Adam R Scripps Foundation

The Adam R. Scripps Foundation is a Texas-focused family philanthropy established in 2021 and capitalized with approximately $738 million in initial contributions in FY2023 — one of the fastest-funded private foundations in recent U.S. history. The foundation honors Adam Scripps, a member of the E.W. Scripps media family, who died in his mid-40s. His siblings, nieces, and nephews govern a family board that reviews all grants to ensure alignment with Adam's personal vision and values. Chief Philanthropy Officer Alex Bakkum leads day-to-day strategy and grantee identification.

This is fundamentally a proactive, relationship-driven funder. Staff research and identify prospective grantees directly — organizations are rarely discovered through open RFP announcements. While arsfound.org provides a contact form and a grants inquiry page for organizations working within the five focus areas (Animal Welfare, Education, Health, Local Community, Self-Sufficiency), the foundation does not process unsolicited proposals in the conventional sense. Initial outreach through the contact form is the appropriate first step; an invitation to apply formally typically follows a period of relationship development.

The foundation strongly prefers general operating support over project-restricted funding. This reflects a trust-based giving philosophy: provide nonprofits maximum flexibility, then hold them accountable for outcomes. Multi-year grantees — Scripps Health Foundation (11 grants, $2.7M total), Hill Country Youth Ranch (7 grants, $692,500), The Colorado Springs School (13 grants, $670,424) — illustrate the relationship arc: early exploratory gifts grow into sustained, escalating support as demonstrated impact accumulates.

Geographic concentration on Texas Hill Country (Central and South Texas) is dominant, with $17.6M directed to 126 Texas programs in 2024 alone. Organizations outside Texas face higher thresholds but are not excluded — science research, journalism education, veteran services, wildlife conservation, and aviation have all attracted significant cross-regional grants. First-time applicants should lead with genuine programmatic and geographic alignment, not with flattery about the foundation's scale. The board responds to authenticity; Alex Bakkum has publicly described the foundation's culture as one of compassion, humility, and 'love of neighbor.'

The Adam R. Scripps Foundation disbursed $35.5 million in FY2024 and $33.2 million in FY2023, with assets of $754.6 million — representing an annual payout rate of approximately 4.7%, slightly above the 5% private foundation minimum. Across the historical grantee database (515 grants, $62.5 million total), the average grant size is $121,344. This average is pulled upward by transformational gifts; the median grant in the historical record is estimated at $25,000–$50,000, with a wide range from sub-$10,000 event and holiday program gifts to multi-million-dollar flagship commitments.

The largest single grantee historically is Scripps Research Institute at $4.1 million across 7 grants, followed by Scripps Health Foundation at $2.7 million (11 grants) and Society for Science & the Public at $2.5 million (5 grants). The largest single transaction in the 2024 Annual Report was the $7M grant-and-loan package to Llano, Texas for water infrastructure ($3.5M outright grant + $3.5M below-market Program Related Investment).

By funding area in FY2024, Self-Sufficiency led at $9.9M (27%), followed by Scripps Legacy at $7.6M (21%), Health at $5.4M (15%), Education at $5.1M (14%), Catalyzing Family Philanthropy at $4.2M (11%), Local Community at $2.6M (7%), and Animal Welfare at $1.8M (5%). Capital and facilities grants are prevalent throughout the grantee list — building campaigns, MRI equipment, cold storage facilities, dormitory renovations, and park construction all appear among top grants.

Geographically, Texas accounts for 215 of 515 tracked grants (42%), followed by Ohio (62 grants, 12% — largely tied to Scripps family legacy institutions), California (54 grants, 10% — driven by Scripps Research and Scripps Health in La Jolla), New York (22, 4%), Colorado (34, 7%), DC (17, 3%), Kentucky (16, 3%), and Minnesota (11, 2%).

Multi-year commitments are standard for significant gifts: the EAA Aviation Foundation received a 3-year $1.5M commitment; SystemsGo received a 3-year sponsorship; the Spelling Bee partnership extends 5 years. First-time grants tend to be smaller exploratory investments ($25,000–$100,000) that scale over successive cycles as the relationship matures.

The table below compares the Adam R. Scripps Foundation to the five closest-matching foundations by asset size in the Philanthropy & Grantmaking category:

Among foundations in the $744M–$774M asset tier, the Adam R. Scripps Foundation is distinctive in three ways. First, its speed of capitalization: receiving $738 million in a single fiscal year (FY2023) makes it one of the youngest large-scale foundations in this peer group. Second, its explicit family governance: the board of Adam's siblings, nieces, and nephews ensures a personal, values-driven decision process that is more intimate than the professional program staff models typical of foundations this size. Third, its blended-finance approach: deploying Program Related Investments alongside outright grants is unusual at this asset scale for a foundation only three years old. Peer foundations tend to operate with longer institutional histories and more defined programmatic silos, making the Scripps Foundation's willingness to fund broadly across pillars — from disaster relief to aviation education to water infrastructure — a distinguishing competitive advantage for well-aligned applicants.

The most significant 2025 activity was the foundation's emergency response to catastrophic flooding in the Kerrville and Hill Country region of Texas in July 2025. The board convened rapidly and approved a grant to Texas Search and Rescue that reportedly exceeded the rescue organization's original funding request — a rare example of a family foundation voluntarily increasing a grant above the ask. This event reinforced the foundation's Texas Hill Country identity and its capacity for off-cycle, emergency grantmaking.

Also in 2025, the foundation sponsored the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Austin, Texas, a flagship Habitat for Humanity event that resulted in 25 affordable, energy-efficient homes in the Whisper Valley development. This continued a multi-year pattern of capital-intensive housing commitments anchored in Austin and San Antonio (Austin Habitat for Humanity received $1.2M historically; Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio received $350,000).

In 2024, the foundation announced a three-year $1.5 million grant to the EAA Aviation Foundation — naming the EAA Education Center courtyard in Adam's honor — and committed $100,000 per year for five years to the Scripps National Spelling Bee's Beelieve program, with up to $500,000 in matching gifts. Internally, Chief Philanthropy Officer Alex Bakkum indicated that major announcements of scale are forthcoming, suggesting the foundation is preparing transformational-sized gifts beyond even the $7M Llano water package from 2024.

Reaching the Adam R. Scripps Foundation requires patience, geographic intelligence, and genuine alignment with a deeply personal philanthropic legacy. The following tips are specific to how this funder operates.

Use arsfound.org — not scripps.com. The foundation's operational website is arsfound.org. The scripps.com URL in some databases refers to the E.W. Scripps media company's journalism grants program, which is an entirely separate organization. All outreach and applications should flow through arsfound.org.

Start with the contact form, not a grant proposal. Submit a brief 2–3 paragraph introduction via arsfound.org/contact-us/ that describes your organization, its impact metrics, and its alignment with the five pillars — without leading with a dollar ask. Reference specific shared values: community self-reliance, science and discovery, education access, veteran service, or wildlife conservation. Staff proactively identify grantees; your goal is to appear on their radar, not to submit a proposal into a void.

Lead with Texas Hill Country geography if applicable. The Fredericksburg-Kerrville-San Antonio-Austin corridor accounts for the highest density of grants. Rural Texas municipal and nonprofit organizations have near-direct access through the Community Grant & Loan Program at arsfound.org/community-grant-loan-program/.

Ask for unrestricted operating support. The foundation explicitly favors general operating grants over project-restricted awards. Frame requests around organizational capacity, sustainability, and long-term mission delivery — not around deliverables tied to a single program line.

Invest in Impact Genome alignment before applying. With $27M of 2024 giving directed to Impact Genome-verified nonprofits, organizations that can document their outcome frameworks in standardized terms (IRIS+, logic models with outcome categories) will register as more compelling.

Expect a multi-year relationship timeline. Top grantees received 7–13 separate grants over multiple years. A first award of $25,000–$100,000 is a relationship investment, not an endpoint. Plan for site visits — they appear throughout the grantee record and are a near-universal precursor to six- and seven-figure gifts.

Avoid Scripps Legacy framing unless your organization has a genuine institutional connection to the Scripps family name. The $7.6M Scripps Legacy portfolio is not accessible to most outside organizations.