Inasmuch Foundation

The Inasmuch Foundation, founded in 1982 by Edith Kinney Gaylord from the Oklahoma Publishing Company fortune, operates as a deeply place-rooted private foundation with roughly $399 million in assets and annual distributions averaging $16-25 million. Its giving philosophy is patient and relationship-oriented — the foundation invests deeply in organizations it trusts, then sustains those relationships for years through structured operating support.

New applicants must understand this is a gradual courtship, not a transactional grant cycle. The foundation explicitly prefers first-time grantees to request $25,000 or less. This is a deliberate threshold that tests organizational capacity and reporting quality before deeper funding commitments begin. Successful first grants typically progress to multi-year general operating support at $50,000 or $100,000 per year for up to five consecutive years, followed by a mandatory one-year break before renewal.

The depth of these relationships is visible in the grantee data: Remerge of Oklahoma County has received 19 separate grants totaling $1.1 million; the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits has received 12 grants totaling $1.44 million; the University of Oklahoma Foundation has received 25 grants for $1.4 million. These are decades-long partnerships, not one-time awards.

Geography is the foundation's most important filter. Oklahoma City's core is the primary service area for Community Enhancement, Education, and Human Services. The foundation is explicit: it is 'very unlikely' to fund organizations outside the OKC core in these areas. Journalism is the sole exception, where statewide and national organizations are eligible — recent recipients include KOSU, The Beacon, the Fort Worth Report, and national journalism infrastructure organizations.

Program Officers are available for pre-submission consultation, and this access is substantive. Contacting grants@inasmuchfoundation.org or calling (405) 604-5292 before your first submission is strongly advisable — they will tell you directly whether your work fits. The four-person program team, led by Vice President of Programs Sarah Roberts, is accessible and responsive.

Inasmuch Foundation distributes grants through a tightly structured model with clearly defined grant types and amounts. General Operating Support comes in two fixed sizes only: $50,000 per year (for organizations with annual budgets under $1 million) or $100,000 per year (requiring $1M+ annual budget). Neither amount is negotiable and neither can exceed 10% of the grantee's annual operating budget. One-time project grants exist in non-standardized amounts. Capital campaign grants are available separately but only once an organization has raised 50-75% of its goal.

Historical giving from IRS data reveals a foundation whose annual distributions track investment returns on its ~$400 million endowment. Total giving by year: 2019 ($30.6M, the highest recorded), 2020 ($25.1M), 2021 ($23.4M), 2022 ($24.9M), 2023 ($24.9M). Recent cycle-level data tells a more granular story: Spring 2024 reached a record $22M to 55 nonprofits; Fall 2024 distributed $13M; Spring 2025 was $7.16M; Fall 2025 was $5.79M to 43 organizations.

Across 1,176 recorded grants in the database, the average grant size is $51,208. The range is substantial — from matching gifts of $1,000 to capital grants of $5 million (Colorado College Academic Pavilion). The median operating grant is $50,000, aligned with the standardized tier structure.

By geography, 945 of 1,176 grants went to Oklahoma organizations (80%), 58 to Colorado (reflecting Colorado Springs affiliations), 23 to Texas, 15 to DC, and smaller numbers elsewhere. By program area in Fall 2025: Education 40% ($2.3M), Human Services 33% ($1.93M), Journalism 14% ($800K), Community Enhancement 13% ($755K). Education and Human Services have consistently captured 70%+ of recent cycle funding. The Journalism portfolio extends to national recipients — a meaningful carve-out within an otherwise hyper-local strategy.

The database groups Inasmuch by asset size (~$396-402M), producing peers that are geographically and programmatically diverse. The comparison reveals how distinctive Inasmuch's open-access model is at this asset level:

Inasmuch stands out among its asset-tier peers in two critical ways. First, it runs a genuinely open application process with a published biannual cycle and public eligibility criteria — most foundations at this scale, including Milken and One8, operate primarily by invitation. Second, its geographic concentration in Oklahoma City is unusually explicit and enforced, making it the dominant accessible major funder for OKC-core nonprofits in education and human services. For eligible organizations, there is no comparable alternative with this level of accessibility and this asset base in the Oklahoma market.

The Inasmuch Foundation has maintained high activity through 2025 and into 2026. On February 24, 2026, the foundation announced $2.65 million in capital campaign investments to five Oklahoma City institutions aimed at advancing cultural infrastructure, economic opportunity, and medical research — outside the standard biannual cycle.

The Fall 2025 cycle (December 11, 2025) awarded $5.79 million to 43 nonprofits. Education recipients included Community Action Agency of Oklahoma City, Positive Tomorrows, Rainbow Fleet, and SidexSide. Human Services recipients included Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County, Catholic Charities, Diversion Hub, and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Journalism recipients included KOSU, Oklahoma Media Center, The Beacon, and Tulsa Local News Initiative.

In November 2025, the foundation made a rapid emergency response — nearly $55,000 to 23 Oklahoma nonprofits during a federal SNAP benefits interruption — demonstrating operational flexibility outside the standard cycle. The Spring 2025 cycle (May 14, 2025) distributed $7.16 million addressing food insecurity, youth mental health, and arts access.

Leadership is stable. Robert J. Ross serves as Chairman & CEO with compensation of approximately $465,000 in the most recent filing. Sarah Roberts continues as Vice President of Programs at approximately $199,000. The Spring 2026 grant cycle opened January 1, 2026, with applications due February 15, 2026.

Initiate contact before the portal opens. Program Officers at (405) 604-5292 or grants@inasmuchfoundation.org will tell you directly whether your organization's work fits. This conversation should happen 60-90 days before the February 15 or August 15 deadline, not the week before.

First-time applicants: submit under $25,000. The foundation explicitly states a preference for new grantees to apply at this level. Starting small is not a weakness — it is the expected entry point into what may become a multi-year funding relationship.

Frame proposals using the 'Prioritized' language. The foundation publishes a tiered priority list. 'Prioritized' areas — Education Policy & Reform, Homeless Prevention, Behavioral Health, Oklahoma Journalism, Early Childhood Education, Workforce Development, Pre-K-12 Education — receive favorable review over 'Collaborative' areas. Map your work explicitly to these categories.

For General Operating Support, know the exact tier. Request $50,000 (budget under $1M) or $100,000 (budget over $1M). A $75,000 operating request or any non-standard amount signals unfamiliarity with the grant structure. Also confirm the request does not exceed 10% of your annual operating budget.

Draft offline, paste into Foundant. The online portal runs on Foundant grantmaking software and has documented compatibility issues with some web browsers. Writing and editing in Word before pasting prevents data loss.

Submit on time — 5pm CST sharp. Deadlines are February 15 and August 15. If the 15th falls on a weekend or federal holiday, it moves to the next business day. There are no exceptions for late submissions.

For capital campaigns: wait for 50-75% of goal. Applying before reaching this threshold is grounds for ineligibility.

Oklahoma City core means Oklahoma City core. If your service area includes broader metro, statewide, or rural Oklahoma, focus your narrative tightly on OKC-specific impact. Work in Tulsa, rural counties, or other metros is unlikely to receive Community Enhancement or Human Services funding.

Journalism applicants have national eligibility. If your organization covers investigative reporting, nonprofit news, or journalism sustainability, geographic restrictions do not apply — frame your work around closing local journalism gaps and democratic accountability.