Coffee Foundation Inc.

Coffee Foundation Inc. is a closed, family-run private foundation based in Oklahoma City, governed by six uncompensated directors: Virgil Coffee (President), Glenn Coffee (Secretary), Logan Coffee, Justin Coffee, Matt Benjamin, and Kent Melton (Treasurer). There is no paid program staff and no public application process -- third-party grant trackers (Instrumentl, Grantable) independently confirm the foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals and funds strictly by invitation. This matches the underlying data: application_instructions is blank, and no deadline, form URL, or portal exists on record. Despite an official NTEE code (T20, Philanthropy & Grantmaking) and DB-listed focus area of 'Community Development,' the actual grant purpose tag for every one of the top 50 grantees is 'MISSIONS' -- this is, in practice, a Christian missions and evangelical campus-ministry funder, not a general community-development or education funder. Recurring grantees include Oklahoma Baptist University, North American Mission Board, Baptist Collegiate Ministry, In Touch Ministries, and several state-chapter 'Christian Challenge' campus ministries (CA, CO, MI). Glenn Coffee's background as former Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore and Secretary of State signals deep ties into Oklahoma City's civic, legal, and Baptist institutional networks -- the realistic path in is a warm introduction through one of these circles, not a cold application. The grantee list shows a clear relationship progression: once an organization is funded, it tends to receive renewed support across 4-5 consecutive years (Oklahoma Baptist University: 5 grants/$322,000; Water4: 5 grants/$64,000; In Touch Ministries: 5 grants/$120,000) rather than a single one-off award. First-time prospects should therefore treat this less as a competitive grant cycle and more as a long-term relationship to cultivate carefully, ideally starting with a modest ask and a personal connection to the missions/Baptist network the Coffee family already funds.

The foundation's own typical-grant-size record shows a median grant of $4,500 (average $9,748, range $250-$47,050 across a 28-grant sample), while the fuller grantee dataset spans 161 grants totaling $2,426,682 (average $15,073, pulled upward by large multi-year cumulative totals). Total giving has been volatile: $341,354 in 2019, $616,804 in 2020, $359,685 in 2021, $481,902 in 2022, and a near-tripling to $1,070,412 in 2023 (grants paid $933,010), followed by a 2024 pullback to $471,570 across 39 grants per external trackers, then an apparent rebound with $1.65 million in charitable disbursements reported for the most recent (FY2025) filing against $9.92 million in net assets. This pattern -- large swings not tied to a fixed percentage -- tracks net investment income (which hit $416,417 in 2023 alone) and periodic asset sales more than a stated program budget, though the foundation must still clear the roughly 5% IRS minimum distribution on its ~$10 million asset base (about $500,000-$540,000/year). Geographically, Oklahoma dominates with 86 of 161 tracked grants (53%), followed by Georgia (11), Colorado (9), Minnesota (9), California (7), Florida (6), Missouri (5), North Carolina (5), South Dakota (5), and South Carolina (4). By program area, funding is essentially undiversified: every top-50 grantee carries the purpose tag 'MISSIONS,' led by Pulse ($536,000 across 3 grants), Oklahoma Baptist University ($322,000/5 grants), Student Work Development Foundation ($146,150/5 grants), In Touch Ministries and Jets Usa ($120,000 each/5 grants), and Tim Lester ($108,000/5 grants). Grant sizes range from four-figure sustaining gifts (many under $2,000) up to six-figure cumulative support for anchor partners, indicating a barbell strategy: small trial or supplemental gifts to many ministries alongside sustained, larger support for a handful of trusted, multi-year partners.

This peer set is banded almost entirely by asset size (all within about $13,000 of one another around $9.9-9.93 million) rather than by mission, which is why every listed peer shares the same generic 'Philanthropy & Grantmaking' NTEE category -- none have a public website on file, mirroring Coffee Foundation's own lack of a verifiable web presence. What sets Coffee Foundation apart within this tier is the transparency of its actual giving pattern once the underlying grant data is examined: a near-total (100% of top 50) concentration in Christian missions work, run entirely by uncompensated family and associate directors with no program staff. New England Biolabs Foundation is the notable outlier as a corporate-linked entity likely to have more institutional grantmaking practices, though that is not documented in the data reviewed here.

The most recent full-year figures in the underlying dataset (FY2023) show grants paid of $933,010 and total giving of $1,070,412, up sharply from $481,902 in FY2022 and $359,685 in FY2021 -- a swing driven largely by a jump in net investment income to $416,417. External 990 trackers (Instrumentl, Grantable) place 2024 giving at approximately $471,570 across 39 grants, a roughly 49.5% dollar decline year-over-year even though grant count rose about 8.3%, consistent with payout tied to market performance rather than a level program budget. The most current record found (ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, reflecting the latest filing) shows FY2025 revenue of $1.12 million against $1.75 million in total expenses, with charitable disbursements of $1.65 million (94% of expenses) against net assets of $9.92 million -- implying the foundation liquidated a meaningful share of appreciated holdings (asset sales made up 38.2% of FY2025 revenue) to fund an elevated giving year. No leadership turnover was identified: the same six directors -- Virgil Coffee, Glenn Coffee, Logan Coffee, Justin Coffee, Matt Benjamin, and Kent Melton -- appear consistently across the filings reviewed, all uncompensated. No press coverage, program announcements, or social media activity specific to the foundation's 2025-2026 grantmaking surfaced in web research, which is expected for a closed, staff-less family funder. One data-hygiene note worth flagging to applicants: the web domain on file for the foundation, coffeefoundation.com, now belongs to an unrelated Swiss specialty-coffee and mental-health brand, not this Oklahoma City foundation -- there is no verified working website for Coffee Foundation Inc.

Because Coffee Foundation Inc. does not accept unsolicited proposals and funds strictly by invitation (confirmed independently by Instrumentl and Grantable, and consistent with the blank application_instructions and null deadline/form URL on file), the single highest-leverage move is securing a warm introduction rather than preparing a cold application. Target the foundation's existing missions network: Oklahoma Baptist University, North American Mission Board, Baptist Collegiate Ministry chapters, or a 'Christian Challenge' campus ministry (active chapters recur in California, Colorado, and Michigan in the grant history) -- a referral from any of these organizations is far more likely to open a conversation than a direct outreach. Frame any eventual proposal in missions, discipleship, and evangelism language rather than generic secular-nonprofit terminology, since every one of the top 50 known grantees carries the purpose tag 'MISSIONS.' First asks should be modest: the median historical grant is $4,500, and many first-year gifts fall well under $2,000, so position an initial request as a trial engagement rather than a multi-year ask. If a relationship is established, expect informal, low-touch stewardship -- simple annual updates by letter, email, or phone rather than a formal reapplication -- since repeat grantees (Oklahoma Baptist University, Water4, In Touch Ministries) show 4-5 consecutive years of renewed funding without evidence of a competitive re-application cycle. Given Glenn Coffee's background in Oklahoma state government and law, expect the board to be attentive to reputational fit and personal vouching within Oklahoma City's civic and Baptist institutional circles -- credibility by association matters more than a polished grant packet. Do not rely on any online portal, RFP listing, or the coffeefoundation.com domain (which belongs to an unrelated company); instead verify current contact details by phone at (405) 601-1616 before sending any materials, and lead with a specific, named connection to the family or board rather than a generic letter of inquiry.