Statistics · updated
Texas Nonprofit Statistics 2026: By the Numbers
A reference page for Texas nonprofit researchers, journalists, and grant writers. Every figure on this page comes from public IRS filings or government sources, with a copy-paste citation block at the end.
in lifetime grant-making by 16,156 Texas foundations across 704,876 grants paid.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings, all available years.
Foundation footprint
How many active Texas foundations there are, what fraction file granular grant data, and how giving concentrates among the largest few.
Foundations registered in Texas with the IRS, including private foundations, public charities classed as foundations, community foundations, and corporate giving programs.
Source: IRS Business Master File (2026-04-21).
Foundations with one or more grants disclosed on their most recent 990-PF. The remainder are smaller, dormant, or non-grantmaking entities.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings.
A reasonable threshold for active grantmakers, used by GrantDrop as the eligibility floor for our deepened foundation profiles.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings.
Sum of total assets across all Texas foundations. The largest 100 hold the majority of these assets; the long tail of small family foundations is numerous but financially small.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, most recent filing.
Foundations whose 990-PF explicitly indicates they accept unsolicited proposals. The remainder are either invitation-only or do not declare a posture (often functionally invitation-only).
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, application-info section.
Nonprofit sector composition
The receiving side. Nonprofits classed as 501(c)(3) public charities or operating organizations in Texas.
Active 501(c)(3) organizations registered in Texas with the IRS. Excludes ruling-revoked, churches that opt out of filing, and pure private foundations (which appear in the foundation count instead).
Source: IRS Business Master File (2026-04-21).
Unique recipient nonprofits that have received at least one grant from a Texas foundation since 2018. Excludes anonymous and non-EIN recipients listed on 990-PF Schedule B.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF schedules.
Lifetime giving
How much money has flowed through Texas foundations across the entire window of digitised 990-PF data.
Aggregate sum of every grant disclosed by every Texas foundation since the digitised 990-PF window opens. Includes operating, program, capital, and capacity-building grants.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings, aggregated.
Number of individual grant rows. Each row is one foundation paying one recipient in one tax period; multi-year pledges still count as one grant per disbursement year.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Schedule B equivalents.
Average award amount across all grants. Median is significantly lower because the distribution is right-skewed by a small number of very large grants.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings.
The single largest disclosed grant. Usually a corporate foundation moving a one-off endowment-scale gift; check the underlying funder profile for context.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings.
Recent giving (2022 onward)
Activity in the most recent two filing years where reasonably complete data is available.
Recent grant-making volume from Texas foundations. The 990-PF lag means the most recent calendar year is always partially missing; figures stabilise about 18 months after year-end.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings dated 2022 or later.
Count of grant transactions in the recent window. Use this as the denominator when computing Texas-foundation activity rates per nonprofit recipient.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings dated 2022 or later.
Geographic concentration: top 15 cities
Where Texas foundations are headquartered. Foundation address often differs from grant-recipient address; this is a measure of foundation HQ concentration, not where the money lands.
| City | Foundations | Share of TX |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas | 4,840 | 30.0% |
| Houston | 2,281 | 14.1% |
| Austin | 946 | 5.9% |
| San Antonio | 943 | 5.8% |
| Fort Worth | 498 | 3.1% |
| Plano | 226 | 1.4% |
| Lubbock | 222 | 1.4% |
| El Paso | 174 | 1.1% |
| Irving | 170 | 1.1% |
| Arlington | 151 | 0.9% |
| Amarillo | 150 | 0.9% |
| Tyler | 146 | 0.9% |
| Midland | 130 | 0.8% |
| Waco | 123 | 0.8% |
| Richardson | 119 | 0.7% |
Source: IRS Business Master File, foundation registered addresses.
NTEE focus distribution
Texas foundations classified by NTEE major code. The NTEE classification lives on the foundation entity, not the grant; many foundations make grants outside their primary classification.
| NTEE | Major | Foundations |
|---|---|---|
| B | Education | 599 |
| T | Philanthropy and Grantmaking | 484 |
| P | Human Services | 360 |
| E | Healthcare | 277 |
| X | Religion-Related | 254 |
| S | Community Improvement | 188 |
| A | Arts and Culture | 173 |
| N | Recreation and Sports | 100 |
| O | Youth Development | 83 |
| L | Housing | 76 |
Source: IRS Form 990-PF + BMF NTEE classification.
Top 25 Texas foundations by lifetime giving
Sorted by total grants paid across all available years. Click any name to view the full GrantDrop profile.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF aggregated across all available filing years.
Year-by-year giving (2018 onward)
Texas foundation grant-making by calendar year. The most recent year is always partial because of 990-PF filing lag (typically 12 to 18 months between fiscal year end and final IRS publication).
| Year | Total grants paid | Grant count | Mean award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $529,891,088 | 7,062 | $75,034 |
| 2024 | $3,920,816,304 | 67,074 | $58,455 |
| 2023 | $10,245,751,819 | 108,225 | $94,671 |
| 2022 | $13,579,551,736 | 120,259 | $112,919 |
| 2021 | $10,486,895,282 | 98,116 | $106,883 |
| 2020 | $9,573,263,748 | 107,925 | $88,703 |
| 2019 | $6,073,632,419 | 37,311 | $162,784 |
| 2018 | $6,444,159,706 | 75,392 | $85,475 |
Source: IRS Form 990-PF tax-period totals.
Methodology and caveats
All numbers above are pulled from public IRS data: the Exempt Organizations Business Master File for organisation identity and the Form 990-PF series for foundation financials and grants paid. GrantDrop adds NTEE classification rolling, deduplication, and address normalisation; we do not modify reported dollar amounts.
Two caveats matter most for citations:
- Filing lag. 990-PF returns lag the underlying fiscal year by 6 to 18 months. The most recent year on this page is always materially incomplete. For year-over-year analysis, treat anything from the past 12 months as preliminary.
- Address vs giving location. Foundations are listed by their IRS-registered address, which often reflects a registered agent (a Dallas downtown law firm, for example) rather than the foundation's operating location. Recipient addresses on the grants table are reported as filed and may have similar quirks.
For peer-reviewed methodology on US foundation data, see the Candid and ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer documentation. GrantDrop's source code is the authoritative reference for our specific aggregations.
Cite this page
Recommended citation formats:
APA: GrantDrop. (2026-04-21). Texas Nonprofit Statistics 2026: By the Numbers. Retrieved from https://grantdrop.com/statistics/texas-nonprofit-2026
MLA: GrantDrop. "Texas Nonprofit Statistics 2026: By the Numbers." GrantDrop, 2026-04-21, https://grantdrop.com/statistics/texas-nonprofit-2026.
Chicago: GrantDrop. "Texas Nonprofit Statistics 2026: By the Numbers." Last modified 2026-04-21. https://grantdrop.com/statistics/texas-nonprofit-2026.
When citing a specific stat, also reference the underlying IRS source listed under that stat. Example: "$63.6B in lifetime giving (Source: IRS Form 990-PF filings, aggregated by GrantDrop)."