Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones established Houston Endowment in 1937 to improve life for the people of greater Houston. The challenges and opportunities facing our region have evolved over the intervening decades; however, our commitment is to remain fully faithful to our founders’ purposes for Houston Endowment as best we can interpret them in a contemporary context.

Houston Endowment’s grant application and submission process is designed to clearly communicate its strategies and guidelines, ultimately helping grantseekers to submit better applications.

Houston Endowment invests in sound organizations, proven programs and innovative approaches. The foundation reviews each application to determine the answers to three critical questions:

• What specific results does the applicant seek to achieve?
• What is the likelihood those results will be achieved?
• Does this project or application stand out as an exceptional use of Houston Endowment resources, given the range of competing community needs and opportunities?