The Cockrell Foundation provides financial support for charitable organizations, primarily in the Houston area, with a focus on higher education, health care, medical research, youth activities and cultural institutions.
In addition to its primary focus on The University of Texas at Austin, the Foundation focuses its gifts on institutions and groups that have been important to the Cockrell family in its history, as well as important to the history of Houston and Texas.
Application Information
The Cockrell Foundation accepts application through its online grant portal. There is no deadline, and requests are reviewed at quarterly board meetings, with grant decisions typically made at the fall meeting. Approval and denial letters are mailed within three weeks of decisions. Grant payments are typically mailed by 12/31 in the calendar year that funds are requested.
Grants are considered for health, arts, civic, and human services organizations. Gift types include support for endowment funds, annual campaigns, building funds, capital campaigns, general purposes, and special projects.
To create an application account, visit the grant portal.
Grant Guidelines
These following are required for the online application.
- Name and address of tax-exempt organization which will be the recipient if a donation is made and a copy of the exemption letter from the U.S. Treasury Department
- Specific sum being requested of The Cockrell Foundation
- An Executive Summary sheet (one page) describing the need or problem with an explanation of how the grant money will be used and what is hoped to be accomplished
- Budget for the project or program giving the total cost
- Amount raised to date toward the project or program and the sources from which it has come, including private, religious organizations and/or government sources and, in particular, the total amount contributed by the individuals on the Board of Directors
- Plans for raising any uncovered balance
- An explanation of why it is necessary to seek outside support
- Current status of the project—where it stands now and how long it will take to complete
- Plans for putting continuing projects on a self-sustaining basis and an estimate of when this will occur
- Copy of the organization’s current annual budget
- Copy of the organization’s latest IRS-990
- Copy of the organization’s latest audited financials
- List of the members of the Board of Directors
- List of the officers of the organization
