Our Community Impact.

As Houston continues to evolve, so does Greater Houston Community Foundation (Foundation). As we look to the future, our collective focus within our community centers on Community Impact. Over nearly three decades, high trust relationships have been nurtured, allowing the Foundation to honor donor intent and drive significant positive shifts alongside our partners.

The Community Impact Fund will be a catalytic force for philanthropic impact – making a meaningful difference in the lives of Houstonians through three pillars of work that speak to data, collaboration, and lasting impact.

Do you know where your generosity is needed most? Understanding Houston is a collaborative regional indicators project that provides key data for philanthropists and business and nonprofit leaders to drive decision-making in important areas of investment in Houston.

From climate disasters to pandemics, Greater Houston Community Foundation has been a critical leader in disaster response efforts providing much-needed assistance to our most vulnerable neighbors.

Greater Houston Community Foundation and United Way of Greater Houston launched the Greater Houston Disaster Alliance to strengthen year-round disaster preparedness and ensure that our region has the social services network and systems in place to respond rapidly and effectively in times of disaster.

The High-Impact Grantmaking initiative gives our donors and partners the ability to partner with the Foundation and invest, together, in innovative solutions with catalytic community impact focused on Houston’s most pressing challenges.

In the Spring of 2023, Greater Houston Community Foundation engaged more than 100 community leaders through an appreciative inquiry process. Appreciative inquiry is a collaborative, strengths-based approach that focuses on engagement through a positive lens to assess strengths, opportunities, and aspirations. Ultimately, the goal is for participants to co-create and promote a hopeful and generative vision of our future. This collaborative approach allowed us to acknowledge the strengths of our community and discover how to leverage those strengths to create a more vibrant, thriving Houston region. The purpose of these interviews was to help inform the direction of the Foundation’s inaugural High-Impact Grantmaking initiative.

Later that year, in Fall 2023, the Foundation Governing Board, along with a mounting consensus among key stakeholders, selected economic mobility as a priority and a paramount concern for Houston. In the Initiative’s next phase, the Community Grants Advisory Committee will dig deep into the community needs impacting economic mobility, shape a funding strategy, and recommend investments that will make a tangible difference in Houston’s social and economic landscape.

Explore the Giving Guide of Houston Black-Led Organizations to discover the impactful efforts of Black-led nonprofit organizations serving communities in Fort Bend, Harris, and Montgomery counties.

Form or join a new philanthropic community. Greater Houston Community Foundation is home to several Houston-area giving circles created to facilitate collaborative giving within a diverse group of communities.