Warren Charitable Foundation

The Warren Charitable Foundation operates as a tightly controlled family foundation anchored to the Permian Basin of West Texas. President W. Stirling Warren and Vice President Anne M. Warren lead a compact volunteer board — Treasurer/Executive Director Kevin Y. Petty, Secretary Joshua P. Ham, and board members Allen Pruitt and David Smith — all serving without compensation. This family-directed structure means funding decisions flow from personal community relationships and direct local knowledge rather than professional program staff reviewing national submissions.

The foundation enforces a strict two-step process: organizations submit a Letter of Intent during one of two annual windows, then await an invitation to complete a full grant application. Only invited organizations advance; the LOI is a hard screen, not a formality. Geographic eligibility is equally absolute — services must be delivered in the Permian Basin. Of 419 recorded grants, 373 (89%) went to Texas organizations, overwhelmingly concentrated in Midland and Ector counties.

The grantee list reveals clear thematic preferences: youth development (Young Life, Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Teen Flow), education (Midland College Foundation with $1.02M across 4 grants, MISD Education Foundation), human services (West Texas Food Bank, Family Promise, Buckner Children & Family Services), health and rehabilitation (Midland Children's Rehab Center, Springboard Center), and Christian faith-affiliated organizations (First Presbyterian Church, Golf Course Rd Church of Christ). The foundation has maintained multi-cycle relationships with many of these groups, signaling that repeat funding is both common and actively sought.

First-time applicants should understand that the foundation's community ties run deep. Organizations already embedded in Midland's civic, faith, or educational networks — particularly those known to the Warren family — hold a structural advantage. A warm relationship, even a brief introduction through a mutual contact, significantly improves LOI conversion rates. The January 2025 platform migration to GrantInterface means all applicants must register fresh accounts before their first submission under the new system.

Warren Charitable Foundation's grant distribution is highly skewed: the median grant is $8,000 while the average is $30,003, reflecting a large base of smaller awards alongside a handful of transformative anchor investments. The documented range runs from $100 to $1,061,500. Across 419 recorded grants totaling $13,014,778, the top five grantees alone — Memas Foundation ($1,843,032), Midland Young Life ($1,154,900), Midland College Foundation ($1,020,000), Family Promise ($628,000), and Safe Place ($500,000) — account for $5,145,932, or 39.5% of all recorded giving.

Annual giving has grown steadily: FY2012 $105,330 → FY2015 $485,135 → FY2019 $3,047,805 → FY2020 $3,188,286 → FY2021 $3,239,832 → FY2022 $3,599,404 → FY2023 $4,046,240. The FY2024 asset jump to $158,392,503 (from $99.6M in FY2023) — driven by $63.8M in total revenue — suggests a major family capital infusion that could push annual giving well above the $4–5M historical range in FY2025 and beyond.

Payout ratios: FY2023 total giving / assets = 4.1%; FY2022 = 4.4%; FY2021 = 4.5%. These are near the minimum required 5% for private foundations, suggesting disciplined stewardship rather than aggressive distribution — though the FY2024 asset surge may prompt higher absolute payouts.

By program area (estimated from grantee names): youth development and education ~40% of giving; human services and food security ~25%; health and rehabilitation ~15%; faith-based organizations ~10%; arts, culture, and civic/emergency services ~10%. Geographically, Texas receives 89% of grant volume; the remaining 11% reflects family connections (e.g., Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation, NE Texas Community College, Young Life Big Bend) rather than a strategic multi-state program.

The following table compares Warren Charitable Foundation to its four closest asset-size peers, all classified under NTEE T22 (Private Grantmaking Foundations) with assets in the $158–159M range:

Warren Charitable Foundation stands out among its asset-comparable peers for operating one of the more accessible application processes: its twice-yearly LOI cycle at GrantInterface is genuinely open to qualifying Permian Basin nonprofits, whereas all four peer foundations appear to operate primarily by invitation. Warren's tight geographic focus — nearly 90% of grants to Texas — is also more concentrated than typical foundations of comparable asset size, reflecting its roots as a family foundation with deep West Texas community identity rather than a diversified institutional grantmaker.

No specific press releases or grant award announcements for 2025–2026 were found in public sources. The most significant recent development is the January 1, 2025 migration to GrantInterface as the foundation's grant management platform — a move that affected all applicants (previous accounts are invalid) and may signal a broader administrative modernization.

On the financial side, FY2024 tax data reveals a dramatic asset increase: $158,392,503 total assets versus $99,592,283 in FY2023, an increase of $58.8 million. With $63.8 million in FY2024 revenue (vs. $21.3M in FY2023), this is consistent with a substantial new capital contribution from the Warren family, likely tied to oil and gas proceeds from the Permian Basin. If the foundation maintains its historical 4–5% payout ratio, FY2025 annual giving could reach $6.3–7.9 million — approximately double the FY2023 level of $4.05 million.

No leadership changes were identified across multiple years of IRS filings. W. Stirling Warren has served as President and Anne M. Warren as Vice President throughout the foundation's recorded history. Kevin Y. Petty continues as Treasurer and Executive Director. The 2026 grant cycle deadlines (Spring: March 6; Fall: September 7) were published on schedule, suggesting stable operations with no disruptions to the funding calendar.

Verify geographic eligibility before anything else. The foundation funds only organizations providing direct services to Permian Basin residents. This means Midland, Odessa, and the surrounding West Texas region. A Dallas-based nonprofit with a small Midland program is eligible; a Houston nonprofit with no West Texas presence is not. Confirm your geographic footprint before investing time in the application.

Submit your LOI during the window — not before, not after. The spring window opens January 12 and closes March 6, 2026 at 5 p.m. The fall window opens July 13 and closes September 7, 2026 at 5 p.m. Out-of-cycle submissions are explicitly not considered. Set calendar reminders 30 and 7 days before each deadline.

Create a new GrantInterface account. Go to grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=warrengiving before your first submission. Accounts from before January 1, 2025 are not valid. Do this well ahead of the deadline — do not wait until the day of submission to discover login issues.

Prepare six supplemental financial documents. The foundation's application requires SF-formatted financials: SF-4 (Current Year Operating Budget), SF-5 (Year-to-Date Budget to Actual), SF-6 (Prior Year Contribution Analysis), SF-7 (Non-Operating Budget), SF-9 (Project Funding Requests Planned or Pending), and SF-10 (Project Commitments to Date). Download templates from warrengiving.org and begin populating them 6–8 weeks before your target deadline.

Use the foundation's language. Their stated mission is "committed to improving lives" and all grants list their purpose as "TO FURTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSE." Frame proposals around tangible, direct impact in the Permian Basin community. Emphasize measurable outcomes and community roots. Avoid systems-change, policy, or national-scope language.

Target appropriate grant sizes. The median grant is $8,000; the average is $30,003. Strong multi-year grantees regularly receive $50,000–$200,000 annually. First-time applicants should align ask amounts with their organizational scale and relationship depth — a $500,000 request from an unknown organization will not succeed; a $25,000 ask to establish a relationship is a viable entry point.