Victor E Speas Foundation

Private foundation · Grantmaker Dallas, TX EIN: 44-6008340
Economically disadvantaged peopleLow-income peopleEducationGraduate and professional educationMedical education

The Victor E Speas Foundation is a private foundation based in Dallas, Texas, established in 1947. Its grant program supports organizations serving residents of Kansas City, Missouri, with priorities that include medical care for people in need, medical research, and quality educational, cultural, human-services, and health-care programming.

Victor E Speas Foundation at a glance

In short: Victor E Speas Foundation gave $2.1M across 44 grants in 2025 (avg $48K), mostly in Missouri. 27% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Annual giving (2025)
$2,091,000
+6.7% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
44
+37.5% vs 2024
Average grant
$47,523
-22.4% vs 2024
Median grant
$40,000
Total assets
$30,717,819
+0.8% vs 2024
New grantees (estimate)
27% first-time grantees (12 of 44, 2025)
Primary geography
Missouri (90% 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 Victor E Speas Foundation

How to Apply

The filing directs applicants to use the guidelines and online application.

Review Cycle
The filing lists March 31 and August 31. Both dates have passed for 2026.
Deadline
The filing lists March 31 and August 31.
Contact

Application contact: Tony Twyman - Bank Of America N A
Mailing address: PO Box 219119, Kansas City, MO 64121-9119
Phone: (816) 292-4343

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

Who Victor E Speas Foundation funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

Levelup Kids Inc: $150KLevelup Kids Inc$150KNorth Kansas City Hospital: $150KNorth Kansas City Hospital$150KSamuel U Rodgers Health Center: $125KSamuel U Rodgers Health Center$125KKansas City University: $125KKansas City University$125KAbility KC: $125KAbility KC$125KRediscover Kansas City: $100KRediscover Kansas City$100KCenter for Practical Bioethics Inc: $90KCenter for Practical BioethicsInc$90KUnited We: $80KUnited We$80KSwope Health Services: $55KSwope Health Services$55KNewhouse Inc: $50KNewhouse Inc$50K

The largest 2025 recipient was Levelup Kids Inc ($150K). Together the top 10 received $1.1M.

Grant Size Distribution

175 grants across all recorded years

97<$50K47$50–100K25$100–250K6$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 97 grants of 175 (55%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

The grant program focuses on organizations serving Kansas City, Missouri residents. In 2025, 90% of grant dollars went to recipients in Missouri, 9% to Kansas, and 1% to New York. The filing’s stated award restriction is charitable purposes within Missouri.

Grant Distribution by State

3states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 44 itemized grants.

Cities

Kansas CityLees SummitParkvilleHarzfeldIndependenceGrandviewNew YorkLibertySt. LouisGladstoneJefferson CityN Kansas CityOlatheOverland ParkSaint JamesShawnee MissionTecumseh

Is Victor E Speas Foundation open to new grantees?

27%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 12 of 44 grantees (27%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $33K; repeat grants $53K. How we count

Medians: $25K first-time, $40K repeat.

  • 61% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+0%). Method
  • In 2025 it paid out 93% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). 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$3M26 grants2019 39 grants2020 29 grants2021 34 grants2022 36 grants2023 32 grants2024 44 grants2025

From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $1.8M (2019) to $2.1M (2025). In 2025 it made 44 grants totaling $2.1M.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
Levelup Kids Inc Kansas City, MOUnrestricted General$150,000
North Kansas City Hospital N Kansas City, MOInterventional Radiology$150,000
Samuel U Rodgers Health Center Kansas City, MOPediatric Wing Capital$125,000
Kansas City University Kansas City, KSCenter for Population$125,000
Ability KC Kansas City, MOComprehensive Capital$125,000
Rediscover Kansas City Lees Summit, MOBehavioral Health Urgent$100,000
Center for Practical Bioethics Inc Harzfeld, MOUnrestricted General$90,000
United We Kansas City, MOWomen's Economic$80,000
Swope Health Services Kansas City, MOCollaborative Medical$55,000
Newhouse Inc Kansas City, MONewhouse Domestic Violence$50,000
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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$30,717,819$2,811,531$2,566,894$2,091,00044$2,307,696$2,628,205$2,488,721
2024$30,474,059$3,248,976$2,392,422$1,960,00032$2,161,836$3,044,894$2,296,588
2023$29,537,040$852,451$2,318,395$1,933,34736$2,117,917$889,950$2,140,432
2022$30,881,998$1,028,548$2,447,854$2,085,13734$2,255,693$1,085,074$2,104,011
2021$32,319,554$3,517,751$2,250,517$1,829,42429$2,011,194$3,495,401$2,268,598
2020$31,057,821$1,788,040$2,193,054$1,832,81639—$1,532,385$1,987,292
2019$31,460,742$1,358,755$2,206,807$1,808,71426—$1,168,371$1,990,269

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Victor E Speas Foundation reported a distributable amount of $2.5M for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

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

Mission & Focus Areas

The foundation’s stated purpose is to provide medical care for the needy, further medical research, and support quality educational, cultural, human-services, and health-care programming. Its grant program describes support for organizations serving Kansas City, Missouri residents, and says it considers general operating and program requests but not capital requests.

Examples of supported organizations include LevelUp Kids, whose mission is to provide services that empower families and create opportunities for low-income children to succeed; Ability KC, which provides medical, therapeutic, educational, and vocational services for children and adults with disabilities; and Samuel U Rodgers Health Center, which provides affordable health care. Other 2025 recipients include Swope Health Services, which describes its work as delivering accessible, comprehensive patient care, and Newhouse, which provides services for survivors of domestic violence.

Grantmaking

In 2025, the foundation awarded 44 grants totaling $2,091,000. Grants ranged from $6,000 to $150,000, with a median of $40,000. Among the largest awards were $150,000 to LevelUp Kids for unrestricted general support and $150,000 to North Kansas City Hospital for interventional radiology. Other notable awards included $125,000 each to Samuel U Rodgers Health Center for a pediatric wing and Ability KC for comprehensive capital, and $125,000 to Kansas City University for a center for population. The program description says capital requests will not be considered, while the filing lists some 2025 grants with capital-related purposes.

The foundation’s 2025 filing says it does not restrict giving to preselected organizations. It directs applicants to guidelines and an online application and lists Tony Twyman at Bank of America N.A. as the contact. The filing restricts awards to charitable purposes within Missouri, with an emphasis on medical care for the needy and medical research, particularly the causes and treatment of cancer.

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

Bank of America is listed as trustee on the 2025 filing.

Victor E Speas Foundation's only listed officer is Bank Of America, Trustee on every filing since 2021 (compensated).

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Bank Of America

    Trustee

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    $192K (2021) → $222K (2025)

Former officers (1)
  • Former: Bank Of America N A (2019–2020) — Trustee

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.

Compensation Overview

From 2025 IRS filing

Bank of America — Trustee: $222KBank of AmericaTrustee$222K

The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $222K, to Bank of America (Trustee).

Frequently asked questions about Victor E Speas Foundation

How much does Victor E Speas Foundation give each year?

Victor E Speas Foundation gave $2.1M across 44 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $2.0M across 32 grants.

What is Victor E Speas Foundation's typical grant size?

Victor E Speas Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $40,000, and its average grant was $47,523, across 44 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Victor E Speas Foundation that year got $33K on average.

Where does Victor E Speas Foundation give grants?

Victor E Speas Foundation gives mostly in Missouri: 90% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest state was Kansas (9%). The most frequent recipient cities were Kansas City, MO (28 grants), Lees Summit, MO (3 grants) and St. Louis, MO (2 grants).

Does Victor E Speas Foundation give general operating support?

Yes: 41% of Victor E Speas Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (18 of 44) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Who are Victor E Speas Foundation's largest grantees?

Victor E Speas Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Levelup Kids Inc ($150,000), North Kansas City Hospital ($150,000) and Samuel U Rodgers Health Center ($125,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 20% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is Victor E Speas Foundation?

Victor E Speas Foundation reported $30.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $2.3M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $2.5M (roughly 5% of its investment assets). Falling short in one year is not a violation: foundations have until the end of the next year to meet the minimum.

What does Victor E Speas Foundation fund?

The foundation’s stated purpose is to provide medical care for the needy, further medical research, and support quality educational, cultural, human-services, and health-care programming. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from Victor E Speas Foundation?

The filing directs applicants to use the guidelines and online application. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

What is Victor E Speas Foundation's EIN?

Victor E Speas Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 44-6008340. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

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

Data update history

(8)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS April 9, 2020)
  2. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS April 15, 2021)
  3. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 6, 2022)
  4. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS April 11, 2023)
  5. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 16, 2024)
  6. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS April 24, 2025)
  7. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS April 30, 2026)
  8. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2024

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Cite this profile

Grantable. (2026). Victor E Speas Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 14, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/victor-e-speas-foundation-morg_49a89a53d4f04fc8905bcfac73d0094e

BibTeX
@misc{grantable_446008340_2026,
  author       = {{Grantable}},
  title        = {{Victor E Speas Foundation funder profile}},
  howpublished = {GrantGraph},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://grantable.co/funders/victor-e-speas-foundation-morg_49a89a53d4f04fc8905bcfac73d0094e},
  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 Victor E Speas 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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