J F Maddox Foundation

The JF Maddox Foundation operates as one of New Mexico's most consequential place-based funders, with ~$247M in assets and a singular focus on Lea County in southeastern New Mexico. Founded in 1963 by civic leader Jack Maddox and his wife Mabel — who built wealth in Hobbs through utilities, real estate, and banking — the foundation became the beneficiary of their estates and has since grown under successive family leadership into a $14M+ annual grantmaker. Current CEO TJ Parks leads a professional staff that includes COO David Reed and VP of Grants Mayra Lovas.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on five strategic priorities: Social Services, Diversified Economy, Community Assets and Aesthetics, Education, and Safe/Healthy/Engaged Community. This framework shapes every funding decision, and applicants should understand that alignment with at least one of these pillars is non-negotiable. The foundation's core values — "Dig Deep," "Think & Do Big," "Be a Constant Ally," "Measure Twice Cut Once," and "Bring It Home" — signal a preference for partners who share a rigorous, data-informed, community-first approach.

The foundation strongly favors organizations with established roots in Lea County communities, particularly Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, Tatum, and Jal. Its grant history reveals deep multi-year relationships: United Way of Lea County has received 14+ grants totaling over $1.24M; the Boys & Girls Club has received 12 grants totaling $289K; Hobbs Municipal Schools has collected $5M+ across eight grants. These patterns indicate that Maddox builds trust over time and rewards reliable community partners with escalating support.

For first-time applicants, there is no LOI (Letter of Inquiry) requirement — the process goes directly to an online application via grantrequest.com, accessible through the foundation's website. However, the single most effective preparatory step is a phone call to Mayra Lovas (VP of Grants, x140) or David Reed (COO, x138) at (575) 393-6338 before applying. The foundation maintains an explicit open-door policy and uses these conversations to help applicants self-screen and strengthen their proposals.

The foundation does not fund individuals (outside the scholarship program), ongoing general operating support, endowment funds, or other private foundations. Projects must demonstrate a credible path to self-sufficiency after grant funding ends — sustainability is a written criterion, not merely a preference.

Annual giving from the JF Maddox Foundation has ranged from $10.1M (FY2020, likely COVID-constrained) to $17.4M (FY2022), with a consistent pattern of $15–17M in active years. Grants paid (direct cash to grantees) ranged from $2.9M (FY2020) to $10M (FY2019), with FY2022 and FY2023 at $9.9M and $8.9M respectively. The gap between "total giving" and "grants paid" reflects the foundation's substantial direct operating programs — the Distinguished Scholarship Program ($319K annual admin), Hobbs Early Literacy Project ($141K), Distinguished Lecture Series ($130K), and Maddox Leadership Institute ($26K). In 2025, the foundation reported $14M+ in total investment.

Across 197 documented grants in the foundation's database, typical grant sizes span from a minimum of $75 to a maximum of $5M, with a median of $5,000 and an average of $42,219. The distribution is highly skewed: two headline capital grants — Covenant Health System ($5.8M new hospital) and New Mexico Community Trust CTECH ($5M school construction) — pull the average significantly upward. Most programmatic and operational grants cluster in the $10,000–$100,000 range, with multi-year partnerships growing into six-figure commitments.

Geographically, New Mexico dominates with 453 of documented grant records; Texas follows with 96, reflecting the Hobbs area's proximity to West Texas. Smaller outliers in DC (15), MA (21), MO (26), NC (41), NY (22), PA (13), and VA (13) represent national organizations with demonstrated Lea County connections — the American College of Cardiology ($150K for rural cardiovascular care), Haverhill Public Schools ($328K for grade-level reading), and Foundations Inc. ($150K for Campaign for Grade Level Reading).

By program area, education claims the largest share: scholarship administration, K-12 school grants (Hobbs Municipal Schools $5M+, Jal Public Schools $83K), higher education (NMJC $284K, UNM Foundation $83K), and educator quality (Golden Apple Foundation $300K). Social services rank second, encompassing housing (Habitat for Humanity $799K, Guidance Center $163K), food security (Cissy Food Ministry $75K, Isaiah's Soup Kitchen $88K), and emergency assistance (Salvation Army $176K). Health is third, anchored by the Covenant hospital investment. Arts and community aesthetics (Southwest Symphony $447K, Lovington Mainstreet $401K, Lea County Museum $127K) round out the portfolio.

The following table compares the JF Maddox Foundation against four asset-comparable foundations identified in the peer dataset, all in the $245–$262M asset range with Education as their primary NTEE classification:

JF Maddox stands out markedly in one critical dimension: it accepts unsolicited grant applications on a rolling basis, while all four peer foundations operate primarily by invitation only. This makes Maddox significantly more accessible to applicants who can demonstrate geographic and mission alignment. Its hyper-local focus on a single county in southeastern New Mexico also differentiates it from peers with broader or national mandates. However, that same geographic concentration means the applicant pool for non-Lea County organizations is effectively closed — outsiders must demonstrate a direct, compelling connection to Lea County impact to have any realistic chance of success. For organizations based in or serving Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, Tatum, or Jal, Maddox represents one of the most accessible major foundations in the Mountain West.

The foundation's most significant 2025 disclosure was a year-end reflection reporting over $14M invested in grants, scholarships, and project-based funding. Education remained the dominant theme: approximately $400,000 went to Maddox Scholars and semi-finalists across Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, and Jal high schools, continuing one of New Mexico's most competitive merit scholarship programs.

Health investment surged in 2025 with a $179,000 grant to the American Heart Association for the Lea County Lifestyle RX Program — an initiative focused on blood pressure monitoring, lifestyle coaching, and community health education. This signals growing foundation attention to preventive health as a strategic priority alongside traditional education and social services work.

Youth services received $300,000+ in aggregate, including support for the Boys & Girls Club of Hobbs, the City of Eunice Youth Center, and MyPower Inc.'s boys' mentoring circles ($20,000). Food security investments totaling $100,000 reached Cissy's Food Ministry and Isaiah's Soup Kitchen, with an additional $25,000 to the Salvation Army for emergency motel lodging for unhoused residents.

As of March 2026, the Maddox Leadership Institute's 2025-2026 cohort is actively meeting monthly through April 2026. Capital construction activity continued with groundbreaking on a new PDAP (Peer Drug Abuse Prevention) facility. On the cultural front, Jeff Foxworthy was announced as the next Distinguished Lecture Series speaker on March 31, 2026. No leadership changes have been publicly reported; TJ Parks remains CEO with Mayra Lovas leading the grants function.

Call before you apply. The foundation's open-door policy is not marketing language — VP of Grants Mayra Lovas (x140) and COO David Reed (x138) at (575) 393-6338 actively take calls from prospective grantees. A 15-minute conversation before submission can clarify whether your project fits the current strategic plan, alert you to active funding gaps, and make your application legible to reviewers from the start.

Lead with Lea County. Every successful application in the grant history ties directly to Lea County, NM communities. Even nationally recognized organizations (American College of Cardiology, Foundations Inc.) secured funding by explicitly scoping their work to Lea County residents. Applications that open with regional or national framing and layer in local impact as an afterthought will underperform. Open with specific Lea County data — poverty rates, literacy outcomes, health disparities — and connect your theory of change to that local context.

Mirror the strategic plan's language. The five priorities — Social Services, Diversified Economy, Community Assets and Aesthetics, Education, Safe/Healthy/Engaged Community — are the framework reviewers use. Name the relevant priority explicitly in your executive summary, not buried in the narrative. If your work spans multiple priorities, pick your primary alignment and acknowledge secondary connections.

Address sustainability explicitly. "Projects/programs will be self-supporting within a reasonable timeframe" is a written grant criterion. Applicants should include a dedicated section explaining the sustainability model: earned revenue, diversified funding sources, institutional capacity that outlasts the grant, or infrastructure investments with multi-decade useful life.

Demonstrate collaboration. Maddox lists leveraging other funding and formal agency partnerships as preferred attributes. Show your letter of commitment from a co-funder, or name your formal Lea County partners. The foundation's own scholarship program partners with eight universities that match dollars — they model collaborative investment and expect the same from grantees.

Avoid common misalignments. Do not apply for: pure general operating support (explicit restriction), endowment building, multi-year pledges without clear milestones, or projects that primarily serve populations outside southeastern New Mexico without a documented Lea County nexus.

Calibrate your first ask. Starting at $10,000–$50,000 for a new relationship is appropriate given the median grant of $5,000 and average of $42,219. The foundation's seven-figure grants to Covenant Health System and CTECH represent decade-long relationships, not debut awards.