Apply For Grant
Madison Cooper created the Cooper Foundation with a mission to make Waco, Texas a better or more desirable city in which to live. This is realized through grant awards to qualifying nonprofits in Waco, Texas. We are proud to fund projects that impact all aspects of life in Waco – education, health, arts and culture, community building and social services, and senior citizens.
Nonprofit organizations seeking funding from the Cooper Foundation are highly encouraged to discuss their grant application with Foundation staff before and during its preparation. This can be a time-saver in determining whether a proposal fits within foundation guidelines, interests, and current priorities. Additionally, we can often help clarify plans and ideas and can offer advice on the preparation of a request. We know how precious time and resources are to nonprofit organizations, and we want to ensure that your time developing a proposal is well-spent. In other words – we don’t want to waste anyone’s time!
Please note that an invitation to submit a proposal does not imply a guarantee or promise of funding, but merely sufficient interest in a program and that the Board of Directors would like more information so that they may evaluate whether the program meets the Foundation’s highest funding priorities.
Application Process
- Determine if your organization is ready for foundation funding: Organizational Readiness Checklist.
- Submit a GRANT INQUIRY form (Inquiry Form button below) OR call the foundation to discuss your potential application with Cooper staff.
- There are no deadlines for grant inquiries. They are accepted on an ongoing basis. Once submitted, Cooper Foundation staff will review your inquiry and be in touch within a few weeks to let you know if you are invited to submit a full proposal. If you are on a tight timeline for a project, please be sure to state that online in the inquiry.
- If your inquiry is accepted, you will be invited to submit a full grant proposal through the online system by invitation from Cooper Foundation staff.
- See below for a list of deadlines and correlating review dates for full grant proposals.
Recent Grants
- Advocacy Center of Crime Victims and Children, $24,089
- Art Center Waco, $9,100
- Baylor University, $46,281
- CASA of McLennan County, $50,420
- Heart of Texas Behavioral Health Network, $49,950
- Mission Waco, $150,000
- Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, $200,000
- Prosper Waco, $175,000
- Providence Foundation, $25,000
- Talitha Koum, $175,000
- YMCA of Central Texas, $15,000
Upcoming Grant Application Deadline & Review Dates*
*The deadline and review dates listed below are for full grant proposals and do not apply to grant inquiries (see above). Please note that the review date may change, depending on staff or board questions about a specific application.
As a reminder, grant inquiries are accepted by the foundation on an ongoing basis and then an organization must be invited to submit a full proposal.
Application Submission Deadlines | Application Review Dates |
2024 | |
| February 1 | April 25 |
| March 1 | May 23 |
| April 1 | June 27 |
| May 1 | August 22 |
| June 3 | August 22 |
| July 1 | September 26 |
| August 1 | October 24 |
| September 3 | December 12 |
| October 1 | December 12 |
HISTORY OF OUR WORK
Sign up for the
Nonprofit Network
UPCOMING EVENTS
NONPROFIT NETWORK
Upcoming Nonprofit Network Sessions (9:00-11:30am):
Check back soon for details about the May 16th session!
BOARD GOVERNANCE TRAINING
2024 Training Dates:
June 10th, 5:00-7:00 pm via Zoom ~ check back soon for a registration link!
UPCOMING DEADLINES
Visit our grants page to learn more about the process of applying and a full list of the upcoming application deadline and review dates.
