‘Trust-based funding helps nonprofits do their best work’

Program Director Bao-Long Chu discusses the intended impact of Houston Endowment’s Collaboration Fund

At a time when nonprofit leaders are facing funding cuts and feeling burnt out, Bao-Long Chu, who leads Houston Endowment’s Arts & Culture and Greenspaces work, delivered good news.

He recently told eligible grantee partners they would receive a $100,000 grant to invest in whatever they needed to shore up their leadership and resiliency as part of Houston Endowment’s 2025 Collaboration Fund.

“There’s a lot of gratitude, excitement—and definitely surprise,” said Chu. “A grant of this size provides real relief. It gives leaders space to redirect with purpose, to step away from a scarcity mindset. Many have told us this kind of support is rare. One said they’re grateful Houston Endowment is thinking outside the box and responding to the moment.”

Here, Program Director Bao-Long Chu shares his insights on the fund and its potential impact for the arts and culture sector.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you hope will be the impact of the Collaboration Fund?

Philanthropy is at its best when it is adaptive and responsive. During these uncertain times, many funders have already responded with urgent support(opens in new window). This fund takes that idea further—by helping organizations capitalize on their leadership and build structural resiliency.

If this moment is an inflection point, our hope is that organizations lean on these funds to experiment, to try something new, and to pursue an idea they didn’t previously have the resources—or courage—to attempt.

What do you hope to learn from this type of grantmaking?

Houston Endowment continues to lean into evaluation and learning. We want to better understand what kinds of investments make the biggest difference. Capacity building has been a conversation in philanthropy for years, but this is about testing what kinds of rethinking or doubling-down truly foster resiliency.

Unlike project grants, the outcomes here aren’t predetermined. That’s what makes the Collaboration Fund interesting: we’re entering a space of discovery together with our grantee partners. To that end, we’re also launching a multi-year evaluation to track change and assess impact. Different organizations and sectors will likely use the funds in very different ways, and we’re eager to learn from those variations—and share the insights with both grantees and fellow funders.

Why is the Collaboration Fund important to Houston Endowment?

Over the past few years, we’ve embraced the idea that trust-based, flexible funding allows nonprofit partners to do their best work. This type of support shifts philanthropy from a transaction to a partnership.

We can’t succeed without our grantee partners. They know themselves best, and by trusting them to define what leadership and resiliency mean in their own contexts, we’ll learn from their choices while staying responsive to the community.

At Houston Endowment, we’re focused on strengthening sector-wide infrastructure. For example, that includes our continued support of Houston’s seven cultural districts as they plan holistically for the arts. The Collaboration Fund extends that type of systemic commitment—deepening our role as a local, trust-based philanthropic partner.