Pugh Family Foundation

The Pugh Family Foundation is a Lafayette, Louisiana-based private family foundation (EIN 72-1491038) established in 2001 and managed out of PO Box 51366, care of Francis Tillou Nicholls Pugh III. Classified by the IRS under NTEE code T90 (philanthropy/voluntarism general), it operates as a classic family-directed, non-operating private foundation: an endowment funds an annual grant program, with trustees drawn almost entirely from the Pugh family and directing distributions to causes that match family priorities. As of the 2022 Form 990-PF (most recent public filing via ProPublica), the foundation reported roughly $20.3M in end-of-year total assets and $22.1M in fair market value, signaling a modest but steadily growing endowment. With no public RFP process, no online grant portal, and no published program staff, funding is overwhelmingly relationship-driven: organizations known to the Pugh family or recommended through Lafayette-area civic, religious, and educational networks receive the majority of distributions. Nonprofits without a pre-existing relationship should expect to invest time in introductions before submitting any request, rather than sending cold applications.

ProPublica 990-PF filings show a clear pattern of expanding payout over time as assets have grown. Grants paid (contributions paid per books) moved from roughly $306K (2014) and $345K (2015) up through $497K (2019), $381K (2020), $566K (2021), and $901K (2022), while total assets climbed from about $6.9M in 2014-2015 to $20.3M in 2022. The most recent reported grant payout of about $901K against ~$20M in assets is roughly a 4.4% payout rate - consistent with the IRS 5% minimum distribution requirement for private non-operating foundations. Revenue has been volatile (ranging from ~$519K in 2015 to $4.3M in 2020), typical of a foundation whose income depends on both contributions into the fund and investment performance. The 2022 filing reports total investment securities of roughly $8.0M in corporate stock with no bond allocation disclosed, plus officer compensation of $145,536 - notable relative to the grant volume and suggesting active family-member involvement in administration.

Among Acadiana-area family foundations the Pugh Family Foundation sits in the mid-tier by assets. Unlike the Community Foundation of Acadiana - which has a public grant portal, program officers, and a donor-advised fund infrastructure - Pugh is a pure private family foundation with no outward-facing program, making direct trustee cultivation the only realistic path to funding.

The most recent 990-PF visible in ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (as of the April 2026 data refresh) covers tax year 2022, with $901,277 in grants paid on $20.3M in assets. A 2023 filing (tax_prd 2024-12-01 referenced in IRS records) had not yet surfaced as extracted filings_with_data at the time of this report, so specific 2023 or 2024 grantee lists are not publicly available. No foundation website, press releases, or active news coverage surfaced in research; pugh.org returns a 404 on its About page and is not clearly operated by this foundation. With no open application process, trustees likely announce grant decisions privately to recipients. Nonprofits interested in the Pugh Family Foundation should monitor ProPublica for the 2023 and 2024 990-PF filings - which will include the Part XV schedule of grants paid, giving the first public snapshot of current grantees and typical award sizes.

Do not send an unsolicited grant application - there is no public application process, no RFP, and no program staff. Instead: 1) Identify board members through the 2022 Form 990-PF Part VIII (officers and trustees) on ProPublica, and look for connections to your own board, advisors, or Lafayette-area civic networks before approaching. 2) Cultivate relationships with Pugh family members through Lafayette nonprofits, Catholic/Episcopal parishes, and Acadiana civic groups that have historically received Pugh support - peer-nonprofit introductions are the highest-probability entry point. 3) When you do connect, lead with concrete, locally-rooted programming in Lafayette or the broader Acadiana region; a family foundation of this size rarely funds national work. 4) Keep initial asks modest - in the $10K-$50K range is most likely to match historical grant sizing based on the total payout volume. 5) Before any outreach, pull the most recent available 990-PF yourself to verify grantee list and typical award sizes; do not rely on third-party databases alone.