This fund concentrates its giving on higher education institutions in Texas, with large recurring gifts likely designated for student scholarships or charitable support. Grants are directed almost exclusively to three private universities that have historical ties to the Methodist tradition. The foundation appears focused on sustaining scholarship/endowment support at these specific colleges rather than broad-based or exploratory grantmaking.
Highly concentrated: three roughly equal, significant gifts distributed repeatedly among the same universities (repeat grantees). Few grants overall, large single-institution amounts, suggest multi-year or designated scholarship/endowment funding rather than one-off, diversified giving.
Thomas L Jr & Grace P Downs Scholarship Fund directs its charitable giving to three Texas private universities: Southern Methodist University, Southwestern University, and Texas Wesleyan University. The pattern is highly consistent across the latest grants on file, with each institution receiving repeated support in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That recurrence points to an ongoing scholarship or institutional-support relationship rather than one-off project funding. The fund’s recent activity is tightly centered on higher education in Texas, and the same recipient set appears across the grant list. In 2023, each of the three universities received $85,000. In 2024, each received $84,667. In 2025, Southwestern University and Texas Wesleyan University each received $70,667, while Southern Methodist University received $70,666. The grant purposes are recorded as charitable, which aligns with support that can be used for university priorities tied to student aid, operations, or endowment support. Because the same institutions recur year after year, the fund reads as a stable source of support for a small group of Methodist-affiliated colleges and universities in Texas.
A central theme in the fund’s giving is student financial aid and broader support for private higher education in Texas. The recipient list shows repeated charitable grants to Southwestern University, Southern Methodist University, and Texas Wesleyan University, all of which are Texas institutions with Methodist connections. The 2023 and 2024 grants to Southern Methodist University suggest an ongoing institutional relationship, while the same pattern appears at Southwestern University and Texas Wesleyan University. The 2025 grants continue that sequence, with support again going to the same three campuses. That narrow recipient set is important: the fund does not appear to spread gifts across many sectors or many universities. Instead, it concentrates on named colleges and universities, consistent with restricted support for undergraduate education, campus programs, and university operations linked to scholarship support.
Typical grant size clusters tightly around the low-to-mid $80,000 range, with a p25 of $70,667, a median of $84,667, and a p75 of $85,000. The amounts changed only modestly from year to year, moving from $85,000 in 2023 to $84,667 in 2024 and then to $70,666-$70,667 in 2025. The grant pattern is recurring rather than one-time. The same three Texas universities appear repeatedly across the latest years on file, which suggests ongoing support for a fixed set of institutions. The fund is not an operating foundation or DAF in the data provided; it is identified as a scholarship fund, and it makes grants rather than program-related investments.
$721K
$8.6M
$230K
$307K
Most grants fall between $71K and $85K, with a median of $85K.
25th Percentile
$71K
Median
$85K
75th Percentile
$85K
About 100% of grants go to recipients in TX.
DEBBIE BROEMSEN
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Notable grantees: Southwestern University, Texas Wesleyan University, Southern Methodist University
All recent grants stayed within Texas, and the recipient distribution is entirely U.S.-based. The named recipient cities are Dallas, Georgetown, and Fort Worth/FT Worth, each tied to one of the three universities in the grant list. The foundation’s giving is local in scope, with 100% of grants going to recipients in Texas. No non-U.S. recipient countries appear in the recent-grants data.
The recent grants list shows a fixed set of three recipients: Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Southwestern University in Georgetown, and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth/FT Worth. Each appears multiple times across the latest years on file.
Grant sizes are tightly grouped. The reported p25 is $70,667, the median is $84,667, and the p75 is $85,000. Recent awards also show the same institutions receiving nearly identical amounts year to year.
Its giving is centered on higher education in Texas, especially charitable support for private universities. The recipient pattern points to scholarship and institutional support at Southern Methodist University, Southwestern University, and Texas Wesleyan University.
No recent grants in the data go outside Texas. The geographic scope is local, the top state by grant count is Texas, and 100% of the grants listed go to recipients in the foundation’s HQ state.
It is recurring. The same three universities appear in 2023, 2024, and 2025, with each school receiving repeated charitable grants across those years.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY | GEORGETOWN, TX | $70,667 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY | FT WORTH, TX | $70,667 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY | DALLAS, TX | $70,666 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY | GEORGETOWN, TX | $84,667 | 2024 | CHARITABLE |
| SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY | DALLAS, TX | $84,667 | 2024 | CHARITABLE |
| TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY | FT WORTH, TX | $84,667 | 2024 | CHARITABLE |
| SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY | GEORGETOWN, TX | $85,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE |
| SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY | DALLAS, TX | $85,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE |
| TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY | FORT WORTH, TX | $85,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE |
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$70,667CHARITABLE
TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
$70,667CHARITABLE
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
$70,666CHARITABLE
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$84,667CHARITABLE
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
$84,667CHARITABLE
TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
$84,667CHARITABLE
SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
CHARITABLE
SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY
$85,000CHARITABLE
TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
$85,000CHARITABLE