In 2009, Houston Endowment’s allocation for grants was $92 million. Each year’s grant allocation is based on five percent of a three-year average of the endowment’s market value. The goals of this spending policy are to provide a relatively stable pattern of spending on grants, despite fluctuations in security markets, and to preserve the inflation-adjusted value of the endowment in perpetuity.

Grant allocations for any given year will differ from the total grants approved and total grants paid during that year. In 2009, the board of directors approved 833 grants totaling $50.2 million, some of which will be paid in future years. Also, $61.7 million was paid on 1,979 grants, some of which were approved in prior years.

In addition to its regular grantmaking program, Houston Endowment matches, on a two-for-one basis, personal gifts made to public charities by the foundation’s directors and staff. In 2009, $322,790 in grants was paid under the matching gift program. Under a directed grant program that allows directors and other program participants designated by the board to make up to $50,000 each in grants to public charities of their choosing, $445,000 in grants was paid in 2009.

The foundation prepares financial statements on a modified basis of cash receipts and disbursements that generally follows accounting principles used for federal excise tax purposes.

Unaudited summary financial information is presented below. Once audited financial statements for the years ending December 31, 2009 and 2008, are complete, they will be posted on this website.

Click here to view the most recent Financial Statements in pdf format (92k).