Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & Voluntarism
About Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation
The Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation directs very large, targeted gifts to major Tulsa- and Oklahoma-based cultural and educational institutions, funding core operations rather than project-specific initiatives. Their giving demonstrates a clear local focus on sustaining flagship institutions that advance higher education and regional art and cultural heritage.
Focus Areas
University of Oklahoma — unrestricted/general operations support for a major state universityGilcrease Museum — core support for regional art, history, and Native American cultural collectionsTulsa/Oklahoma civic and cultural institutions — large, place-based operational funding
Who They Fund
orphanswidowsboys / youth male participants (soccer)people affected by breast cancer / survivorsjobseekers / workforce program participantsgeneral community members / organizational visitors
About Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation
A $9,009,180 general-operating grant to Ou Foundation in 2025 is the clearest marker of how The Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation works: large, discretionary support for institutions rather than narrow project funding. Across the recent grants list, the foundation backs Tulsa- and Oklahoma-based organizations with core operating dollars, while also making occasional awards outside the state. Its giving reaches higher education, arts and culture, health, youth services, and community nonprofits, but the pattern is not diffuse; it consistently favors established organizations that can absorb meaningful unrestricted support. Other major awards show that approach in practice. Gilcrease Museum received $2,025,000 in 2024 for general operations, and Family & Children’s Services has appeared multiple times with operating support. The foundation’s portfolio also includes Tulsa Children’s Museum, Fab Lab Tulsa, Philbrook Museum of Art, the Tulsa Historical Society, and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Together, those gifts point to a local funding style centered on sustaining civic, educational, and cultural institutions over time.
What Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation Funds
General operating support is the dominant pattern in the foundation’s grantmaking. That shows up in education through the $9,009,180 grant to Ou Foundation for general operations and in cultural preservation through $2,025,000 to Gilcrease Museum for general operations. The foundation also made a $31,034 grant to Philbrook Museum of Art for general operations, reinforcing its support for museums and arts organizations. Community and human-services funding appears as well. Family & Children’s Services received $210,000 in 2024 for general operations and another $48,260 in 2025. The Salvation Army was funded at $50,000 in 2025 and $24,400 in 2023, both for general operations. Beyond those institutional gifts, the foundation supported Global Gardens with $45,000 in 2025, showing interest in a community-based organization with a food or gardening mission.
How Charles & Peggy Stephenson Family Foundation Gives
Grant sizes cluster around modest-to-mid five-figure awards, with a typical grant size of $5,625 at the 25th percentile, $10,000 at the median, and $13,196 at the 75th percentile. The distribution is shaped by a small number of very large institutional gifts, including a nine-million-dollar award that sits far above the usual range. Recipients appear across multiple years, suggesting recurring relationships rather than one-time awards; Family & Children’s Services, Gilcrease Museum, Oklahoma Project Woman, Indian Nations Council Bsa, and the Salvation Army all received more than one grant. The foundation is a regular funder that awards grants at trustee discretion, and no public application process is described.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$9.8M
Total Assets
$23M
Total Revenue
$1.9M
Total Expenses
$10.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $6K and $13K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$6K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$13K
Geographic Reach
Local9 states funded
About 84% of grants go to recipients in OK.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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