The Stanton Foundation

Private foundation · Grantmaker Houston, TX EIN: 76-0208595
EducationReligionChristianityHuman services

The Stanton Foundation is a private foundation based in Houston, Texas. Its 2025 filing is marked as the organization’s final return, indicating that it appears to have wound down or stopped grantmaking.

The Stanton Foundation at a glance

In short: The Stanton Foundation gave $3.0M across 19 grants in 2025 (avg $157K), mostly in Texas. 82% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Annual giving (2025)
$2,986,081
+1493.0% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
19
-5.0% vs 2024
Average grant
$157,162
+1576.8% vs 2024
Median grant
$59,000
New grantees (estimate)
82% first-time grantees (14 of 17, 2025; small sample)
Primary geography
Texas (94% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).

How to apply to The Stanton Foundation

Accepts unsolicited proposals
No
How to Apply

The 2025 filing states that the foundation does not accept unsolicited requests and makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations. Because that filing is marked as final, this policy should not be treated as current.

Contact

Mailing address: 1800 Augusta Drive Suite 400, Houston, TX 77057
Phone: (713) 290-9944

Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.

Who The Stanton Foundation funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

Catholic Endowment Foundation: $800KCatholic Endowment Foundation$800KStrake Jesuit College Preparatory: $432K across 2 grantsStrake Jesuit CollegePreparatory$432K · 2 grantsSt Agnes Academy: $430K across 2 grantsSt Agnes Academy$430K · 2 grantsSt Thomas High School: $402KSt Thomas High School$402KRice University: $310KRice University$310KHoly Family Catholic Church: $150KHoly Family Catholic Church$150KEpiscopal High School: $100KEpiscopal High School$100KBeth Israel Deaconess Hospital: $90KBeth Israel Deaconess Hospital$90KRiver Oaks Baptist School: $60KRiver Oaks Baptist School$60KSt Michael Catholic Church: $59KSt Michael Catholic Church$59K

The largest 2025 recipient was Catholic Endowment Foundation ($800K). Together the top 10 received $2.8M.

Grant Size Distribution

77 grants across all recorded years

61<$50K6$50–100K5$100–250K4$250–500K1$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 61 grants of 77 (79%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

In 2025, 94% of grant dollars went to recipients in Texas, 3% to Massachusetts, 2% to Maryland, and 1% to the District of Columbia.

Grant Distribution by State

13states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 19 itemized grants.

Cities

HoustonWashingtonDuxburyNew YorkBellaireBostonAtlantaChicagoChildsDavidsonvilleEaganFalls ChurchIndianapolisMenlo ParkMissouri CityNeedhamNew BraunfelsPalm DesertRedwood CitySan Antonio

Is The Stanton Foundation open to new grantees?

82%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 14 of 17 grantees (82%) were first-time recipients. With only 17 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 6 points. First grants averaged $178K; repeat grants $167K. How we count

Medians: $55K first-time, $100K repeat.

  • 18% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving grew 1662% from 2022 to 2025. Method
  • In 2025 it paid out well above its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2021–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$1M$2M$3M0 grants2019 0 grants2020 14 grants2021 7 grants2022 17 grants2023 20 grants2024 19 grants2025

From 2021 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $128K (2021) to $3.0M (2025). In 2025 it made 19 grants totaling $3.0M.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
Catholic Endowment Foundation Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$800,000
St Thomas High School Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$401,677
Strake Jesuit College Preparatory Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$401,673
St Agnes Academy Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$400,231
Rice University Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$310,000
Holy Family Catholic Church Missouri City, TXTo support the mission of the organization$150,000
Episcopal High School Bellaire, TXTo support the mission of the organization$100,000
Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Boston, MATo support the mission of the organization$90,000
River Oaks Baptist School Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$60,000
St Michael Catholic Church Houston, TXTo support the mission of the organization$59,000
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsQualifying DistributionsNet Investment IncomeDistributable Amount
2025—$41,671$3,010,936$2,986,08119$3,001,216$33,909$79,823
2024$2,616,764$88,075$197,626$187,45020$192,759$84,535$138,255
2023$2,726,315$167,839$181,681$170,25017$178,311$94,534$134,426
2022$2,740,157$-373,940$205,102$169,5007$174,315$16,016$127,785
2021$3,319,199$1,582,934$160,759$127,60014$127,600$1,289,307$139,316
2020$1,918,686$1,280,389$23,812———$460,478$93,931
2019$1,352,891$319,154$22,247———$33,353$79,074

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Stanton Foundation reported a distributable amount of $80K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.

Mission & Focus Areas

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its listed 2025 grants included support for educational, religious, medical, and other charitable organizations. The Foundation for American Security and Freedom Inc., a 2025 recipient, describes its own mission as informing and educating the American public about national-security issues and advocating for a strong national foreign policy that serves U.S. interests; this is the grantee’s stated mission, not the foundation’s.

Grantmaking

In filing year 2025, the foundation reported 19 grants totaling $2,986,081. Grant amounts ranged from $500 to $800,000, with a median of $59,000.

Among the largest reported grants were $800,000 to Catholic Endowment Foundation; $401,677 to St Thomas High School; $401,673 to Strake Jesuit College Preparatory; $400,231 to St Agnes Academy; and $310,000 to Rice University. Each grant’s stated purpose was “To support the mission of the organization.” The foundation also gave $25,000 to the Foundation for American Security and Freedom Inc.

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists R John Stanton Jr as president, treasurer, and director; Robert Locke Stanton as vice president and director; and Mary Stanton Smith as vice president and director.

The Stanton Foundation is led by R. John Stanton Jr., President, Treasurer & Director since 2022 (on filings since 2019); none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • R. John Stanton Jr.

    President, Treasurer & Director

    President → President, Treasurer & Director, 2022

    On filings since 2019

    0.3 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mary Stanton Smith

    Vice President & Director

    On filings since 2023

    0.3 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Robert Locke Stanton

    Vice President & Director

    On filings since 2023

    0.3 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

Former officers (2)
  • Former: Eugenia Campbell (2019–2021) — Secretary & Treasurer
  • Former: Katherine W. Stanton (2019–2021) — Vice President

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "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 The Stanton Foundation

How much does The Stanton Foundation give each year?

The Stanton Foundation gave $3.0M across 19 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $187K across 20 grants.

What is The Stanton Foundation's typical grant size?

The Stanton Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $59,000, and its average grant was $157,162, across 19 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Stanton Foundation that year got $178K on average.

Where does The Stanton Foundation give grants?

The Stanton Foundation gives mostly in Texas: 94% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Houston, TX (11 grants).

Does The Stanton Foundation give general operating support?

Not in 2025: none of the 19 grants with a stated purpose on The Stanton Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "To support the mission of the organization" (19 grants).

Who are The Stanton Foundation's largest grantees?

The Stanton Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Catholic Endowment Foundation ($800,000), Strake Jesuit College Preparatory ($431,673 across 2 grants) and St Agnes Academy ($430,231 across 2 grants), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 56% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

What does The Stanton Foundation fund?

No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its listed 2025 grants included support for educational, religious, medical, and other charitable organizations. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from The Stanton Foundation?

The 2025 filing states that the foundation does not accept unsolicited requests and makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

How much is The Stanton Foundation required to give away each year?

Private foundations must generally distribute about 5% of their assets annually. For 2025, The Stanton Foundation reported a distributable amount of $80K on its IRS Form 990-PF — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

What is The Stanton Foundation's EIN?

The Stanton Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 76-0208595. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

Does The Stanton Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?

No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑

Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.

Data update history

(3)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS April 1, 2020)
  2. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS June 8, 2026)
  3. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024

Explore Open Grants

Browse active grant opportunities in The Stanton Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database

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Cite this profile

Grantable. (2026). The Stanton Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-stanton-foundation-morg_20ddd34e9f894de1b54be064c8503d2a

BibTeX
@misc{grantable_760208595_2026,
  author       = {{Grantable}},
  title        = {{The Stanton Foundation funder profile}},
  howpublished = {GrantGraph},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-stanton-foundation-morg_20ddd34e9f894de1b54be064c8503d2a},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-14. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}

The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.

Figures come from The Stanton Foundation'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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