Ed and Jean Mathews Foundation

• The foundation makes contributions only to organisations it has selected itself and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a small charity with no existing link to it should not send a request.
• Its giving is led by tuition scholarships and tuition-fee support to colleges and universities, with some money also going to public media, schools, churches and charitable service organisations, so an educational charity whose work centres on tuition is the clearest fit.
• About 8 in 10 of its grants fall between $1,000 and $48,000, and the median was about $14,500, so a request in the lower part of that range is the realistic size; the largest grant was $50,000.
• The filing shows that 73% of its grant dollars to organisations went to groups it had also funded in earlier filings, so the foundation relies heavily on repeat giving to established recipients.
• A charity without an established relationship with the foundation should not expect an open door.

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

• Houston Public Media · Charity program
  $50,0002024 tax year
• Friends University · Tuition scholarship program
  $47,8172024 tax year
• Oklahoma Baptist University · Tuition fees program
  $37,2462024 tax year
• Canine Companions · Charity program
  $30,0002024 tax year
• Kambala Australia · Tuition scholarship program
  $28,1792024 tax year
• Westbury · General fund
  $25,0002024 tax year
• Johnson & Wales University · Tuition scholarship program
  $21,0762024 tax year
• Hospitality House · General fund
  $21,0002024 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.