Agur Foundation

Agur Foundation is a small, closely held Colorado family foundation run entirely by Eric S. White (Executive Director) and Jane E. White (Treasurer), both uncompensated — a classic husband-and-wife private foundation with no program staff and no public RFP process. With total assets of $6.4M (FY2024) and giving that has ranged from roughly $117K to $2.7M a year over the past decade, Agur operates well below the radar of most grant databases: no application_deadline, no application_form_url, and application_instructions marked 'none' in its own IRS-linked profile. Its 28 tracked grants total $683,223 at an average of $24,401 each, but the distribution is lopsided — one recipient, International Cooperating Ministry, took $227,725 (33% of all tracked giving) across just 2 grants, while seventeen other grantees received $10,000 or less. This is not a foundation that responds to cold applications; it is a relationship-first funder that has built a small, recurring roster of Colorado churches (Grace Counseling Center, Reign Church, Renovate Church, Life Fellowship of Frederick, Connect Church, Westside Church Internacional) and international church-planting intermediaries (International Cooperating Ministry, Multiplication Network Ministries, Shepherd's Staff Mission, Meis Foundation) it has funded repeatedly. First-time applicants should know two things: (1) Agur explicitly serves Christian ministries — its mission statement is to 'help Christian congregations realize their vision' and 'transform people's lives through the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ,' so secular or non-faith-based organizations are not a fit; and (2) the foundation increasingly acts as a lender and advisor, not just a grantor — its 990 program narrative describes tenant-improvement loans and real-estate/entitlement consulting to churches alongside cash gifts. The realistic path in is a warm introduction (through a shared ministry network, a Colorado church connection, or one of its known intermediaries) followed by a direct conversation with Eric White, not a written LOI into a portal. Given its size, Agur should be pursued as one modest, relationship-building gift within a larger funding mix, not a lead funder for any budget over roughly $50,000.

Agur's giving is small and volatile year to year, driven by investment income and occasional large contributions rather than a steady payout formula. Total giving by fiscal year: 2019 $2,685,773 (an outlier, likely a one-time large distribution), 2020 $173,115, 2021 $445,012, 2022 $321,134, 2023 $209,569, and FY2024 total_giving is not yet reported (total_assets $6,445,843, total_revenue $161,933). Total assets have also swung — from $2.1-2.5M in 2019-2023 up to $6.4M in FY2024, suggesting a recent capital infusion (contributions_received hit $720,385 in 2021) rather than investment growth alone. Within the 28 tracked grants ($683,223 total, $24,401 average), the median-sized gift is far smaller than the average — the IRS-derived typical_grant_size metric shows a median of just $5,000 (range $739-$13,500, average $6,296 across 22 recent grants), meaning the $227,725 International Cooperating Ministry gift and the $145,322 City of Fort Collins water-rights donation are outliers pulling the average up; most individual checks are four figures. By recipient type, church planting and facility support dominates: International Cooperating Ministry ($227,725, church construction worldwide), City of Fort Collins ($145,322, one-time water-rights donation — an unusual non-ministry outlier), Grace Counseling Center ($70,000, Christian counseling), Reign Church ($40,000, church growth), and a long tail of $10,000-and-under gifts to international missions (Multiplication Network Ministries, Shepherd's Staff Mission, Meis Foundation, Hope and Home, K-Love radio) and Colorado humanitarian causes (Shining Stars Foundation for pediatric cancer, Ordinary Nurses). Geographically, grants concentrate in Colorado (16 of 28 grants) with smaller clusters in Illinois (4), California, Florida, New Mexico, and Virginia (2 each) — reflecting both local church support and national ministry intermediaries with international reach. There is no evidence of a formal program-area budget split; giving tracks personal relationships and known ministries rather than open competitive categories.

Agur sits among a cluster of similarly small, family-run private foundations with assets clustered around $6.4-6.5M and no public program staff. Compared here to four size-matched peers (all classified under NTEE Philanthropy & Grantmaking, meaning their public NTEE code describes the entity as a grantmaking vehicle rather than a specific cause area — the actual causes are set by the individual/family trustees):

All five foundations, including Agur, sit in a narrow $6.44M-$6.45M asset band with no website-listed application process in the underlying dataset — a pattern typical of trust-style or family vehicles that give almost exclusively to organizations already known to their trustees. Agur is distinguished from this peer set mainly by having an actual public-facing website with programmatic detail (property acquisition, pastoral consulting, finance referrals) and a documented, if narrow, faith-based mission — most bare 'Philanthropy & Grantmaking' peers of this size have no discoverable web presence at all, making Agur comparatively more approachable for a warm-outreach strategy even though it remains closed to cold applications.

No independent press coverage, news articles, or grantee press releases referencing Agur Foundation were found for 2025 or 2026 — this is consistent with a foundation that has no communications function and does not issue public announcements. The most current primary-source information is the foundation's own website (copyright-dated 2026) and its IRS Form 990-PF filings, the most recent detailed program narrative available being for fiscal year 2022 (filed under the 990 covering that period). That narrative describes Agur actively monitoring loans to four ministries — Grace Counseling, Reign Church, Renovate Church, and Life Fellowship Church of Frederick — for tenant improvements and facility development, plus exploratory consultations with additional Colorado churches (Denver Calvary Church, Covenant Community Church, Smoky Hill Vineyard) about how Agur might assist them. Leadership has been stable: Eric S. White (Executive Director) and Jane E. White (Treasurer) have held their uncompensated roles across every filing year in this dataset, with no reported leadership turnover. The foundation's asset base nearly tripled between FY2023 ($2,257,921) and FY2024 ($6,445,843) even though FY2021 was the only year with a large contributions_received figure ($720,385) in the ten years of data reviewed — grant seekers should treat this jump as a signal worth probing directly with the foundation (e.g., during an intro call) rather than assume it reflects a permanently larger annual giving capacity, since payout has not historically scaled with asset spikes in this foundation's history.

There is no online grant application, LOI form, or portal at agurfoundation.org, and the foundation's own IRS-linked profile lists application_instructions as none and application_deadline as unset — treat any generic 'submit a proposal' advice as inapplicable here. The single most important move is securing a warm introduction: Agur's grant history shows near-total concentration on organizations with an existing relationship to Eric and Jane White or to their known ministry network (Colorado churches they've personally consulted with, and international ministries like International Cooperating Ministry, Multiplication Network Ministries, and Shepherd's Staff Mission that recur across multiple filing years). Cold outreach through the site's contact form or (303) 601-5463 is possible but should be framed as a relationship-building conversation, not a funding request — ask to learn about the foundation's current focus areas and offer a brief, specific description of the church or ministry's need (e.g., a facility tenant-improvement project, a specific program cost) rather than a full proposal packet. Faith alignment is non-negotiable: use explicitly Christian language consistent with the foundation's own mission statement ('help Christian congregations realize their vision,' 'the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ') — secular framing will not resonate and non-faith-based organizations should not apply. Because Agur increasingly positions itself as a real-estate and consulting resource (its four current website pillars are property acquisition, a vetted-consultant network, pastoral support programs, and finance referrals), churches with a concrete facility, land, or construction need may find it easier to start a conversation about consulting or loan support than about a cash grant. Common mistakes to avoid: requesting a large sum in a first ask (the recent median grant is just $5,000, and the average across 22 recent grants is $6,296 — even the largest recent grant in that set was $13,500); assuming a standard multi-year commitment (most relationships in the grant history appear as one or two gifts, not recurring annual support, aside from a handful of repeat ministry partners); and skipping the relationship step to submit paperwork, which this foundation has no mechanism to receive. Best timing is flexible year-round contact by phone or the website form, since no deadline structure exists; expect a personal reply from Eric White rather than a program officer, given the foundation has no paid staff.