Charles Butt Foundation

OVERVIEW: The Charles Butt Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education, cultural, and health institutions.

IP TAKE: The foundation keeps a low public profile, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. This is not a transparent funder and it does not appear to accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.

PROFILE: The Charles Butt Foundation was founded in 2000. Its founder is billionaire Charles Butt, CEO of the Texas-based HEB chain of grocery stores. He is a Giving Pledge Signatory. The foundation lacks transparency and does not maintain a website, which makes it difficult to locate further information on its priority areas and grantmaking strategies. Tax filings suggest the Charles Butt Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education, cultural, and health institutions.

Grants for Education

Charles Butt committed $100 million to create a nonprofit leadership institute designed to provide training and continuing education to public school leaders in Texas called the Holdsworth Center, named for Butt’s mother, Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth. In 2020, Butt donated $1 million to establish the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice at Prairie View A&M University.

Past grantees include San Antonio Children’s Museum, Southern Methodist University, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, The Menil Collection, and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

Important Grant Details

Grants range from $5,000 to around $1 million.. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away approximately $2.2 million.

The Charles Butt Foundation keeps a low profile and does not accept unsolicited proposals. 

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

Charles Butt Foundation
P.O. Box 90389
San Antonio, TX 78209