Prairie Foundation

The Prairie Foundation (Midland, TX; EIN 75-6012458) is a small private foundation with roughly $35.0M in assets and tax-exempt status dating to September 1959 — one of the older Midland family foundations. Note that 'Prairie Foundation' is a common name: there is a separate and unrelated Prairie School Foundation (Cedar Rapids, IA) tied to the College Community School District — that is NOT this entity. The Midland foundation is a closely held family trust with directors Julie Dickson (President), Lynda James (VP), Charles F. Hedges Jr. (Secretary), and Sean McDaniel (Treasurer), none of whom draw compensation — a signal this is a trustee-run family foundation with no paid staff and no published RFP process. The approach is warm introductions through West Texas networks, Permian Basin community institutions, and California connections (the foundation's second declared geographic footprint).

Recent 990s show roughly 40 grants per year with a median check of $5,000, an average of $9,375, a minimum of $1,000, and a maximum of $35,000. This is a pure 'many small grants' pattern with no major outliers — disciplined, broad community giving rather than concentrated capital bets. 2024 filings show $1.35M in charitable disbursements against $9.93M revenue (the revenue spike includes $9M in contributions received, likely a family gift in-cycle), leaving large unrestricted net assets of ~$34.99M. Geographic focus is Texas (primarily Midland and the Permian Basin) with a secondary California cluster — a common pattern for oil-and-gas family foundations whose beneficiaries moved to California while the foundation stayed Texas-based. No deadlines are published; DB classification notes 'No deadlines' which matches a trustee-meeting-driven review cadence.

Against Texas private foundations with $30-50M assets and philanthropy/grantmaking (T20) classification, Prairie is notably small-grant oriented:

Prairie's small-ticket, high-count pattern is the opposite of Carey's concentrated model at the same asset level — two peer $30-40M foundations with dramatically different strategies, showing how much 'typical giving size' varies independent of endowment size.

2024 fiscal year showed a major one-time revenue event: $9M in contributions received (90.6% of total revenue), suggesting a family gift, estate distribution, or donor-advised fund top-up. Despite the infusion, charitable disbursements held steady at $1.35M, meaning the foundation accumulated rather than deploying the windfall — consistent with a multi-year smoothed payout strategy. No reported leadership changes; the four-person unpaid board (Dickson / James / Hedges / McDaniel) has been stable. No public website, no press releases, no new program launches reported. Form 990-PF filed May 13, 2025 on schedule. No indication of a spend-down or sunset plan.

A realistic Prairie Foundation strategy: (1) focus on Midland, Odessa, or broader Permian Basin organizations — or California nonprofits with a clear Texas-family connection — because the geographic pattern is tight; (2) do not approach cold — this is a trustee-run family foundation with no public application portal, so warm introductions via Midland civic networks (Permian Basin Area Foundation, Museum of the Southwest, Midland Memorial Foundation, Midland College, local churches, and oil-and-gas family networks) are the realistic entry path; (3) right-size the ask in the $2,500-$10,000 range for first-time grantees; the $20,000-$35,000 band is reserved for multi-year or top-relationship awards; (4) keep the proposal extremely short — a one-page letter of inquiry to Julie Dickson or Charles Hedges Jr. with a clear mission, specific ask, and 501(c)(3) determination letter is the correct format; (5) do not ask for unrestricted general operating from a cold start — name a specific program or project.