcare systems, with the goal of ending untreated depression in North Texas by 2030.

Homelessness

Thousands of individuals experience homelessness every year in Dallas and Collin counties. Our neighbors face several challenges as they try to exit homelessness, such as affordable housing shortages, increased cost of living, and limited access to resources that help them remain housed. Access to adequate housing provides the safety needed to survive and the stability needed to thrive. We are working with our partners to make homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties rare, brief, and nonrecurring. Our goal is to house 6,000 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness by 2025.

Types of Funding

• Specific programs or projects account for almost 85% of our total giving
• Although not a significant part of our funding, we will consider
  • Capital projects aligned with our initiatives and green building guidelines
  • Program-related investment loans
• Endowment and scholarship grants are rare

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Ted & Shannon Skokos Foundation Grant

The Skokos Foundation is a family foundation established in 2008. The Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that impact communities in the fields of arts, humanity, education, and faith.

The Skokos Foundation invests in visionary leaders of nonprofit organizations that provide impactful programs and services to individuals with sustainable minimal overhead, integrity, transparency, and collaboration.

We believe there is a direct connection between a nonprofit's results and the strength of its leadership. This leadership includes staff as well as its board of directors. We take an all-encompassing look at the people, infrastructure, values, past and present practices, and policies that the staff and board embrace and promote for organizational success. We realize that a cross-section of stakeholders, rather than isolated efforts by a single organization or individual, result in more effective means of tackling an issue. 

The Skokos Foundation receives considerably more requests for funding than we can support. 

Criteria

• Leadership: (Executive Director, Board & Key Staff)
  • What level of visionary leadership does your organization have within the executive director, board and key management or programmatic staff? We look at both individual and collective experience, expertise, passion, commitment, recognition and professional and community reputation. We compare your group’s approaches and solutions to what others are doing.
• Impact: (Program, Project, Service Model)
  • What impact on the community does your program or project have? Is it a model of service for others in the nonprofit sector? We consider your group’s unique circumstances and ask more questions. Will your proposal’s impact be direct and exponential? Will it bring about systemic change? Is your project idea unique? How are you measuring impact and effectiveness? Is there an evaluation system in place? If yes, please describe.
• Sustainability: (Organization and/or Program, Project or Service Model)
  • We look at the sustainability of both your program or project and your organization as a whole. We assess the strength, stability and diversity of your nonprofit’s finances as well as your board’s contribution to your organization’s financial strength. At the program or project level, we assess whether a grant would trigger significant contributions from other sources or whether a sustainability model may require on-going foundation involvement. We insist on sustainable minimal overhead.
• Organizational Strength: (History, Reputation, Structure & Management Systems)
  • What is your group’s history, reputation, structure and management? Is your organization regarded as a provider of high-quality, relevant and meaningful services? Qualities that are needed to do the hard work of system change include strong management and communication systems, positive staff morale, integrity, and financial and operational transparency.
• Collaboration: (Collaboration with other nonprofits, sponsors, patrons, government)
  • Collaboration is an important tool among nonprofits. We ask whether your organization is well-integrated into its community and involved in public-private partnerships. We also consider whether your organization has developed strategic partnerships as an ongoing part of its work.

Inspired to make contributions with a wide-ranging yet personal impact, Carl and Marilynn Thoma founded the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation in 2014 to distinguish their initiatives in and support of the visual arts. In 2021, the Foundation was renamed the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation to more broadly reflect its expanded philanthropic efforts and initiatives, including the Thoma Scholars Program, which aims to strengthen community, leadership, and education initiatives in under-resourced and rural areas.

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation recognizes that the arts and education enhance lives and communities. We make art collection-related grants, as well as lending and exhibiting our own collection. We focus our education funding on the rural Southwest, primarily offering scholarships to students in the greater Texas panhandle. Through these giving programs, we strive to foster leadership, innovation, and equal opportunity.

Nonprofit Organizations

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations whose innovative projects and original ideas will advance scholarship in our collection areas. We accept Letters of Inquiry on a rolling basis for bold proposals that provide promising insights into the fields of art which we collect:

• Art of the Spanish Americas

The Foundation’s Art of the Spanish Americas collection numbers more than 200 works from the 17th to 19th centuries—principally paintings from South America. The collection includes works on religious themes and portraits from the Viceroyalty of Peru (and the smaller entities such as the Kingdom of Nueva Granada into which it was divided in the eighteenth century), as well as a small selection of portraits from the Spanish Caribbean.

•  Digital & Media Art

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation began supporting the field of Digital Art in 2009. Our collection has grown to include over 400 artworks by more than 138 artists, representing a global history of the medium from 1959 to the present. The Thoma Foundation’s core collection of Digital Art highlights the specific achievements of modern computers—their processing speed, infinite data capacity, imaging precision, and virtual networking—to aid artists. Media Art signifies our support of art created with both pioneering and emerging time-based technologies, especially in relation to electronic mass media—the news and photojournalism, film and television, video games, social media, and other cultural experiences produced by communications technology.

• Japanese Bamboo

The Japanese Bamboo collection includes contemporary Japanese Bamboo baskets representing both independent artists and bamboo artists from the two professional associations devoted to the field, Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) and the Nihon Kogeikai (Japan Craft Arts Association).

• Post-War Painting & Sculpture

The Foundation’s collection of mid-century global abstract art is centered around the years 1950–79 and the major movements of that period including Color Field, Hard Edge, Op, Washington Color School, Light & Space, and shaped canvas.

We also welcome requests pertaining to the arts and culture of the American Southwest. The projects we support through our Collections-Related Grants for Nonprofits fall within one or more of the following categories:

• Exhibitions

We welcome the opportunity to become an early funder of landmark exhibitions that relate to our collections, and which significantly raise the public profile of those genres while also advancing art historical scholarship. Historically, we have cultivated strong relationships with medium-size museums across the country that reach a diverse regional audience and value innovative curation. Exhibition funding can include development, scholarship, construction, outreach, traveling costs, admissions subsidies, and more. The Thoma Foundation also loans pieces from its collections in support of exhibitions.

• Convenings

To encourage scholarly debate and dialogue, we fund academic conferences and workshops that will significantly advance the fields of art scholarship related to our collections. We urge applicants to familiarize themselves with industry standards for honoraria and per diems in advance of creating a convening budget.

• Academic 

Research, travel, manuscript development, hiring research assistants, equipment, etc. to support original scholarship related to our collection areas. Academic projects should culminate in a clear final deliverable such as a book manuscript or peer-reviewed article.

Individual Fellowships and Awards

In addition to our nonprofit grants, the Foundation runs several fellowship programs for individuals related to our Art of the Spanish Americas collections. This includes two annual fellowship programs geared towards postdoctoral scholars and Ph.D. candidates: the Marilynn Thoma Fellowship in Art of the Spanish Americas and the Thoma Foundation Research and Travel Awards in Art of the Spanish Americas. Biannually, we offer the Exploratory Travel Award to early career Ph.D. students. 

Thoma Foundation Special Project Funding

The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation offers a Special Project Funding Grant as part of its broader grant programs described above. Through the above programs, we seek to heighten public interest and awareness, fuel innovative scholarship, and promote dynamic partnerships in the fields of art and art history. For the Special Project Funding, the Foundation takes a proactive and personal approach to giving. Rather than making grants based on a call for applications, we work collaboratively to make challenging projects happen. We support people and their bright futures instead of endowments or capital improvements. Our interests here include:

• Significant art exhibitions and programs supporting artists and the areas of our collection.
• Innovative high school projects and college scholarships that build leaders and communities in the greater Texas Panhandle.

If you have a project you would like to partner with us on, we are interested. We value long-term relationships with grantees and encourage you to connect with us at any stage of the application process. 

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Respond Project

This competitive grant program provides project assistance grants on a short-term basis and may include administrative costs directly related to the project.

Projects must address ONE of the following priority areas:

EDUCATION

Intent: Projects that use art to promote innovations in K-12 public education.

Designed for projects that impact Pre-K-12 public school students during the school day. Projects must be aligned with the TEKS and conducted in conjunction with school officials. Projects may occur in a school setting or off-site (field trip). Before and after-school projects are not eligible.

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

Intent: Projects that use art to improve human health or functioning.

Designed for projects that focus on health related topics, serve specific populations, or occur in a health care or human service setting (hospital, clinic, senior activity center, women’s shelter, homeless shelter, etc).

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Intent: Projects that use art to diversify local economies, generate revenue, and attract visitors and investment.

Designed for projects that focus on job growth or cultural tourism (festivals, gallery walks, art fairs, etc).

PUBLIC SAFETY & CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Intent: Projects that use art to prevent delinquency and recidivism in youth and adults.

Designed for projects that focus on at-risk youth or incarcerated populations (after school program, juvenile detention center, adult prison, alternative learning center).

NATURAL RESOURCES & AGRICULTURE

Intent: Projects that use art to understand and/or improve the ecological and agricultural environment.

Designed for projects that occur in rural counties (festivals, fairs, exhibitions, performances) or focus on natural resources (oil, water, green art, ecological issues).

Forever Austin Fund

About this grant opportunity

The Forever Austin Fund is a permanent community resource that enables ACF to invest in Austin’s most pressing needs and greatest opportunities. The Forever Austin Fund supports the giving of a collection of field-of-interest funds, unrestricted funds, and donor advised funds at the Foundation. The ACF team manages grantmaking from these funds, thoughtfully balancing the intent of each fund with the evolving needs of Central Texas.

Funding areas

Every year, ACF will make Forever Austin Fund grants to address both urgent and systemic needs in Central Texas. The issues prioritized in Forever Austin Fund grantmaking will shift over time to reflect the evolving needs of our region and the interests of our legacy donors. In 2025, the grants will focus on the following areas:

Economic Mobility: Ensuring paths to economic mobility for Central Texans is a critical strategy in ACF’s focus on closing the opportunity gap. By partnering with and funding organizations that tackle immediate and systemic economic challenges, we aim to eliminate wealth disparities and create lasting change. Grants in this category will focus on four key areas:

Health and Humanities: The future of our region is inextricably linked to the health of our people and the growth of our creative community. Grants in this category will focus on:

Nurturing Our Region: Preserving and protecting our rich ecosystem ensures generations of Central Texans can live and thrive. Grants in this category will focus on:

Funding amounts

Through the Forever Austin Fund grant cycle, we anticipate awarding 50-75 grants between $5,000 – $50,000 each. Award amounts will be determined by application scores, donor priorities, and individual endowment budgets. Grants may be approved for full or partial funding of the requested amount, which cannot exceed 30% of the organization’s budget.

Additional information per funding area:

• Economic Mobility: 20-30 grants, up to $1,250,000
• Health and Humanities: 15-20 grants up to $550,000
• Nurturing Our Region: 10-15 grants up to $200,000

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Cultural Districts Designation Program

Intent: To designate special zones in cities and Texas communities that harness the power of cultural resources to stimulate economic development and community vitality.

As authorized by H.B. 2208 of the 79th Legislature, the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) can designate cultural districts in cities across Texas. Cultural districts are special zones that harness the power of cultural resources to stimulate economic development and community revitalization. These districts can become focal points for generating businesses, attracting tourists, stimulating cultural development and fostering civic pride.

Cultural districts can be part of creative placemaking or placekeeping efforts. It’s important to remember that TCA cultural district designation is most likely to be awarded to a district that is already defined in terms of leadership, geographic boundaries, branding, and current assets.

Goals of cultural districts

TCA recognizes that a thriving creative sector is a powerful economic development asset. Cultural district development is one strategy that helps a community boost their economies while realizing other cultural and civic benefits. The outcomes of cultural districts extend beyond the arts and benefit all members of a community. Goals may include:

• Attracting artists and cultural enterprises to the community. Artists, cultural institutions and creative enterprises all contribute to a community’s economic potential. Not only do they generate direct economic activity, but artists and creative entrepreneurs infuse communities with energy and innovation.
• Encouraging business and job development. Cultural districts can create a hub of economic activity that contributes to the community being an appealing place to live, visit and conduct business. A thriving cultural scene helps an area to prosper when consumers drawn to cultural attractions patronize other nearby businesses. This can result in the creation of new economic opportunities and jobs.
• Addressing specific needs of a community. Cultural districts are a highly adaptable economic development approach that allows a community to make use of unique conditions, assets and opportunities.
• Establishing tourism destinations. Cultural districts are marketable tourism assets that highlight the distinct identity of a community and encourage in-state, out-of-state, and international visitors.
• Preserving and reusing historic buildings. Some cultural districts are very involved in historic preservation. Adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of older buildings through preservation tax credits can result in structural and façade improvements. These rehabilitated buildings provide opportunities for affordable artist live/work space and new homes for cultural organizations.
• Enhancing property values. Successful districts combine improvements to public spaces (such as parks, waterfronts and pedestrian corridors) along with property development. The redevelopment of abandoned properties, historic sites, and recruiting businesses to occupy vacant spaces can contribute to reduced vacancy rates and enhanced property values.
• Fostering local cultural development. The establishment of a cultural district provides a focal point for celebrating and strengthening a community’s cultural identity. Cultural districts highlight existing cultural amenities and work to recruit and establish new artists, cultural industries and organizations.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Respond Performance Support

Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts activities.

The Texas Touring Arts Program is designed to ensure that all Texans have the ability to enjoy performances by outstanding Texas-based companies and artists in their own communities. This program provides professional artist fees to schools, libraries, and nonprofit organizations for hiring an artist from TCA's Texas Touring Roster to do a performance or workshop. These non-competitive applications are funded based on a percentage of contracted fees.  

Arts Respond Performance Support is the companion grant program that allows performing arts presenters in Texas to apply for a portion of the artistic fees for one or more approved companies or artists from the Texas Touring Roster. This is a quarterly program that can provide a grant to help with these costs. These applications must be submitted in advance of the performance and by the appropriate quarterly deadline. 

The Dallas Foundation

The Dallas Foundation connects compassionate people to the causes they care about—improving lives and making visible progress throughout North Texas.

Through partnership and philanthropy, we provide expertise, leadership, and catalytic investments focused on making Dallas a brighter place for everyone who calls it home.

We have been, and will always be, Here For Good.

Our Mission

The Dallas Foundation brings together people, ideas, and investments in Greater Dallas so individuals and families can reach their full potential.

Grants

The Dallas Foundation typically hosts at least two grant cycles per year.

Spring Grant Cycle

The Dallas Foundation’s Spring Grant Cycle focuses on a limited number of interest areas as determined by the donors who established the granting funds. These funds are managed and disbursed by The Dallas Foundation to meet the community’s current needs in Animal Welfare, Arts & Culture, and Domestic Violence. Nonprofits providing services and programs in these categories are currently being invited to submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI).

We anticipate funding 5-10 nonprofits with one-year grants in each category.

Animal Welfare

Support for projects that promote the health and welfare of companion animals, including prevention of cruelty, veterinary care, spay and neuter programs, promotion of responsible pet ownership, support of animal shelters and the adoption of stray animals.

Arts & Culture

Support for performing and visual arts programming.

Domestic Violence

Support for programs that assist children and adult victims of domestic violence.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund was established by the estate of Laura Jane Musser of Little Falls, Minnesota to continue the personal philanthropy, which she practiced in her lifetime.

Environmental Initiative Program

The Laura Jane Musser Fund assists public or not-for-profit entities to initiate or implement projects that enhance the ecological integrity of publicly owned open spaces, while encouraging compatible human activities. 

The Fund's goal is to promote public use of open space that improves a community's quality of life and public health, while also ensuring the protection of healthy, viable and sustainable ecosystems by protecting or restoring habitat for a diversity of plant and animal species.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund encourages the use of a community-based approach with broad and active local stakeholder participation in both planning and implementation stages of projects concerning the environmental preservation and sustainable use of public open spaces. It has been our experience that projects designed through this process have a greater chance of acceptance and lasting success.

The Musser Fund is likely to make a total of 5 to 7 grants in the Environmental Initiative this year. This is a very competitive granting initiative.

Funds will be available for: 

• Planning (UP to $8,000)
• Implementation (Up to $35,000)

Planning Grant Requests: Planning grant applications must demonstrate commitment to a broad-based, active community process for the design and use of local publicly-owned open spaces.

Note - The planning stage is optional and not a required phase prior to applying for or receiving an implementation grant. If an organization receives a planning grant from the Musser Fund, this in no way implies a commitment on the part of the Musser Fund to provide the organization with any subsequent implementation grant. 

Implementation Grant Requests:  Implementation grant applications must demonstrate clear evidence of local community active participation and support.

Behavioral Health Consortia Informed Programs - Letters of Intent (LOI)

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation seeks letters of intent (LOI) from eligible organizations to further the Health Foundation’s goals under the Behavioral Health Consortia area.

Specifically, the Health Foundation seeks LOIs for programs that address gaps in mental health and substance use systems, with an emphasis on enhancing coordination among regional behavioral health consortia stakeholders as informed by data. The Health Foundation will not consider proposed programs already supported by other resources including government funding or health coverage reimbursement.

The Health Foundation uses the LOI process to welcome various proposals from diverse applicants. After review, the Health Foundation will invite selected applicants to submit a full proposal.

Behavioral Health System Defined

For this LOI process, the Health Foundation defines a behavioral health system as inclusive of treatment, navigation, support, and health promotion services for mental health, intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), addiction and related substance use, and other associated disorders

What We Will Fund

Health Foundation Role in Behavioral Health System Improvement

The Health Foundation does not fund illness treatment services. The Health Foundation works closely with the Paso del Norte Center at Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to cultivate collaboration as a neutral convener for regional community collaboratives and related work groups or task forces. Work to improve the Paso del Norte region’s mental health and substance use systems will strive to achieve an “Ideal Behavioral Health System.” An inclusive system includes criminal justice, law enforcement, veterans’ services, juvenile justice, child welfare, schools, homeless providers, and health systems, organized within available resources at the policy, program, procedure, and practice levels. The “Ideal Behavioral Health System.” is also customer-driven and focused on meeting or exceeding the service and support needs of individuals and families; recovery and resiliency-oriented; integrated, trauma-informed, culturally competent, and organized from a population health perspective; set up to meet the needs of individuals and families with complex, co-occurring conditions of all types. LOIs submitted to the Health Foundation will be in complement with priority goals and strategies identified by the following regional Consortia and related workgroups or task force efforts:

• El Paso County:
  • The El Paso Behavioral Health Consortium (Consortium) works to improve mental health and substance use systems in the greater El Paso and Hudspeth County area of the Paso del Norte region. The Health Foundation, the PdN Center at the Meadows Institute, and critical community leaders lead in maintaining an effective collaboration for the system of care.
• Southern New Mexico:
  •  In Dona Ana County, the Local Behavioral Health Collaborative – 3 (LC3), a consortium focused on mental health and substance use system improvements, is working with Doña Ana County leaders to address system gaps. In Otero County, the Otero County Community Health Council and the Local Behavioral Health Collaborative – 12 also work with community stakeholders to improve the Otero care system. Health Foundation and PdN Center at Meadows Institute staff participate in these groups and assist in cultivating collaboration for system improvement efforts.
• Ciudad Juarez:
  • In Ciudad Juarez, MX, in partnership with the Mexican arm of the United States/Mexico Border Health Commission, ROTMENAS (an acronym describing the charge of the group to improve the behavioral health system, inclusive of treatment and health promotion services for mental health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and other related disorders including substance use disorders) convenes monthly and is building strength, structure, and collaboration among the 47 organization partners.

Mission

Founded in 1943, the McKesson Foundation is a 501(c)(3) corporate foundation dedicated to advancing health outcomes for all. The Foundation’s mission is to remove barriers to quality healthcare across North America, especially for vulnerable and underserved communities.

Strategic Giving Pillars and Areas of Focus

The McKesson Foundation champions health equity by partnering with nonprofit organizations to advance efforts aligned with three strategic giving pillars and corresponding areas of focus:

Reducing the Burden of Cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates 1.9M people will receive a cancer diagnosis in 2022 and two in five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. These cancer diagnoses often create both a health and financial crisis for patients and their families. Studies show factors including race/ethnicity, health insurance status and income can affect the timing of a patient’s diagnosis and treatment, as well as their survival and financial impact. Working with our partners, we aim to reduce the risk of getting cancer and address socioeconomic barriers to care.

• Prevention
  • provide education and services to encourage people to adopt healthy diets, exercise regularly, avoid tobacco, and protect their skin.
• Screening and Treatment
  • increase awareness of the importance of screenings, early detection and timely treatment among vulnerable populations; provide free health screenings for patients and connect them to care.
• Financial/Logistical Assistance
  • connect uninsured and underinsured patients to programs providing low or no-cost co-pays and social determinants of health (SDOH) interventions, e.g., transportation, childcare, healthy food, home meal delivery; reduce the economic burden of low-income patients with emergency funds for rent, utilities and other household expenses.

Preparing Tomorrow's Healthcare Workforce

Patients report that they feel more heard and are more compliant with medical guidance when they share race/ethnicity with their healthcare practitioner. Nearly a third of the U.S. population is Black or Hispanic, yet the combined Black and Hispanic representation among oncologists is 8 percent and the combined Black, Indigenous and Hispanic representation among pharmacists is 10.7 percent. Closing the gap between diverse representation among the general population and among healthcare practitioners will improve health equity and patient outcomes.

• Oncology Professionals
  • increase underrepresented in medicine (URiM) student recruitment and retention;
  • increase all health professionals’ cultural competency to better serve a diverse patient population.
• Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians 
  • increase URiM recruitment and retention;
  • prepare students for broader pharmacist roles;
  • leverage pharmacists’ extensive training, community presence and public trust to serve vulnerable and rural patient populations.
• Student Engagement
  • increase students’ awareness of STEM careers;
  • support students’ financial literacy;
  • help prepare middle and high school students for higher education.

Accelerating Crisis Response

With the increased frequency and intensity of climate events, more people across North America need temporary or extended shelter, as well as food and medications, during and in the aftermath of crises. And with 10 percent of the population in both Canada and the U.S. living in food insecure households, programs to provide regular, nutritious meals to children, families and seniors can reduce chronic disease and improve long-term health.

• Preparedness
  • support relief agencies’ efforts to prepare for forecasted as well as unforeseen emergencies;
  • support relief agencies’ efforts to help people become Red Cross Ready.
• Disaster Relief and Recovery
  • mobilize resources to provide acute services, such as water, food, shelter, comfort kits, medicines, and healthcare for people affected by natural disasters or crises;
  • help families return to normalcy after a disaster.
• Medicine and Food
  • assist vulnerable individuals and communities by supporting acute and chronic care services that provide medicines and food.

Program Areas

At Toyota, we believe an auto company can also be a vehicle for change. That’s why Toyota is proud to partner with nonprofit organizations across the U.S. in the local communities where we live and work. Toyota and affiliates support programs in key areas:

Primary

• Education – Special consideration is given to STEM programs as we continue to develop our future workforce.
• Inclusive Mobility – Connecting people to opportunities by developing inclusive mobility solutions.
• Community Resilience – Building resilience by investing in needs required to thrive, specifically relating to environmental sustainability and driver/passenger safety.

Secondary

• Health and Human Services
• Arts and Culture
• Civic and Community

Toyota considers funding requests that:

• Are geared towards benefiting a large number of people
• Offer participation in local educational programs
• Exhibit clear, measurable and realistic goals and objectives
• Establish the means for evaluation and reporting after a program is completed
• Provide leadership and development programs for participants
• Target youth within any of the funding priority areas
• Include financial and other strategic commitments from other funding organizations

Our Mission

To support individuals and families as they build productive and meaningful lives.

We Value

• The legacy of M.B. and Edna Zale
• Jewish identity, heritage, and Tikkun Olam*
  • *Hebrew: “Repair the world” – Humanity’s shared responsibility to heal, repair, and transform the world.
• The power of community
• The diversity and passion of our family members
• The creativity and dedication of our nonprofit partners

Our main funding areas:

Education & Workforce

Programs that support:

• Equality of access
• Early intervention and early childhood development
• Academic assistance and enrichment
• Training the unemployed, or underemployed, in job skills
• Wraparound services in partnership with education and development
• Growth in financial, digital, and emotional literacy

Social Services

Programs that support:

• Support for individuals experiencing homelessness
• Services to promote self-sufficiency
• Assistance for needy families
• Social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth for all stages of life.

Civic

Programs that strengthen:

• The quality of life for a community, it’s people and animals
• Philanthropy
• Civic education

Hunger Relief

Programs that address:

• Hunger and food insecurity
• Access to food and healthy choices
• Food choice and dignity for those suffering from hunger.
• Strategies to support an individual’s journey out of hunger

Jewish Culture & Continuity

Programs that address:

• Identity and heritage
•  Continuity
• Education
• Human services

Healthcare

Programs that support:

• The prevention and treatment of illness and disease
• Family planning, maternal health, and education
• Access to affordable and impactful mental health services

The Foundation gives priority to:

• Programs or organizations that promote personal self sufficiency.
• Innovative approaches to solving social problems.
• Clear outcomes and accountability
• Programs that can be replicated or scaled for larger impact.

The Foundation encourages:

• Requests for programs and projects, rather than ongoing operational support
• Programs that include an element of collaboration or the possibility of using other community support.

Education

Early Childhood Development & Education

The Powell Foundation seeks to ensure that all children benefit from high-quality early environments and services that foster their healthy development, foundational skill-building, school readiness, and lifelong success.

Our Early Childhood investments are focused in the following areas:

• High-quality providers & educators
• Supportive caregivers
• High-capacity sector

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Develop, sustain, and scale the availability of high-quality early childhood programs for infants, toddlers, and young children.
• Train and build the capacity of early childhood educators and providers.
• Strengthen the knowledge and capability of parents and other caregivers to nurture and guide their children’s early development and learning.
• Improve the coordination and reach of the intersecting systems impacting early childhood.

Quality Public K-12 Schools

The Powell Foundation believes that all students should receive a high-quality public K-12 education through access to effective schools, curriculum, programming, and support services that ensure they graduate from high school prepared for post-secondary success.

Our Quality Public K-12 Schools investments are focused in the following areas:

• Excellent educators
• Student supports
• Quality schools & school models

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Strengthen preparation, pathways, training, and development for teachers, school leaders, and district leaders.
• Ensure students receive high-quality, evidence-based academic instruction, programming, and supports.
• Promote the positive development of non-cognitive skills, social-emotional learning, and positive school climate and culture.
• Scale and expand access to high-quality district and public charter school models that strengthen educational outcomes for all students.

Post-secondary Pathways to Success

The Powell Foundation seeks to ensure that all students are prepared for, can access, and complete a post-secondary program that leads to meaningful employment opportunities.

Our Post-Secondary Pathways to Success investments are focused in the following areas:

• Post-secondary access and success
• Post-secondary readiness
• Policies and systems

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Increase access to and participation in advanced coursework, career awareness programming, and college and career entrance exams.
• Strengthen post-secondary advising and counseling and provide replicable and scalable tools to improve access.
• Bolster the academic preparedness of students to pursue post-secondary pathways; increase student proficiency in non-cognitive and affective skills critical to post-secondary success.
• Strengthen post-secondary persistence, certificate/degree completion, and career attainment.
• Support policies that increase post-secondary access, persistence, and success.

Aligned Cradle-to-Career Education System

The Powell Foundation supports efforts to coordinate and connect people, programs, systems, and policies and collective efforts to create a seamless and integrated educational pathway for children and youth.

Our Aligned Cradle-to-Career Education System investments are focused in the following area:

• Effective tools, policies, and systems

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Promote continuity across the education system, supporting students at pivotal transition points and accelerating high-impact practices.
• Convene and build a coalition of advocates in support of a sustained and scaled cradle-to-career continuum.
• Invest stakeholders in an aligned vision for strengthening and better connecting early childhood, K-12, and post-secondary.
• Democratize access to user-friendly data and the creation of tools to track and monitor outcomes for students across the full continuum.

Supportive Communities

The Arts

The Powell Foundation works to promote vibrant communities by expanding equitable access to educational experiences in the arts and encouraging public engagement with diverse arts and culture.

Our Arts investments are focused in the following areas:

• Arts education
• Public arts and culture access

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Provide arts education and cultural experiences to K-12 students, particularly those attending schools in “arts deserts”.
• Provide training on teaching and learning techniques that integrate the arts.
• Expand the community’s access to and engagement in the arts.
• Increase diversity and representation in the arts, with a lens towards historically marginalized groups.

Conservation

The Powell Foundation seeks to foster environmental benefits for current and future generations by connecting people to nature, building environmental stewardship, and addressing critical problems in the local environment.

Our Conservation investments are focused in the following areas:

• Conservation & Environmental education
• Connecting people to nature
• Environmental protection

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Create high-quality conservation and environmental science learning experiences for children and youth.
• Foster an appreciation and understanding of nature, the natural environment, and environmental stewardship, particularly among children and youth.
• Increase equitable access to public parks and urban greenspaces to support community wellbeing.
• Address critical environmental issues and efforts focused on protecting, preserving, and improving natural resources impacting our geographies through the support of programs, initiatives, and advocacy efforts.

Human Services

The Powell Foundation seeks to foster community wellbeing by empowering children, families, and individuals with the resources and supports they need to flourish.

Our Human Services investments are focused in the following areas:

• Stabilization & empowerment
• Emotional wellbeing

We invest in organizations who champion efforts to:

• Address food security and hunger alleviation at scale for children, youth, families, and other vulnerable populations.
• Provide housing, wrap-around services, and skill-building programs for homeless and housing insecure individuals, including transition-age youth.
• Promote emotional wellbeing of children and youth in crisis by providing mental/behavioral health interventions and supports.
• Coordinate and build the capacity of school systems to use evidence-based practices to promote students’ mental and behavioral health, including prevention, identification, and treatment efforts.

Our Mission

The Kerr Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable and educational Oklahoma corporation, established to identify and support 501(c)3 organizations, programs and institutions that provide new or enhanced opportunities for those within the granting areas, particularly the young.

Program Categories

Education - Institutions of elementary, junior high, pre-collegiate, along with institutions of higher learning to include health science centers and medical research done by educational institutions

Arts and Culture - Organizations in the visual arts and performing arts areas, museums and libraries

Health - Institutions providing health care, doing medical research, or outreach organizations employing primarily professionals from the allied health area

Human Services - Organizations providing services in diverse areas to the public, and specifically to the disadvantaged, people with special needs and the elderly

Project Categories

Capital - Bricks and mortar projects, including equipment

Program - Programs having an objective and specified time span

Operating - Funds to be used to cover basic ongoing administrative and personnel expenses

The Montgomery County Community Foundation

The Montgomery County Community Foundation was established to create and build a permanent fund to provide for the present and future well-being of our community. To this end, the Foundation works to encourage philanthropy by offering local donors simplicity and flexibility in carrying out their charitable wishes while creating an enduring legacy. We strive to be the hub where local donors, nonprofits and community needs meet. A board of private citizens, who represent the diverse interests of Montgomery County, governs the Foundation.

Grants

Donor Advised Funds

A donor advised fund gives donors the opportunity to actively participate in the philanthropic process by reviewing grant requests and recommending charitable organizations/programs to receive grants. Donors enjoy the benefits of recommending grants that fulfill their charitable wishes, without the expense and obligation of administration. The Foundation’s Board of Directors is legally responsible for approving all grants.

The Annie & Irvin Hoffman Memorial Fund provides grants to nonprofit organizations based in Montgomery County with a special interest in programs for the elderly and children.

The Dan H. & Martha Foster Madeley Heritage Fund was set up to provide grants to Montgomery County nonprofit agencies for researching, collecting, preserving and sharing the histories of the people of Montgomery County, Texas.

The David and Jill Sharp Vaughan Family Fund was set up to meet the benevolent needs of our county and its citizens including, but not limited to, animal welfare.

The George and Emily Fath Fund For Human Needs provides financial assistance for the neediest families in Montgomery County with special consideration given to people who have sudden unexpected needs due to sickness, injury, disability, death in the family or natural disasters. The spirit of Matthew 25:31-46 will serve as a guide.

The Margaret and Foster Madeley Family Fund was set up to help create and foster secure environments and programs in which people are able to experience their potential to thrive.

The Metcalf Family Endowment Fund provides grants to benefit the people of Montgomery County.

The Rick and Rosalind Dauzat Endowment was established to provide grants for the arts and culture, education, and human services.

Field of Interest Funds

Through field of interest funds, donors support a particular interest area such as the arts, children and youth, health and wellness, neediest families or senior citizens. Use of the fund is restricted to the donor’s designated causes, but flexibility remains to meet changing community needs.

As a long time supporter of the Community Foundation, Mr. Brooks left a legacy of to build the future of Montgomery County.  He was especially concerned about children, the youth and senior adults. 

Dale Buckalew Crane’s children, Donnie, Debbie, Deann and Denny, established this fund to honor and remember their mother. Family was the most important thing in Dale’s life. This fund focuses on organizations that provide financial assistance to the children, youth and the elderly of Montgomery County.

Aaron and Dianna Dushkin were community and business leaders in Conroe, with a furniture store on the Courthouse Square.  They helped establish several nonprofits which helped community residents.  Dianna and her children have established this fund to benefit projects that support and encourage the creative arts and literacy in the Montgomery County area.

The Elise Mae & Edward Everett Taylor Fund was created through the Taylor’s will to provide financial assistance to the neediest individuals in Montgomery County, with a special interest in programs that provide services to meet the needs of elderly citizens in the community.

The Jeffrey Kass, MD Dog Rescue & Animal Welfare Fund was created primarily to support dog rescue, including fostering, veterinarian care, transportation, and the adoption process. The Fund also provides assistance to organizations that deal with injured, abandoned or abused animals.

The Jeffrey Kass, MD Elderly Assistance Fund was created to provide support for the indigent elderly in need. All seniors are entitled to proper nutrition, medical care, medications, transportation assistance and companionship. Organizations that are assisting the indigent elderly in any or all of these areas are eligible for grants under this fund.

Arts and culture are a vibrant part of Montgomery County life. This fund honors the spirit of the Montgomery County Performing Arts Society closed its doors and will support performing and visual arts and cultural activities.

Support the environment and ecology initiatives.  Grants will be available once the fund is fully funded.

Created in honor of MCCF’s 2007 – 2017 Executive Director Shannon Kidd’s huge heart, this fund supports programs focused on securing and sustaining the physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual well-being of children who have been abused and neglected. The spirit of James 1:27 will serve as a guide: Religion the God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Support physical and mental health care needs including prevention and education.  Grants will be available from this fund once it reaches full funding status.

Support services, programs, and initiatives for Veterans.

Support services, programs, and initiatives for youth and children. Grants will be available from this fund once it reaches full funding status.

To further adult literacy in Montgomery County.

The Susie and Jack Brouse Family Fund was established to provide financial assistance for the neediest families in Montgomery County, Texas, in the spirit of Matthew 25:31-46.

The Woodlands Medical Center Foundation Fund was established for the purpose of providing health care and wellness assistance and education, including shelter and medical or psychological screening, treatment, or counseling in the South Montgomery County/The Woodlands area, through funding of capital improvements.

The Vernon Randolph Yeakely Endowment Fund was established through Mr. Yeakley’s will to provide funding for homeless, hungry and needy people in Montgomery County.

The Vernon Randolph Yeakley Fund for Animal Welfare was established through Mr. Yeakley’s will to provide a perpetual source or funds to promote the humane treatment of animals through community education and supporting responsible pet/animal ownership.

Unrestricted Funds

Donors establishing or adding to unrestricted funds recognize that our community’s needs and opportunities change over time. These funds provide flexible resources needed to support innovative responses to address the community’s most pressing needs. The Foundation’s Distribution Committee and Board of Directors oversee the use of these funds, directing them to projects that most significantly contribute to the welfare of residents of Montgomery County.

The Don A. Buckalew Family Fund was established by Don A. Buckalew, a recognized leader and businessman in Montgomery County, and his family to meet the current and emerging needs of Montgomery County residents.

The Frankie Alexander Benevolent Fund was established by the Montgomery County Community Foundation Board of Directors as a general Unrestricted Fund to accept contributions in memory or honor of individuals.

Formerly know as the Jason & Marti Mann Family Fund, the Family Legacy Partners Endowment Fund was established to meet the current and emerging needs of Montgomery County residents.

The Laura Jane Musser Fund wants to encourage collaborative and participatory efforts among citizens in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions in a number of civic areas including, but not limited to, economic development, business preservation, arts and humanities, public space improvements, and education.

Priority is placed on projects that: 

• Bring together a broad range of community members and institutions
• Provide the opportunity for diverse community members to work together
• Contain measurable short term outcomes within the first 12 to 18 months
• Include community members actively in all phases of the process 
• Work toward an outcome of positive change within their community

Projects must demonstrate:

• Support from a diverse cross-section of community members and institutions
• Matching financial and/or in-kind support from the local community
• Significant volunteer participation
• Reasonable plans to complete the project within 18 months or less

Funds will be available for: 

• Planning (up to $5,000) - These funds may support costs like: consultant or staff time, meeting costs, mailings, secretarial support, refreshments, local travel, childcare, etc.
• Note - this stage is optional and not a required phase prior to applying for or receiving an implementation grant. If an organization receives a planning grant from the Musser Fund, this in no way implies a commitment on the part of the Musser Fund to provide the organization with any subsequent implementation grant.
• But organizations that receive a planning grant may apply for subsequent implementation support after their planning activities are completed.      
• Implementation (Up to $25,000) - These funds are available to implement community based rural projects that originate in, have been planned by, and involve diverse people from the local community.
• Capital campaigns will not be supported.
• The projects should result in a tangible outcome within at least the first 18 months.
• Projects will be eligible for either planning or implementation funds during any one grant period.

What the Program will Cover:

• New programs or projects within their first three years
• A planning, and/or implementation phase

East Texas Communities Foundation

East Texas Communities Foundation was founded in 1989 by visionary leaders who saw the need for a community foundation to serve the people and communities of East Texas. The strong leadership of early organizers like Isadore Roosth, Norman Shtofman, “Dub” Riter, and an investment of the United Way of Tyler/Smith County launched the Foundation. By 1994, the Foundation’s assets had grown to more than one million dollars.

East Texas Communities Foundation is committed to supporting an array of funding opportunities that serve the diverse needs of our communities. 

Communities benefit from having a range of organizations working on crucial issues, from improved health care and affordable housing to environmental protection and artistic expression.

Minton Family Community Fund

The Minton Family Community Fund is the legacy of a family devoted to the community of Sabine County, Texas.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Create Grants

Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts organizations.

This program provides multi-year operational support. Applicants write their grant for a one year period, and if funded, will provide an update for the second year. Depending on the availability of funds, the organization's award amount will be the same for two fiscal years. New organizations may only apply in odd numbered years.

Arts Create 1

Arts Create 1 provides support for established Arts Organizations with a budget between $50,000 and $1 million and College Arts Institutions.

Arts Create 1 is a  Multi-year grant that may consider requests up to 25% of organization's last completed year's cash operating budget.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Create Grants

Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts organizations.

This program provides multi-year operational support. Applicants write their grant for a one year period, and if funded, will provide an update for the second year. Depending on the availability of funds, the organization's award amount will be the same for two fiscal years. New organizations may only apply in odd numbered years.

Arts Create 2

This category is intended to support Established Minority Arts Organizations with a budget over $50,000.  Requests of up to 25% of the organization's last completed year's cash operating budget may be considered.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Create Grants

Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts organizations.

This program provides multi-year operational support. Applicants write their grant for a one year period, and if funded, will provide an update for the second year. Depending on the availability of funds, the organization's award amount will be the same for two fiscal years. New organizations may only apply in odd numbered years.

Arts Create 3

Arts Create 3 supports Established Arts Organizations with a budget between $1 million and $5 million. Requests up to 25% of an organization's last completed year's cash operating budget may be considered.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Create Grants

Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts organizations.

This program provides multi-year operational support. Applicants write their grant for a one year period, and if funded, will provide an update for the second year. Depending on the availability of funds, the organization's award amount will be the same for two fiscal years. New organizations may only apply in odd numbered years.

Arts Create 4

This category is intended to support Established Arts Organizations with a budget over $5 million. Requests of up to 25% of the organization's last completed year's cash operating budget may be considered.

Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) 

The mission of the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) is to advance our state economically and culturally by investing in a creative Texas. TCA supports a diverse and innovative arts community in Texas, throughout the nation and internationally by providing resources to enhance economic development, arts education, cultural tourism and artist sustainability initiatives.

Arts Create Grants

Intent: To advance the creative economy of Texas by investing in arts organizations.

This program provides multi-year operational support. Applicants write their grant for a one year period, and if funded, will provide an update for the second year. Depending on the availability of funds, the organization's award amount will be the same for two fiscal years. New organizations may only apply in odd numbered years.

Arts Create 5

This category is intended to support Government Local Arts Agencies and Local Arts Agencies. Requests of up to 25% of the organization's last completed year's cash operating budget may be considered.