Houston Cougars Foundation Inc logo

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc

Public charity · Grantmaker Houston, TX EIN: 76-0489432 Website

As a support organization for the university of houston, the foundation promotes education through athletics, helps the university of houston department of intercollegiate athletics attain fiscal stability, helps to attain a reduction in the athletics budget subsidy by the university, promotes recognition of former student-athletes and promotes future participation in the university of houston.

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc at a glance

In short: Houston Cougars Foundation Inc gave $1.8M across 2 grants in 2025 (avg $876K), mostly in Texas. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.

Annual giving (2025)
$1,751,465
Grants made (2025)
2
Average grant
$875,733
Median grant
$875,733
Total assets
$5,713,797
+18.6% vs 2024
Primary geography
Texas (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Latest 990 filing
Form 990, 2025 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026.

Who Houston Cougars Foundation Inc funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top recipient in 2025

University of Houston Athl: $1.8M across 2 grantsUniversity of Houston Athl$1.8M · 2 grants

The largest 2025 recipient was University of Houston Athl ($1.8M across 2 grants).

Grant Size Distribution

2 grants across all recorded years

<$50K$50–100K$100–250K1$250–500K$500K–1M1$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was in the $250–500K range: 1 grant of 2 (50%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Grant Distribution by State

1state

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 2 itemized grants.

States

Cities

Houston

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$2M$4M$6M2 grants2020 0 grants2021 0 grants2022 0 grants2023 0 grants2024 2 grants2025

From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $1.8M (2025) to $5.3M (2020). In 2025 it made 2 grants totaling $1.8M.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
University of Houston Athl Houston, TXAthletics Support$1,289,244
University of Houston Athl Houston, TXAthletics Support$462,221
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsNet Investment Income
2025$5,713,797$1,357,326$1,828,060$1,751,4652$221,647
2024$4,815,824$626,858$317,673——$114,637
2023$3,604,994$268,556$204,279——$268,261
2022$3,595,819$253,061$64,858——$234,156
2021$4,161,925$193,387$351,949——$190,196
2020$3,711,892$353,448$5,387,312$5,294,7372$269,632

About Houston Cougars Foundation Inc

Based on IRS filings

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc is a public charity focused on Recreation & Sports, based in Houston, TX. IRS filing data is available from 2020 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $5.7M in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 2 grants totaling $1.8M. Net investment income was $222K.

Focus Areas

Leadership & Key People

Officers and directors from IRS filings

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc is led by Matthew Houston, President since 2021 (on filings since 2020); none of the 11 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Matthew Houston

    President

    Treasurer → President, 2021

    On filings since 2020

    5 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Brian Saxenian

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    3 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • James Hong

    Director

    Secretary → Director, 2021

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Kevin Bates

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Phillip Dailey

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Scott Zamir

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Steve Saxenian

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Thomas Ebner

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Trey Wilkinson

    Director

    On filings since 2020

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jerry Portele

    Vice President

    Director → Secretary, 2021

    Secretary → Vice President, 2022

    On filings since 2020

    5 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Les Haulbrook

    Treasurer

    President → Treasurer, 2021

    On filings since 2020

    5 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Frequently asked questions about Houston Cougars Foundation Inc

How much does Houston Cougars Foundation Inc give each year?

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc gave $1.8M across 2 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990.

How large is Houston Cougars Foundation Inc?

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc reported $5.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $1.4M.

What is Houston Cougars Foundation Inc?

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc is a public charity focused on Recreation & Sports, based in Houston, TX. It holds $5.7M in total assets as of 2025.

Where does Houston Cougars Foundation Inc operate?

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc has awarded grants in Texas.

What is Houston Cougars Foundation Inc's EIN?

Houston Cougars Foundation Inc's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 76-0489432. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.

Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.

Data update history

(3)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 12, 2021)
  2. Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS July 14, 2026)
  3. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS March 16, 2023)

Live grants for the work Houston Cougars Foundation Inc funds

Recreation & Sports Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.

Explore Open Grants

Browse active grant opportunities in Houston Cougars Foundation Inc's focus areas in our free grants database

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The filing figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0. About GrantGraph Open

Figures come from Houston Cougars Foundation Inc's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.

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