Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern Photo by Katya Horner Courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Partnership
Houston Botanic Garden Photo by Michael Tims_09
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Armand Bayou Nature Center _Photo By Gary Seloff f _4
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Grant APPlications

We welcome your ideas to make Houston a stronger, more vibrant community.

Learn more about our grant application process below.

What We Belive

Our Approach to Philanthropy

Community-driven:

At the Brown Foundation, we believe that the true experts and catalysts for meaningful social change are those closest to the communities they serve. Our role is to identify and amplify organizations with a proven track record of impact to drive change across our city.

Grantees at the Center:

Since its inception, humility has been a core value that drives our work at the Brown Foundation. We intentionally refrain from using social media and/or seeking media attention for our grantmaking.
Our goal is not to seek the spotlight but rather leverage our platform and network within the philanthropic space to foster connections and elevate the impact of our grantees.

Responsive and Flexible

We strive to be transparent, responsive and decisive in our grantmaking while remaining open to new ideas and organizations with the potential to transform and improve our city.

Who We Support

The majority of our grants are awarded to organizations whose work falls into one or more of the following areas:

The Foundation has a longstanding commitment to education, reflecting our belief that education creates pathways to future opportunity and strengthens communities. Our grantmaking extends from early childhood to higher education. Although we fund broadly, our top priority is direct support to a diverse ecosystem of school models. Our public education grantmaking is concentrated almost exclusively in the greater Houston region.

  • Areas of Interest:
    • High-performing school models & programs
    • Post-secondary access & success
    • Teacher & leader pipeline

The Foundation believes that the arts contribute meaningfully to the vibrancy and vitality of communities. A thriving arts ecosystem promotes diversity, creates dynamic and joyful experiences for residents, sparks dialogue, and sustains a richness of life in a city. We proudly support arts organizations of all sizes—from the performing arts to museums, from small community-based groups to flagship institutions—that bring passion, energy, and creativity to life in Houston and beyond.

  • Areas of Interest:
    • Performing arts
    • Visual arts, museums, public art, and exhibition spaces
    • Community building through the arts
    • Expanding opportunity for artistic expression and appreciation
    • Literary arts

The Foundation believes that strong and vibrant cities need places where communities gather, families spend time, and greenspace is abundant. We also believe in the importance of preserving our native landscape for future generations to enjoy. The Foundation proudly supports parks, gardens, nature conservancies, places for children, and efforts to preserve and protect ecologically sensitive areas.

  • Areas of Interest:
    • Parks and other green spaces
    • Public spaces
    • Civic institutions
    • Conservation

The Foundation is dedicated to supporting organizations that deliver critical social services and programs that address basic human needs in our community. We award grants to organizations with demonstrated ability to accomplish ambitious goals aligned to their mission. These include organizations focused on a range of services from child welfare to food insecurity, services to individuals experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, substance recovery, and community development, among others.

  • Areas of Interest:
    • Basic human needs, such as food insecurity and housing
    • Child welfare
    • Domestic violence

The Foundation awards grants to a diverse array of organizations working to improve health in our community, ranging from large academic medical centers to small community-based clinics. Our current priorities include direct support to hospital systems and clinics that provide primary care, behavioral, and mental health services.

  • Areas of Interest:
    • Primary and general health care services
    • Mental health services
    • Behavioral health, including substance recovery

How We Make Decisions

Our Grantmaking Guiding Principles

Locally Focused Grantmaking:

The majority of organizations that we support are located in Harris County. We occasionally support organizations in other parts of the greater Houston area, including Montgomery, Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Galveston Counties. We rarely fund organizations outside of these priority geographies.

Strategically Aligned Investments:

While we are always open to new areas of impact, organizations that fall outside of the priorities listed above are unlikely to advance in our grantmaking process for 2025.

Proven Track Record of Results:

The majority of the organizations that we invest in are in the growth or maturity stage of the non-profit lifecycle. They have emerged from the start-up stage with an evidence-based set of results and a demand from the community to expand their services and/or impact. While we are open to seeding new organizations and initiatives, it is not typical for the foundation to invest in start-ups or organizations without a clear proof-point.

Serving The Community at Scale:

The Brown Foundation seeks to make grants that have a large-scale impact on the community. On average, our grantees typically serve at least 1,000 beneficiaries annually or are scaling to this level. Most of our grantees also have an annual operating budget greater than $1 million.

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2217 Welch Street
Houston, Texas 77019
(713) 523-6867
grants@brownfoundation.org

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