The Virginia & Le Simmons Foundation
Houston, TX · EIN 76-0453177. Reported 132 grants totalling $5,177,986 to 68 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". The Virginia & Le Simmons Foundation checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations The Virginia & Le Simmons Foundation funded make grants themselves, and it reported 4 grants totalling $53,500 to them. That is 2% of the $2,354,899 of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
All of them file Form 990, which never asks whether an organization funds only groups it picks, so there is no answer on record either way.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Way of Greater Houston | federated giving programme | Texas | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 | Its form does not ask |
| Community Foundation of Jackson Hole | community foundation | Wyoming | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
| Communities Foundation of Texas Inc | community foundation | Texas | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,140 and $25,000; the smallest was $50 and the largest $1,006,000.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Children Hospital | Houston, TX | $1,061,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Rice University | Houston, TX | $587,459 | 10 | 4 | 2025 |
| The Kinkaid School | Houston, TX | $543,267 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| The Church of Jesus Christ | Salt Lake City, UT | $532,565 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge, MA | $439,330 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | $370,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| George & Barbara Bush Foundation | College Station, TX | $328,734 | 7 | 5 | 2025 |
| Texas Hearing Institute | Houston, TX | $211,124 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America | Houston, TX | $148,000 | 6 | 4 | 2025 |
| Cure Alzheimer's Fund | Wellesley Hills, MA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Califonia Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | $85,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Navy Seal Foundation | Virginia Beach, VA | $72,100 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Harvard Business School | Boston, MA | $70,800 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rice University - Baker Institute | Houston, TX | $70,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Fund for Public Education | Jackson, WY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Texas A&m - Kingsville | Kingsville, TX | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| United Way of Greater Houston | Houston, TX | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation | Cedar Hills, UT | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Harvard Business School Club of Houston | Houston, TX | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Sam Houston Area Council | Houston, TX | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Communities in Schools | Houston, TX | $25,483 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Rice University - William Marsh | Houston, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Easter Seals of Greater Houston | Houston, TX | $24,100 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Seton Education Partners | Mission, TX | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Holdsworth Center | Austin, TX | $14,600 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Stanford University | Stanford, CA | $13,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Center for Pursuit | Houston, TX | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation | Alexandria, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Holly Hall Retirement | Houston, TX | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| MD Anderson Cancer Center | Houston, TX | $5,220 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Fund for Lse | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Pumpkin Park | Houston, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston | Houston, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Center Foundation | Sharon Hill, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Hugh M Hefner Foundation | West Hollywood, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Third Option Foundation | Reston, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Texas Agrilife Research | Haskell, TX | $4,510 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| University of Texas at Tyler | Tyler, TX | $3,920 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Lupus Research Alliance | New York, NY | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Uthealth Houston | Houston, TX | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Springspirit | Houston, TX | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Brookwood Community | Brookshire, TX | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Community Foundation of Jackson Hole | Jackson, WY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Houston Grand Opera | Houston, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Houston Zoo | Houston, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| River Oaks Foundation | Houston, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mississippi State University | Mississippi State, MS | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boys and Girls Country | Hockley, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Colonial Williamsburg Foundation | Williamsburg, VA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Communities Foundation of Texas | Dallas, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Memorial Park Conservancy | Houston, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Network for Good - Boys and Girls | Washington, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Network for Good - Making It Better | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pacific Battleship Center | San Pedro, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Team Impact | Quincy, MA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | Houston, TX | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Arkansas | Little Rock, AR | $570 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Baylor College of Medicine | Houston, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Camp Allen | Navasota, TX | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pan-Mass Challenge | Needham, MA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center | New York, NY | $450 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Greater Houston Community Foundation | Houston, TX | $300 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Northeast Historic Film | Bucksport, ME | $250 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Provision Inc | Houston, TX | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ovarian Canada | Toronto | $204 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| National Ms Society | Houston, TX | $150 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Round Top-Warrenton Volunteer Fire Department | Round Top, TX | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
28 of 68 (41%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 43%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Texas Children Hospital
TO SUPPORT NEUROLOGICAL RESEARCH - The Kinkaid School
TO SUPPORT THE 2022-2023 KINKAID FUND - Rice University
6508 SHARES OF ZIONS CORP STOCKS TO THE RICE UNIVERSITY - The Church of Jesus Christ
TO SUPPORT THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST - Harvard University
TO SUPPORT THE HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL - California Institute of Technology
TO SUPPORT THE CALTECH COMPARATIVE PLANETARY EVOLUTION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 71 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | $1,306,515 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 25 | $1,026,111 | $12,000 |
| 2023 | 29 | $2,007,703 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $395,074 | $5,192 |
| 2025 | 31 | $442,583 | $5,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
64% of its giving went to organizations in Texas.
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Virginia & Le Simmons Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 600 Travis St Suite 6600, Houston, TX, 77002. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 76-0453177 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.