Freebird Foundation

Freebird Foundation is a small, family-run private foundation (EIN 27-4984752) based in Bellaire, TX, with no paid staff — just three uncompensated directors: Curtis W. Huff (President), Lori M. Gallagher, and Terrence R. Kamm. Its own IRS filing states plainly: "THERE IS NO SPECIFIC FORM REQUIRED FOR GRANT PURPOSES" and "THERE ARE NO SUBMISSION DEADLINES." This is a relationship-driven, invitation-adjacent funder rather than an open-competition grantmaker — the historical grantee list (Houston Ballet Foundation, Houston Food Bank, Youth Heartline, Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana, Tejano Center for Community Concerns) reads like a director's personal Houston civic and philanthropic network rather than a responsively-sourced portfolio. Multi-year, repeat funding to the same handful of organizations (Houston Ballet received 5 separate grants totaling $250,000; Houston Food Bank received 4 grants totaling $200,000) confirms this foundation prizes sustained relationships over one-off project grants. First-time applicants without an existing connection to the directors should not expect a cold LOI to convert quickly — plan for a multi-touch cultivation approach (board introductions, shared-event visibility, or a warm referral from an existing grantee) before submitting a formal request. The foundation restricts eligibility strictly to 501(c)(3) organizations and explicitly favors "projects aimed at serving the poor & underprivileged and promoting social justice & peace" — proposals should use that exact framing. Given its concentration in food security, youth/family services, arts education, and pediatric wish-granting, organizations working in adjacent Houston-area direct-service work are the best-fit applicants; national or non-Texas organizations without a Houston/Gulf Coast tie are a poor match given the foundation's 15-for-15 grant history landing entirely in TX and NM.

Freebird Foundation's DB-recorded grant history (2011-2023, 15 grants) totals $650,000 across two states — Texas (11 grants) and New Mexico (4 grants) — at an average grant of $43,333. The five recorded top recipients: Houston Ballet Foundation ($250,000 across 5 grants, avg. $50,000/grant), Houston Food Bank ($200,000 across 4 grants, avg. $50,000/grant), Youth Heartline ($100,000 across 4 grants, avg. $25,000/grant), Make-A-Wish Texas Gulf Coast and Louisiana ($50,000, single grant), and Tejano Center for Community Concerns ($50,000, single grant). Grant sizes cluster tightly in the $25,000-$50,000 band with no evidence of grants below $25,000 or above $50,000 in the sampled data — this is a foundation that writes consistent, moderate checks rather than scaling individual awards. Annual charitable disbursement (total_giving) has been volatile: a mid-2010s high of $537,385 (FY2014) and $372,301 (FY2015) gave way to a leaner $110,000-$186,000/year range for FY2019-2023, before jumping to $676,614 in the most recently filed year, FY2025 (per ProPublica/CauseIQ, outside the DB's 2023 cutoff). Total assets have grown steadily from $1.98M (2011) to $7.33M (2025), roughly a 3.7x increase over 14 years, driven mainly by a one-time $4.68M contributions spike in FY2024 rather than steady investment compounding — net investment income has typically run $25,000-$250,000/year, positive in every recorded year. Geographically, giving is Houston-centric with a secondary New Mexico presence (Taos-area recipients per CauseIQ), and by program area the confirmed 2025 grants split across arts/education (Houston Ballet, $80,000), child/family services (Tejano Center $60,000, Youth Heartline implied continuation), and — historically — food security (Houston Food Bank) and pediatric wish-granting (Make-A-Wish). No grants to organizations outside the TX/NM footprint appear in any data source reviewed.

Freebird Foundation sits within a peer cohort of similarly small, staff-less "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" (NTEE T20) private foundations with assets clustered near $7.3M — likely generated by GrantedAI's asset-band matching rather than shared mission. None of the five peers have a public website on file, making Freebird's own (thin but existing) web presence a relative differentiator.

All six foundations sit within a remarkably tight $5,000 asset band ($7.330M-$7.335M), which suggests this peer set was algorithmically matched on asset size rather than mission or geography — none of the five peers have any public grantmaking data available, so Freebird's documented no-deadline, no-form policy and identifiable grantee list make it the most transparent and approachable funder of the group for a cold applicant.

The most notable recent development is financial rather than programmatic: FY2024 contributions to the foundation spiked to roughly $4.68 million (per ProPublica), pushing total assets from $7.08M to $7.33M and setting up a substantially larger FY2025 grant budget. FY2025 charitable disbursements came in at $676,614 — the foundation's highest recorded annual giving since at least 2011, and roughly 3.5x its FY2019-2023 average of ~$136,000/year. Confirmed FY2025 grants include $80,000 to Houston Ballet Foundation for education and community engagement programs, $60,000 to Tejano Center for Community Concerns for its Birth to Two Program, and $30,000 to Youth Heartline — all continuations of relationships visible in the foundation's longer grant history (Houston Ballet and Youth Heartline both appear among the top-5 all-time recipients in DB records). No leadership changes were found: Curtis W. Huff, Lori M. Gallagher, and Terrence R. Kamm remain the sole directors across all filings reviewed. No press coverage, news announcements, or social media activity was located for this foundation in 2025-2026 — consistent with a family foundation that operates entirely through Form 990-PF filings and direct relationships rather than public communications. Grant seekers should not expect to find timely updates outside of annual tax filings (typically posted 12-18 months in arrears on ProPublica/CauseIQ) and the foundation's own sparse website.

Freebird Foundation's IRS filing is unusually candid for a foundation this size: it explicitly states there is no required application form and no submission deadlines, and restricts consideration to 501(c)(3) organizations whose projects serve "the poor & underprivileged" or promote "social justice & peace." Applicants should lead with a concise letter of inquiry (2-3 pages) rather than a full grant application packet — sending an unsolicited 20-page proposal to a three-person, unstaffed board is a common mistake that will likely go unread. Because the foundation has no program officer, direct mail or email to the foundation's Bellaire address/contact (c/o Curtis Huff) is the only documented channel; there is no online portal. Given the tight, repeat-relationship pattern in the grantee history (the same 3-5 organizations receive the bulk of funding year over year), first-time applicants should treat this as a multi-year cultivation target rather than a one-shot ask — introduce the organization's work in year one with a brief inquiry, and follow up annually rather than resubmitting the same request repeatedly. Since disbursements roughly quadrupled in FY2025 relative to the FY2019-2023 baseline, this may be an unusually favorable window to approach the foundation with new requests, as the board may be actively looking to deploy the enlarged asset base into additional grants. Use the foundation's own language ("serving the poor & underprivileged," "social justice & peace") directly in proposal framing, since it is drawn verbatim from their IRS-filed grant restrictions. Geographic fit matters: every traceable grant has gone to a Houston-area or New Mexico (Taos-area) organization, so applicants outside those regions face a steep uphill climb regardless of program quality. Finally, since award sizes have consistently landed in the $25,000-$80,000 range with no evidence of smaller seed grants or larger transformational gifts, calibrate the ask accordingly — requests significantly outside that band are unlikely to match the foundation's typical check size.