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

  1. Determine if your organization is ready for foundation funding: Organizational Readiness Checklist.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

  • American Gateways, $150,000
  • Community Doulas of Waco, $47,000
  • Compassion Ministries, $39,000
  • Cook Children’s Health Foundation, $10,000
  • Dr Pepper Museum, $25,000
  • Heart of Texas Goodwill Industries, $25,874
  • Meals on Wheels, $25,000
  • Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, $200,000
  • Salvation Army Waco, $316,978
  • Stilwell Retirement Residence, $60,000
  • Texas Sports Hall of Fame, $15,000
  • United Way of Waco-McLennan County, $90,000
  • Waco Civic Theatre, $150,000
  • Waco Habitat for Humanity, $70,000

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

 
September 3 December 12
October 1 December 12
November 1 January 30, 2025
December 2 February 27, 2025

2025

 
January 6 March 27
February 3 April 17
March 3 May 22
April 1 June 26
May 1 August 28
June 2 August 28
July 1 September 25
August 1 October 30
September 1 December 18
October 1 December 18

HISTORY OF OUR WORK

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Nonprofit Network

UPCOMING EVENTS

NONPROFIT NETWORK

Upcoming Nonprofit Network Sessions:
(click read more to access registration links)

2024:
December 4: Holiday Social Hour (4-6pm, 1801 Austin Avenue)
December 19: Harassment: It’s Not What You Think

2025:
January 16: Nepotism, Conflicts of Interest, and Other Dirty Words
February 20: The Employee Handbook — Can I Copy Off Your Paper?

read more

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.

 

 

General Inquiry