Most generous foundations: Oklahoma Edition
Who’s on the nice list for grant-giving this year?
By Lindsay Jordan
Humans love a good year-in-review, don’t we? We replay our top songs (while defending the “my kids wrecked my algorithm” effect), tally audiobooks consumed while cooking, getting ready, and during drive-time, and devour every best-of/worst-of list we can find.
So it got me thinking… what about giving?
Who earns the gold star for the most gifts to nonprofits? For total dollars given? For big gifts and most consistent giving? Shouldn’t we celebrate those funders, too?
Lucky for you, I run a fundraising company — and have a blog. Rather than listing every state (you’re welcome), we’re spotlighting a couple where Write On works most deeply. First up: Oooook-lahoma - where the wind goes sweeping down the plains… and the grant dollars do, too.
On the Nice List
Oklahoma’s Top Ten Most Generous Foundations by Total Number of Grants Made
Source: Aggregated Form 990 tax filings from 2023, the most recent data as of publication
Number of Grants Awarded
538
372
214
210
206
186
177
164
155
141
Private Foundation Name
The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation
Records Johnston Family Foundation
The Samuel Noble Roberts Foundation
The Sharna and Irvin Frank Foundation
These 10 funders made more than 2,300 grants totaling over $143M - a healthy balance up and down the turnpike: five in Tulsa, four in OKC, and one in Ardmore. The Hardesty Family, Sarkeys, and Love Meyer Family foundations also each awarded 100+ grants.
Wait — Where’s…?
Some may expect to see the George Kaiser Family Foundation here. But GKFF is structured as a public charity, not a private foundation. Private foundations are typically funded by a single family, individual, or corporation and must meet a minimum distribution requirement. Public charities receive broader public support, face different regulatory requirements, and make grants as well as fund their own programs.
GKFF made 536 grants in 2023, nearly identical to Zarrow’s 538. But their financial posture is quite different:
Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation: $35M awarded (≈10.5% of $305M fund balance)
GKFF: $140M awarded (<3% of $4.7B fund balance)
So while grant volume is similar, GKFF gives more in total dollars, and Zarrow gives a larger share of its assets. Not exactly apples-to-apples, but worth celebrating all the same!
You may also be scanning for Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.
Despite their deep ties to Oklahoma and recognition among the state’s wealthiest, 2023 filings show just one grant award: $363M.
Micheal DuPont, director of Tulsa grantmaking for the Schusterman’s foundation, confirmed the 2023 giving total and added, “Annually in Oklahoma, we invest in over 100 organizations that provide in-school and out-of-school youth experiences, facilitate pathways to upward mobility through access to post-secondary education, support families with essential resources and social services, and strengthen communities by investing in under-resourced neighborhoods in Tulsa.”
Notable Gifts
Notable gifts represented within the list include a $34M gift to establish the Noble Research Institute - the nation’s largest nonprofit agricultural research organization - and a $3.5M gift to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s David R. Brown Center for Advanced Human Imaging - both made by The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
United Ways of Tulsa and Central Oklahoma collectively received funding of nearly $2M from nine of the top 10 most generous private foundations in Oklahoma.
“For more than a century, Tulsa Area United Way has stood alongside our foundation partners through every challenge,” said Alison Anthony, CEO of Tulsa Area United Way. “Because of their compassion and generosity, local nonprofits can feed families, keep children learning, care for older adults, and bring hope in everyday life and times of crisis so that every Tulsa-area family has the chance not just to get by, but to thrive.”
All in, Oklahoma’s top ten private foundations made 22 gifts of $1M or more and 217 awards of $100,000 or more, with the Inasmuch Foundation leading the pack with 73 of those $100K+ awards. In total, 949 of Oklahoma’s 1600+ private foundations awarded 12,776 grants, largely to Oklahoma nonprofits. Yeeow! Ayipioeeay! (IYKYK) Can we get these folks a sweet tea, please?
Nationally, private foundation giving exceeded $103B in 2023 (up 1.7% per Giving USA). While Giving USA reports an additional $6B increase in 2024, we won’t see the detailed Form 990 picture until those filings are publicly released.
So stay tuned — there’s more celebration ahead!
