Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund
San Antonio, TX · EIN 74-2985834. Reported 94 grants totalling $13.6M to 30 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $150,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $100,000 and $150,000; the smallest was $1 and the largest $666,668. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Texas Health Science Center | San Antonio, TX | $2,455,608 | 15 | 4 | 2023 |
| Children's Hospital of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $2,320,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $2,016,665 | 15 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $1,683,000 | 9 | 4 | 2023 |
| Boysville Inc | Converse, TX | $720,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Foundation Fighting Blindness | Columbia, MD | $525,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Trinity University - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $450,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| Muscular Dystrophy Association | San Antonio, TX | $350,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Texas Biomedical Research Institute | San Antonio, TX | $350,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| I Care San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $270,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| American Heart Association | Dallas, TX | $267,388 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $266,666 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - 2019 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $266,666 | 2 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - 2021 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $233,332 | 2 | 1 | 2020 |
| Retina Foundation of the Southwest | Dallas, TX | $215,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Trinity University - 2020 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Trinity University - 2021 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio - 2021 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - 2018 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - 2020 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio - 2019 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $116,666 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio - 2020 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $116,666 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Utsa College of Sciences | San Antonio, TX | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| American Red Cross | San Antonio, TX | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Brighton Center | San Antonio, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| August Heart | San Antonio, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Low Vision Resource Center | San Antonio, TX | $25,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Trinity University | San Antonio, TX | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Contributions Paid Through MIT Private Equity Fund IV Lp | Cambridge, MA | $5 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Contributions Paid Through MIT Private Equity Fund IV Lp K-1 | Cambridge, MA | $1 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
15 of 30 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 71%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Children's Hospital of San Antonio
SUPPORT THE PEDIATRIC NEUROSURGERY EPILEPSY PROGRAM - Texas Biomedical Research Institute
SUPPORT RECRUITMENT FOR CANCER RESEARCH SPECIALISTS - University of Texas at San Antonio
SUPPORT THE MAX AND MINNIE TOMERLIN VOELCKER CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE DRUG DISCOVERY - University of Texas Health Science Center
FUND THE VOELCKER BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH ACADEMY - Muscular Dystrophy Association
SUPPORT MDA SUMMER CAMP PROGRAMS - Boysville Inc
FUND PRIVATE PLACEMENT SERVICES
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 25 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 24 | $3,217,899 | $133,333 |
| 2021 | 21 | $3,343,649 | $150,000 |
| 2022 | 24 | $3,652,086 | $150,000 |
| 2023 | 25 | $3,429,029 | $116,666 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund has 32 of them, worth $9,292,814. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Children's Hospital of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $1,333,332 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $694,000 |
| Children's Hospital of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $666,666 |
| Children's Hospital of San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $475,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center | San Antonio, TX | $456,736 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $347,000 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio - 2021 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| Trinity University - 2021 Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center - Young Investigator Award | San Antonio, TX | $300,000 |
| University of Texas Health Science Center | San Antonio, TX | $253,418 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 96% of this one's giving went to organizations in Texas. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $150,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Texas.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 112 E Pecan 1240, San Antonio, TX, 78205. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 74-2985834 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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