Koch Family Foundation

The Koch Family Foundation operates as a deeply Kansas-centric family philanthropy, rooted in the legacy of Fred and Mary Koch, who made Wichita their home in 1932. Today the foundation is chaired by Elizabeth B. Koch, with Charles G. Koch and Philip Ellender serving on the board alongside President Meredith Olson. The governing philosophy is to "support individuals as they discover, develop, and apply their innate gifts" — a mission that translates directly into which organizations receive funding: those that build specific skills, create pathways to careers, and preserve cultural heritage within Kansas communities.

The foundation strongly favors repeat grantees and long-term relationships. A review of the top 50 recipients reveals that Wichita State University ($1.72M across 4 grants), Youth Entrepreneurs Inc. ($2M across 4 grants), Koch Cultural Trust ($470,000 across 4 grants), and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History ($305,000 across 4 grants) have all sustained multi-year funding relationships. This is not a foundation that funds one-off projects from new entrants — first-time applicants are expected to make a compelling case for why ongoing investment would follow.

The application process is direct and portal-based. Unlike many peer foundations, there is no letter of inquiry (LOI) stage. Applicants submit complete proposals through the online portal at webportalapp.com/sp/kffgrantapp by the hard September 15 deadline. The board convenes annually in late fall, and the majority of grants are announced in December — a 3-month cycle from submission to decision.

All board members serve without compensation, which signals a board that reads applications closely and values organizational efficiency over administrative complexity. Proposals should be focused on program-level work with measurable, individual outcomes rather than broad systemic change rhetoric. The foundation explicitly excludes individual schools, churches, ventures outside Kansas, political or lobbying activities, endowment funds, capital campaigns, athletic teams, and sporting events — restrictions the board applies without exception. With $19.8M in assets (FY2024) and annual institutional giving in the $1.2–1.6M range (after accounting for the scholarship pool), the foundation has real capacity but limited bandwidth. Organizations embedded in Wichita's creative and educational ecosystem, with track records of community impact, are positioned best.

The Koch Family Foundation distributed $2.17M in grants paid in FY2023 and $2.34M in FY2022, with total giving (including scholarships) reaching $2.42M and $2.57M respectively. Annual giving has ranged from $1.65M (FY2021) to $3.88M (FY2015), reflecting a foundation that was more expansive when its asset base exceeded $30M. Current assets stand at $19.8M (FY2024), down from a peak of $30.4M (FY2014), indicating a gradual drawdown pattern that prospective applicants should factor into multi-year planning.

Grantmaking splits into two distinct pools. The Dependent Scholarship Awards pool distributes approximately $800,000–$976,000 annually as $2,000 renewable awards to dependents of full-time Koch Industries employees (488 recipients in FY2024). The remaining $1.2–1.6M flows to 501(c)(3) organizations through the institutional Grants Program, with the Koch Cultural Trust receiving additional dedicated allocation.

For institutional grants, the funding range is substantial. Analysis of the top grantees shows single-grant amounts from ~$15,500 (Music Theatre Wichita, one-season program) to $500,000 (Youth Entrepreneurs Inc. in a single fiscal year). Representative benchmarks: Wichita State University averaged ~$430,000 per grant; Phillips Fundamental Learning Center averaged ~$300,000 per grant; Gilder Lehrman Institute received ~$76,250 per grant for Kansas curriculum programs; Wichita Art Museum received $22,500–$30,000 per grant; Wichita Symphony averaged ~$40,000 per year; Music Theatre of Wichita averaged ~$26,500 per year.

Geographically, 99.7% of grant dollars stay in Kansas — 1,509 of 1,514 total grants in the database went to Kansas organizations. The four New York exceptions all went to the Gilder Lehrman Institute for Kansas-specific educational programming. By program area, education-facing grants (entrepreneurship, scholarship support, civic education, youth development, academic programs) represent roughly 70% of institutional giving; arts organizations (performing arts, visual arts, museums, cultural trusts) account for the remaining 30%.

The Koch Family Foundation occupies a mid-tier position in the regional private foundation landscape, with $19.8M in assets comparable to several education-focused peers identified through IRS filings. The table below compares it to four asset-comparable foundations:

Three characteristics differentiate the Koch Family Foundation from its asset-comparable peers. First, it maintains an active, publicly documented online application portal with a published September 15 annual deadline — a level of process transparency uncommon among private foundations of this size, most of which operate by invitation only. Second, its $60M cumulative giving since founding signals sustained, multi-decade institutional commitment rather than episodic philanthropy. Third, the dual-track structure (institutional grants plus a large scholarship pool) means a meaningful share of annual giving is pre-allocated to Koch Industries employee dependents, leaving roughly $1.2–1.6M per year available to external nonprofits. First-time grantees should size their initial ask to the $25,000–$100,000 range to compete in the space where the foundation has demonstrated consistent openness to new organizational relationships.

The Koch Family Foundation's most significant recent grantmaking involves sustained support for Wichita State University ($1.72M across 4 grants, including GoCreate entrepreneurship hub funding) and Youth Entrepreneurs Inc. ($2M across multiple grants for academic year programming). Both represent the foundation's clearest strategic bets on entrepreneurship education as a pathway to talent development in Kansas.

In FY2024, the scholarship program reached its largest recorded scale: 488 recipients received $976,000 in Dependent Scholarship Awards, up significantly from the 262–404 recipients cited in earlier program descriptions. This growth tracks with Koch Industries' expanding employee base and absorbs an increasingly larger share of the annual budget.

No major public grant announcements from the Koch Family Foundation (EIN 486113560) have been identified for 2025 or 2026 as of June 2026. The foundation's news page lists articles only through 2019, consistent with a privately managed family foundation that does not issue press releases for routine grantmaking. The board's last major publicly documented gift beyond recurring grants was the $1 million contribution to Botanica's Carousel Gardens in November 2019.

Important clarification for grant seekers: the Julia Koch Family Foundation — a separate entity established in 2023 — announced a $75 million commitment to NYU Langone Health for a West Palm Beach ambulatory care center opening in 2026. This is not the same organization as the Wichita-based Koch Family Foundation (EIN 486113560). Applicants should not contact the Wichita foundation based on news coverage of the Julia Koch entity.

The September 15 deadline is absolute — the foundation's board meeting calendar is set around it, and no exceptions have been documented. Build in a minimum 5-day submission buffer (target September 10) to allow time for portal troubleshooting, document formatting issues, or last-minute revisions. The online portal at webportalapp.com/sp/kffgrantapp is the only valid submission channel; email and fax submissions are not accepted.

Language and framing matter. The foundation's mission phrase — 'discover, develop, and apply innate gifts' — should inform how proposals describe impact. Programs that activate individual potential (an artist developing their craft, a student gaining entrepreneurial skills, a musician accessing professional training) are described in this language naturally. Proposals that frame outcomes primarily in systemic or policy terms are less likely to resonate with a board that has consistently funded direct-service arts and education programs.

On financials: include the most recent audited financial statements (not compiled or reviewed) and a current operating budget. The foundation's own officers receive zero compensation, signaling that the board values lean organizations. Proposals where overhead consumes more than 20% of the grant request may draw scrutiny. Be prepared to explain any deficit years clearly.

Request sizing: First-time applicants should target $25,000–$75,000. The foundation's documented grants to smaller arts organizations fall in this range (Wichita Art Museum: $22,500–$30,000; Fundamental Literacy Foundation: $30,000; Newman University: $20,000). Requesting $200,000+ in a first application, when the foundation has never previously funded the organization, has no precedent in the grantee database.

Relationship-building is the long game. The top grantees each have 3–4 grants in the database. If a first application is declined, call (316) 828-6768 and request informal feedback; then reapply the following September with a refined proposal that addresses the gap. The foundation's willingness to fund the same organizations repeatedly suggests it rewards persistence and organizational stability.

Non-negotiable eligibility filters: 501(c)(3) status, 100% Kansas geographic focus (or Kansas-specific programming for out-of-state organizations), no capital campaign or endowment components, no political activity, no athletic programs. Screen the proposal carefully against these before submission.