FundersOklahoma

William S & Ann Atherton Foundation

Tulsa, OK · EIN 73-1520309. Reported 145 grants totalling $7,753,575 to 68 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$7,753,575granted, 2021-2024
68organizations funded
60%of grantees funded again the next year
$44.4Massets, latest filing

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. William S & Ann Atherton Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $1,100,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
24 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
42 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
31 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
21 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
9 grants
$100,000 and Up
18 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Nat'l Cowboy & Western Heritage MuseumOklahoma City, OK$1,450,000442024
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$1,350,000332023
Mayo ClinicRochester, MN$1,050,000332023
Classically Formed IncTulsa, OK$1,035,500442024
Folds of Honor FoundationTulsa, OK$1,000,000442024
Oklahoma Council of Public AffairsOklahoma City, OK$320,000442024
The Heritage FoundationWashington, DC$150,000332023
Prager University FoundationOwing Mills, MD$125,000442024
Voices of OklahomaTulsa, OK$100,000442024
Turning Point USAPhoenix, AZ$95,000442024
Friends of the MansionOklahoma City, OK$75,000112021
The Fund for American StudiesWashington, DC$70,000442024
John Brown UniversitySiloam Springs, AR$60,500442024
Oklahoma State University FoundationStillwater, OK$55,000112021
Frank Phillips FoundationBartlesville, OK$50,000222023
Leadership InstituteArlington, VA$50,000222023
Litespeed AirshowTulsa, OK$50,000222023
Riverfield Country Day SchoolTulsa, OK$50,000222022
Valeries HouseFt Meyers, FL$50,000222023
Young America's FoundationHerndon, VA$45,000332023
Independent InstituteOakland, CA$44,000442024
Students for LibertyMclean, VA$40,000332023
State Policy NetworkArlington, VA$38,000442024
Constituting AmericaColleyville, TX$30,000332024
Godspeed Flight Demonstration Team IncTulsa, OK$25,000112024
University of the CumberlandsWilliamsburg, KY$25,000442024
Judicial WatchWashington, DC$23,000332023
Media Research CenterAlexandria, VA$22,000442024
Institute for Energy ResearchWashington, DC$20,500332023
Capital Research CenterWashington, DC$19,500332023
The Little Light HouseTulsa, OK$16,000332024
American Cancer SocietyTulsa, OK$15,000332023
American Conservative UnionWashington, DC$15,000222022
Hospitality House of TulsaTulsa, OK$15,000332023
One Hope TulsaTulsa, OK$15,000112022
Victims of Communism Memorial FoundationWashington, DC$15,000222024
Moving Picture InstituteNew York City, NY$13,000222023
Bit By Bit Equestrian FoundationOakland, MI$10,075222023
Fundamental Learning CenterWichita, KS$10,000112021
The New CriterionDenville, NJ$10,000222023
USA ShootingColorado Springs, CO$10,000112024
The Elephant SanctuaryHohenwald, TN$6,000332023
American Quarter Horse FoundationAmarillo, TX$5,000112022
Bit By Bitrsu FoundationOolagah, OK$5,000112022
George Mason University FoundationFairfax, VA$5,000112022
Institute for Free SpeechWashington, DC$5,000112023
Make-a-Wish Foundation of OklahomaTulsa, OK$5,000112023
Mercatus CenterArlington, VA$5,000112021
Tulsa Warbird FoundationTulsa, OK$5,000112024
Washington County Historical SocietyFayetteville, AR$5,000112021
Young Americans Against SocialismLos Angelas, CA$5,000112024
Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (cfac T)Abingdon, MD$4,000112022
Little LighthouseTulsa, OK$4,000112021
The Razorback FoundationFayetteville, AR$4,000222023
Happy Trails Childrens FoundationApple Valley, CA$3,500112023
Humane Society of Pagosa SpringsPagosa Springs, CO$3,500222022
CfactBerryville, VA$3,000112021
National Legal and Policy CenterFalls Church, VA$2,500112023
Okc National Memorial MuseumOklahoma City, OK$2,500112021
A New LeafBroken Arrow, OK$2,000112021
Institute for JusticeArlington, VA$2,000112021
Project VeritasMamaroneck, NY$2,000112021
Ronald Mcdonald House CharitiesTulsa, OK$2,000112021
Parish of Christ the KingTulsa, OK$1,500112021
Mustang Heritage FoundationGranger, TX$1,000112021
Oklahoma Historical SocietyOklahoma City, OK$1,000112021
Shepherd's Fold RanchAvant, OK$1,000112021
University of Oklahoma FoundationNorman, OK$1,000112024

38 of 68 (56%) 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 60%, 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.

Plus 1 grants to individuals totalling $25,000 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 84 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
33 grants
Arts & Culture
10 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
9 grants
Civil Rights
6 grants
Animal Welfare
6 grants
Public Safety & Disaster Relief
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Human Services
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202145$1,674,000$5,000
202240$1,843,500$10,000
202339$2,971,075$10,000
202421$1,265,000$12,000

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.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 55% of this one's giving went to organizations in Oklahoma. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Oklahoma
$4.3M
Michigan
$1.4M
Minnesota
$1.1M
District of Columbia
$318K
Virginia
$212K
Maryland
$129K
Arizona
$95K
Arkansas
$70K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund29 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc25 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program22 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust19 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc18 shared recipientsTulsa Community Foundation16 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Oklahoma.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Foundations funding education in MichiganEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from William S & Ann Atherton Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 1924 S Utica Ave Ste 1018, Tulsa, OK, 74104. 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 73-1520309 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.