Cooper Foundation

What Cooper Foundation does

Cooper Foundation is a private nonprofit foundation established in 1943 by Madison Cooper, Jr. in Waco, Texas, as a tribute to his parents Madison A. Cooper and Martha Roane Cooper. Its stated mission is to "make Waco a better or more desirable city in which to live," and its activities are entirely concentrated on the Waco metropolitan area. The foundation operates with a small staff of 1-10 employees under trustee governance and has contributed cumulatively over $32 million to Waco community projects since inception.

The foundation's service portfolio consists of five integrated lines: a grants program that distributes financial support to local nonprofits and community projects; the historic Cooper House at 1801 Austin Avenue, available for reservation by nonprofit organizations for meetings and events; the Candid Community program, which provides free access to Candid Search (formerly Foundation Directory) and Candid Learning funding databases for Waco nonprofits; Board Governance Training co-developed with Rapoport Foundation and Waco Foundation; and the Nonprofit Network, a monthly peer-learning gathering for area nonprofit professionals. These services function as a coordinated capacity-building ecosystem rather than discrete products.

Cooper Foundation's revenue model follows a standard community-foundation structure with no commercial pricing — all services are provided free of charge to eligible Waco-area nonprofits. Operating revenue is derived from the foundation's endowment and donations but is not publicly disclosed; the small headcount and single-city scope imply a modest annual operating budget. Outreach occurs through the foundation's website, Eventbrite for event registration, an email newsletter, and referrals through partner foundations including Waco Foundation and Rapoport Foundation. Geographic concentration on Waco is a deliberate founding design rather than an operational limitation.

Name

Cooper Foundation

Legal name

Cooper Foundation

Website

https://cooperfdn.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1943

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cooper Foundation is a 1943-founded Waco, Texas nonprofit foundation providing grants, board governance training, and nonprofit capacity-building resources to local community organizations. Services include the Cooper House venue, Candid database access, and monthly Nonprofit Network meetings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAB

Community Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

Keywords

• Community foundation grants
• Nonprofit support services
• Board governance training
• Nonprofit capacity building
• Grantmaking programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Waco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cooper Foundation is a nonprofit community foundation that provides grants to Waco, Texas nonprofit organizations and community projects, having contributed over $32 million since 1943. It also manages the historic Cooper House venue for nonprofit use, offers free access to Candid funding databases, delivers Board Governance Training workshops, and hosts monthly Nonprofit Network meetings for nonprofit professionals and volunteers.

Product overview

Cooper Foundation is a non-profit foundation established in 1943 that offers a portfolio of services focused on community improvement in Waco, Texas. The foundation provides grants to local projects, manages the historic Cooper House as a rental facility for nonprofits, and operates nonprofit capacity-building programs including Candid Community (access to funding databases), Board Governance Training, and the monthly Nonprofit Network meetings. These services work together to strengthen the Waco community through financial support and organizational development resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grants Program Grant program providing financial support to organizations and projects in the Waco, Texas area. The foundation has contributed over $32 million to Waco community projects since 1943.
• Cooper House Historic facility available for reservation by nonprofit organizations for meetings, events, and activities, located at 1801 Austin Avenue in Waco, Texas.
• Candid Community Resource program providing Waco nonprofits free access to Candid Search (formerly Foundation Directory and GuideStar) and Candid Learning for funding opportunities and organizational capacity building. Access is available at Cooper House by appointment and at Waco-McLennan County Library branches.
• Board Governance Training Free nonprofit board governance training program developed jointly with Rapoport Foundation and Waco Foundation, offering workshops to strengthen local nonprofit boards in Waco.
• Nonprofit Network Free monthly networking and professional development meetings for Waco-area nonprofit professionals and volunteers, held on the 3rd Thursday of each month (except June, July, and August) at Goodwill East Waco Community Connect, 1000 East Waco Drive.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Rapoport FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly developed board governance training program to support and strengthen local nonprofit boards in Waco.
• Waco FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly developed board governance training program to support and strengthen local nonprofit boards in Waco.
• Candid (formerly Foundation Center and GuideStar)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooper Foundation provides Waco nonprofits free access to Candid Search (formerly Foundation Directory) and Candid Learning resources. Foundation funds community-wide access to these resources.
• Goodwill East Waco Community ConnectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides venue for monthly Nonprofit Network meetings at 1000 East Waco Drive location.
• Waco-McLennan County Public LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners with Cooper Foundation to provide access locations for Candid Search database for McLennan County nonprofits.

Scale indicators2 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Waco Foundation: Waco's other major community foundation, focused on Waco/McLennan County grantmaking and capacity building. Co-develops Board Governance Training with Cooper Foundation; the most directly comparable peer because it serves the same geography and the same nonprofit ecosystem.
• Rapoport Foundation: Waco-based family foundation partnering with Cooper Foundation on board governance training. Direct peer: same city, similar grantmaking + capacity-building orientation, and overlapping grantee relationships.

Broad incumbents

• Austin Community Foundation: Large central Texas community foundation. Broad incumbent: same philanthropic model (grantmaking + community programs) at much greater scale and regional reach, providing a useful benchmark for what Cooper Foundation could grow into.
• Communities Foundation of Texas: One of the largest community foundations in the U.S., headquartered in North Texas. Comparable operating model (grantmaking, donor-advised funds, capacity building) at vastly greater scale; relevant as a "what scale looks like" reference point.
• Greater Houston Community Foundation: Major Texas community foundation offering grants, scholarships, and nonprofit support. Broad incumbent with the same community-foundation operating model, useful as a peer for benchmarking programmatic scope.
• California Community Foundation: Large, longstanding U.S. community foundation with grants, scholarships, and nonprofit capacity programs. Comparable long-duration community-foundation model, useful as a structural peer for Cooper Foundation's enduring local impact strategy.

Regional players

• Tulsa Community Foundation: Mid-size community foundation serving the Tulsa region with grantmaking and donor services. Regional player analogous in scale and operating model to Cooper Foundation, useful as a like-for-like community foundation peer.
• The Dayton Foundation: Mid-sized community foundation serving a single metropolitan area via grants, scholarships, and capacity building. Closely comparable peer in size, scope, and operating philosophy to Cooper Foundation.

Others

• Candid: National funder-data and nonprofit-capacity platform (formerly Foundation Center + GuideStar). Treated as OTHERS rather than a competitor because Cooper Foundation partners with it as a community access provider; relevant ecosystem player for understanding who supplies the funding-database product Cooper Foundation distributes.
• Foundation Source: Provider of administrative, compliance, and back-office services to private foundations. OTHERS peer as the enabling-service counterpart to grantmaking foundations — relevant for understanding how foundations like Cooper Foundation scale operations without large internal staff.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cooperfdnwaco
• Facebookfacebook.com/CooperFoundationWaco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cooper-foundation-waco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cooper Foundation