Endeavor Foundation

Endeavor Foundation (EIN 33-1900622) is a newly formed family foundation, not yet an active grantmaker in any observable sense. It received its IRS tax-exempt ruling in February 2025 and filed its first Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 in November 2025, reporting a $10,000,000 contribution received and $0 in grants paid. Its four directors — Michael J. Minarovic (President), Jane Minarovic, Chris Rider, and Ben Pigati — draw no compensation, which points to a lean, family-run vehicle rather than a staffed program office. There is no published mission statement, no grants page, no application form, and no stated funding cycle in IRS or public records as of July 2026. Michael Minarovic is CEO and co-founder of Arena Energy, a Gulf of Mexico oil & gas exploration company that has deployed nearly $4 billion in capital since 1999; Jane Minarovic founded and runs the Inspire Film Festival, an annual community event in The Woodlands, TX launched in 2017. Those affiliations, plus the foundation's Woodlands address, are the strongest available signal of likely interest areas — regional Gulf Coast community development, arts/film, and possibly energy-adjacent workforce or STEM education — until the foundation's own grant history says otherwise. The most instructive comparable is the Minarovic-linked Arena Energy Foundation, which "typically selects grantees rather than accepting unsolicited proposals": a proactive, relationship-based giving model. Grant seekers should treat Endeavor Foundation the same way — as a closed, discovery-stage funder rather than one with an open pipeline. First-time applicants should not submit unsolicited LOIs to the registered office (2103 Research Forest Dr, Ste 400, The Woodlands, TX 77380); instead, build visibility inside the Montgomery County/Woodlands nonprofit and civic ecosystem where the founders are personally embedded, particularly through Inspire Film Festival and The Woodlands Partnership networks. Because private foundations must distribute roughly 5% of net assets annually (~$500,000/year on this asset base) to keep their tax status, expect Endeavor Foundation to begin issuing grants within its first one to two fiscal years — watch the FY2025 and FY2026 990-PF filings closely, as they will be the first real evidence of its actual funding priorities, minimum/maximum grant sizes, and preferred grantee profile.

Only one year of financial history is on file. In FY2024, Endeavor Foundation reported total revenue and total assets of $10,017,728, composed of $10,000,000 in contributions received (99.8%) and $17,728 in dividend/investment income (0.2%). Total expenses and total grants paid were both $0 — this was the foundation's formation-year filing, covering its capitalization rather than any distribution activity. No officer compensation was paid to any of the four directors. No typical grant size, application deadline, or grants-page URL exists in IRS or database records, consistent with a foundation that has not yet begun active grantmaking. For context on what payout activity is likely to look like: federal private-foundation rules require roughly 5% of net investment assets be distributed annually, which on this asset base points to a target run-rate near $500,000/year in qualifying distributions once giving begins, most plausibly reflected in the FY2025 filing (due around November 2026). The best available proxy for how the Minarovic family actually gives is the related Arena Energy Foundation (EIN 26-1636123), also headquartered in The Woodlands, TX and established in 2010: $155,689 in current assets, 109 grants totaling roughly $925,000 since inception, and a median grant size of just $3,000, concentrated in Education, Human Services, and Philanthropy & Grantmaking across Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee — the states where Arena Energy operates Gulf Coast assets. If Endeavor Foundation follows a similar operating pattern scaled to roughly 65 times the asset base, it could either replicate a high-volume, low-dollar community-grants model at greater scale, or shift toward fewer, larger awards given the substantially larger capitalization. No geographic restriction is documented, but the Woodlands anchor address and the founders' existing Gulf Coast ties make continued Texas/regional concentration the most probable pattern until proven otherwise by actual disbursements.

The four asset-matched peers, including Endeavor Foundation itself, are all small private foundations with no public website or disclosed giving history — a common profile for family foundations that have not yet begun, or never publicize, active grantmaking. The one genuinely informative comparison is Arena Energy Foundation, run out of the same Woodlands, TX base by the same family, whose 15-year record shows many small grants (median $3,000) rather than a few large ones — a plausible template for what Endeavor Foundation's eventual giving could resemble, albeit starting from an asset base roughly 65 times larger.

No independent news coverage, press releases, or grant announcements for Endeavor Foundation (EIN 33-1900622) were found as of July 2026 — the organization has not publicized any grants, program launches, or leadership changes. What is confirmed from IRS records: the foundation received its federal tax-exempt ruling in February 2025, and filed its first Form 990-PF on November 12, 2025, covering fiscal year 2024, in which it reported a $10,000,000 contribution received and $0 in grants paid or expenses — indicating the entity is still in its startup/capitalization phase. Governance is set with four uncompensated directors: Michael J. Minarovic (President), Jane Minarovic, Chris Rider, and Ben Pigati. Michael Minarovic is CEO and co-founder of Arena Energy, a Gulf of Mexico oil & gas exploration and production company that has invested nearly $4 billion in capital since 1999. Jane Minarovic founded and serves as executive director of the Inspire Film Festival, a five-day community event in The Woodlands, TX that launched in 2017. Neither of these facts is direct Endeavor Foundation news, but together they establish the founders' community profile and plausible funding interests — Gulf Coast energy-sector ties and Woodlands arts/civic life. Grant seekers should treat this as a pre-activity funder and watch for its FY2025 Form 990-PF (expected to file around November 2026), which should provide the first real evidence of actual grant disbursements, since public news coverage is unlikely for a foundation this new, this small in staff, and without a public communications presence.

There is no published application process, deadline, or form for Endeavor Foundation, so conventional grant-writing tactics do not apply here — the priority is intelligence-gathering and relationship-building, not proposal polish. First, do not send a cold LOI or proposal to the registered address (2103 Research Forest Dr, Ste 400, The Woodlands, TX 77380); with four uncompensated directors and $0 in grants paid to date, there is no evidence anyone is processing unsolicited submissions. Second, use the Minarovic family's other foundation, Arena Energy Foundation, as your best proxy for what this funder might eventually look for: it "typically selects grantees rather than accepting unsolicited proposals," runs a high-volume/low-dollar model (109 grants, median $3,000, since 2010), and concentrates on Education, Human Services, and Philanthropy in Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee. That pattern suggests Endeavor Foundation is more likely to fund through proactive board relationships than a competitive RFP process. Third, build visibility inside The Woodlands / Montgomery County, TX nonprofit and civic community specifically — this is where both founders are personally active (Jane Minarovic through the Inspire Film Festival, Michael Minarovic through Arena Energy's local footprint), and geographic/personal proximity is likely to matter more than a national reputation. Fourth, avoid generic national appeals; position any outreach around local or regional Gulf Coast impact, and consider whether your organization's work touches arts/film/community events (aligned with Jane Minarovic's festival work) or energy-adjacent workforce, STEM, or community development themes (aligned with Michael Minarovic's industry). Fifth, do not mistake endeavor.org — the global entrepreneur network — for this foundation's website; they are unrelated organizations that happen to share a name, and endeavor.org contains no application information relevant to this EIN. Finally, because a $10M-asset private foundation must distribute roughly 5% of assets annually (~$500,000/year) to retain its tax status, expect the foundation to formalize a grantmaking process within its first one to two fiscal years — check back for updated guidelines as it approaches its FY2025 and FY2026 filings.