Leland Fikes was a prominent Texas oil and gas executive who founded the Leland Fikes Foundation. Fikes died in 1966, and the Leland Fikes Foundation has since been operated by members of the Fikes family since. It has consistently contributed to left-of-center causes and organizations as well as medical institutions. ^{1 2 3}

Life and Career

Leland Fikes, a prominent Texas oil and gas executive of the early-to-mid 20th century, was described at his death in 1966 as having many oil and real estate dealings that reached into “many states and the District of Columbia.” He was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and was raised in Texas, living in Corsicana before settling in Dallas. Fikes was survived by his son, Lee Fikes, also of Dallas. ^{2 3}

Charitable work done by Fikes included donating a site for the Wadley Research Institute and Blood Bank to be named the Leland Fikes Research Center and funding “many civic and social organizations in Dallas.” ^{4 3}

Leland Fikes Foundation

Leland Fikes founded the Leland Fikes Foundation, which has been run by his son Lee Fikes and Lee’s wife Amy. According to 2021 tax documents, the foundation had more than $210 million in assets and distributed $4.9 million in grants while incurring $3 million in operating costs. The foundation’s website states that it has disbursed $212 million in grants since 1954 through 3,171 individual grants to 665 different organizations. The foundation has made 44 grants of $1 million or more in its history. ^{2 5}

From 2011 to 2021, the foundation states that it has disbursed over $63 million in grants with an average grant of $136,000. ⁵

Organizations that have received grants from the Leland Fikes Foundation include the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the Democracy Fund, Center for Reproductive Rights, Physicians for Reproductive Choice, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas Foundation, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and the ACLU Foundation of Texas. ^{6 5}

The foundation has routinely given grants of over $1 million to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, providing $2.4 million to the foundation as part of Planned Parenthood’s 2021 capital campaign. ⁵

The foundation has expressed a commitment to left-of-center diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology in its grantmaking, stating that “just as systemic racism and other structural inequities permeate all areas of society, we seek to further equity through all areas of our grantmaking.  Applicants should be prepared to share how racial equity informs their program development and implementation.” ⁷

1. ^[1] Leland Fikes Foundation. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2021. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/756035984/202320179349100302/full
2. “Home.” Leland Fikes Foundation. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.fikesfoundation.org/
3. “Leland Fikes Well Known Oilman Dies.” Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. September 4, 1966. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/article/lubbock-avalanche-journal-leland-fikes-o/13410737/
4. “Leland Fikes Obituary.” Newspapers.com, Accessed November 1, 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/article/lubbock-avalanche-journal-leland-fikes-o/13410737/
5. Leland Fikes Foundation. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). 2021. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/756035984/202320179349100302/full
6. “Leland Fikes Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-f/leland-fikes-foundation
7. “Priorities.” Leland Fikes Foundation. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.fikesfoundation.org/priorities.html