43 foundations in Arkansas told the IRS on the latest Form 990-PF that giving is not restricted to organizations picked in advance, and each paid at least 5 grants totaling $100K or more that year. Together they paid $149.0M. The largest is Wal-mart Foundation in Bentonville, which paid $112.2M across 148 grants in 2024. The ten biggest account for 92% of the state total. 22 of the 43 file a submission deadline. The rest leave that line blank or point to a website. At the median foundation, 14% of the year's grant dollars went to organizations it had not funded before.
Analysis by Matthew Hanauer, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Civly, from IRS Form 990-PF filings · All states
Foundations are ranked by dollars paid in each one's latest filed year. Click a column heading to sort. Deadlines are shown as filed.
| # | Foundation | City | Latest year | Grants paid | Grants | Median grant | First-time recipients | Deadline as filed | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wal-mart Foundation | Bentonville | 2024 | $112.2M | 148 | $400K | 21% | SEE "HOW WE GIVE" AT WALMART.ORG | $23.4M |
| 2 | Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation | Little Rock | 2024 | $6.4M | 104 | $30K | 40% | SUBMISSIONS ARE ROLLING AND CAN BE RECEIVED ONLINE AT WWW.WRFOUNDATION.ORG/HOW-TO-APPLY/ AT ANY TIME | $151.5M |
| 3 | Murphy Foundation | El Dorado | 2024 | $3.7M | 61 | $10K | 6% | EDUCATIONAL GRANT APPLICATIONS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED BY AUGUST 1. | $16.9M |
| 4 | Tyson Foundation Inc | Fayetteville | 2024 | $3.2M | 21 | $40K | 6% | Not stated | $29.3M |
| 5 | Trinity Foundation | Pine Bluff | 2024 | $2.8M | 28 | $10K | 84% | SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE - MARCH 1 NON-SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE - NO DEADLINE | $14.4M |
| 6 | Schmieding Foundation Term | Springdale | 2025 | $2.4M | 108 | $10K | 11% | MARCH 1ST AND SEPTEMBER 1ST | $12.0M |
| 7 | Delta Dental of Arkansas Foundation Inc | Sherwood | 2024 | $2.1M | 47 | $26K | 62% | VARIOUS | $19.4M |
| 8 | Whitaker Family Foundation | Fayetteville | 2025 | $1.9M | 11 | $50K | 19% | Not stated | $20.3M |
| 9 | Hussman Family Foundation | Little Rock | 2025 | $1.4M | 28 | $2K | 1% | Not stated | $6.6M |
| 10 | M W Murphy Foundation | El Dorado | 2025 | $881K | 34 | $10K | 16% | Not stated | $11.8M |
| 11 | Simmons First Foundation Inc | Pine Bluff | 2024 | $868K | 102 | $5K | 75% | DETERMINED BY THE BOARD | $19.3M |
| 12 | Dawson Heritage Fnd Inc | Pine Bluff | 2025 | $811K | 11 | $10K | 97% | Not stated | $4.4M |
| 13 | Ross Foundation | Arkadelphia | 2024 | $748K | 27 | $5K | 2% | Submission deadlines are posted online at http://rossfoundation.us/application_procedure.html | $111.9M |
| 14 | Riggs Benevolent Fund | Little Rock | 2025 | $724K | 86 | $5K | 17% | Not stated | $15.3M |
| 15 | Walter O Caldwell Foundation | Fort Smith | 2025 | $633K | 33 | $10K | 16% | SEPTEMBER | $1.1M |
| 16 | Nabholz Charitable Foundation | Conway | 2024 | $593K | 49 | $5K | 7% | Not stated | $962K |
| 17 | Roy & Christine Sturgis Charitable & Educational Trust | Arkadelphia | 2024 | $571K | 33 | $10K | 38% | NO SUBMISSION DEADLINES | $10.6M |
| 18 | Irvin C & Evea J Bainum Foundation Inc | Glenwood | 2024 | $526K | 17 | $14K | 4% | THERE ARE NO SUBMISSION DEADLINES | $4.3M |
| 19 | Vida June Moll Foundation Tr | Dewitt | 2024 | $507K | 9 | $33K | 70% | NO LATER THAN MARCH 31ST. | $8.1M |
| 20 | Olds Foundation | Arkadelphia | 2024 | $453K | 17 | $2K | 1% | AT LEAST TWO MONTHS PRIOR TO START OF COLLEGE TERMS | $18.6M |
| 21 | C Louis and Mary C Cabe Foundation | Gurdon | 2024 | $441K | 43 | $3K | 2% | Not stated | $2.5M |
| 22 | William Thomas & May Pitman Hennessy Foundation | Fort Smith | 2024 | $349K | 50 | $4K | 5% | DECEMBER 1 OF EACH YEAR | $6.7M |
| 23 | William C an Theodosia Murphy Nolan Foundation | El Dorado | 2025 | $330K | 11 | $25K | 15% | Not stated | $4.3M |
| 24 | Robert E and Catherine Woodson Sampley Foundation Inc | Mount Ida | 2025 | $313K | 48 | $7K | 31% | APRIL OF SENIOR YEAR | $1.2M |
| 25 | Frank D Hickingbotham Foundation | Little Rock | 2024 | $313K | 26 | $3K | 39% | Not stated | $1.0M |
| 26 | Arkansas Community Health and Education Foundation | Little Rock | 2025 | $307K | 13 | $5K | 48% | Not stated | $2.1M |
| 27 | Bob Carver Charitable Trust | Mena | 2025 | $300K | 11 | $10K | 0% | AS PER APPLICATION | $9.6M |
| 28 | Joseph Francis Wallace Tr | Mcgehee | 2025 | $291K | 17 | $5K | 5% | Applications are accepted at any time. | $6.4M |
| 29 | Vogel-schwartz Foundation Inc | Little Rock | 2025 | $285K | 17 | $5K | 23% | Not stated | $3.2M |
| 30 | Rebsamen Fund | Little Rock | 2025 | $282K | 40 | $5K | 14% | Not stated | $2.3M |
| 31 | John and Sue Anthony Chariable Trust | Murfreesboro | 2024 | $261K | 35 | $5K | 15% | NO APPLICATION DEADLINES | $4.2M |
| 32 | Ottenheimer Brothers Foundation | Little Rock | 2024 | $248K | 10 | $4K | 0% | Not stated | $5.7M |
| 33 | Darragh Foundation | Little Rock | 2025 | $247K | 8 | $25K | 12% | Not stated | $212K |
| 34 | Adcock Family Foundation | Conway | 2025 | $237K | 13 | $16K | 35% | Not stated | $394K |
| 35 | Wrape Family Charitable Trust | Little Rock | 2025 | $230K | 31 | $6K | 5% | No submission deadlines | $3.8M |
| 36 | Ww and Anne Jones Charitable Trust | Little Rock | 2024 | $188K | 25 | $5K | 6% | Not stated | $1.2M |
| 37 | Ted Williams Charitable Tr | North Little Rock | 2025 | $166K | 5 | $33K | 9% | Not stated | $607K |
| 38 | Bernice Gotaas Scholarship Fund | Mountain Home | 2025 | $157K | 16 | $4K | 3% | APRIL 1 | $3.4M |
| 39 | Jay F and Patricia P Hill Family Fund | Little Rock | 2024 | $140K | 6 | $10K | n/a | June 30 | $564K |
| 40 | Starr Foundation Inc | Little Rock | 2024 | $138K | 21 | $2K | 40% | Not stated | $2.7M |
| 41 | Whitt Family Foundation Inc | Fort Smith | 2025 | $135K | 22 | $5K | 69% | Not stated | $2.7M |
| 42 | Acres of Help Inc | Dewitt | 2024 | $132K | 13 | $10K | 3% | Not stated | $65K |
| 43 | Catt Family Foundation | Bella Vista | 2024 | $115K | 20 | $1K | 4% | THERE ARE NO SUBMISSION DEADLINES. | $1.8M |
26 of them, led by the largest by dollars paid, have their own page with the application terms as filed, every recipient, and the trustees. The rest are listed here in full. Where a cell says n/a the filing does not carry that figure: a first-time recipient share needs more than one year of grants on record, and the asset figure comes from the IRS business master file, which does not cover every foundation.
Each figure comes from each foundation's latest filed year, 2022 or later. A foundation is listed when its Form 990-PF says giving is not restricted to preselected organizations and it paid at least 5 grants totaling $100K or more that year. Grants and application terms come from each foundation's latest IRS 990-PF e-file return. The newest tax year is partial until the IRS finishes releasing it. Grants are de-duplicated on funder, year, recipient and amount, so identical repeat grants count once and totals can run low. Full method.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF e-file releases (public domain). Analysis: Civly.
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