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Abel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Abel Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$4.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
92
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$933k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Human Services$3.4MEducation$2.7MPhilanthropy$1.8MRecreation & Sports$1.4MArts & Culture$834kHealth$389kEnvironment$367kAnimals$290kOther$0
02FY2025 · 92 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k42 grants · $87k
  • $10k–50k37 grants · $716k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $520k
  • $250k+5 grants · $2.8M
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION$933,333
MALONE COMMUNITY CENTER$750,000
LINCOLN YOUTH COMPLEX$500,000
CULTURAL CENTERS OF LINCOLN$333,333
LINCOLN PARKS FOUNDATION$250,000
NEBRASKA GAME & PARKS FOUNDATION$100,000
FAMILY SERVICE LINCOLN$83,333
KEARNEY AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$70,000
LINCOLN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$66,200
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION$50,000
NORTHEAST FAMILY CENTER$50,000
FOUNDATION FOR LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOO$50,000
FOOD BANK OF LINCOLN$50,000
UNITED WAY OF LINCOLNLANCASTER COU$36,000
UNITED WAY OF LINCOLNLANCASTER COU$35,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $663k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%GOOD LIFE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: $5k → 10%YWCA LINCOLN: $10k → 13%GOOD LIFE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: $10k → 13%HEART HEROES: $10k → 12%YMCA OF LINCOLN NE: $33k → 13%YMCA OF LINCOLN: $33k → 13%YMCA OF LINCOLN NE: $33k → 13%YMCA OF LINCOLN: $10k → 13%CULTURAL CENTERS OF LINCOLN: $333k → 13%GOOD NEIGHBOR COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 13%GOOD NEIGHBOR COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 13%CEDARS HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION: $50k → 13%I'VE GOT A NAME: $25k → 13%I'VE GOT A NAME: $25k → 13%CHRISTIAN RECORD SERVICES: $1k → 13%CHRISTIAN RECORD SERVICES: $1k → 13%CEDARS HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION: $500 → 13%LIGHTHOUSE: $13k → 13%LIGHTHOUSE: $13k → 13%FOSTER CARE CLOSET: $5k → 13%LIGHTHOUSE: $2k → 13%LINKED2LITERACY: $15k → 13%LINKED2LITERACY: $15k → 13%INDIAN CENTER INC: $10k → 13%CASA FOR LANCASTER COUNTY: $5k → 13%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

ND
MN
NY
IA
CA
NE
MO
VA
AZ
TN
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.8M · 79 repeat orgs$1.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +14% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

79 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2025, 44 since wound down; 37 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

79
103

Total granted

$9.8M
$994k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+5%

Still filing today

62%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $715k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesEducationArts & CultureAnimalsPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • MC
    MALONE COMMUNITY CENTER
    4× · 2022–2025 · $2.1M · revenue +317%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION
    4× · 2020–2025 · $2.1M · revenue +31%
  • LY
    LINCOLN YOUTH COMPLEX
    3× · 2023–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +85%

Funded once

  • TI
    Tabitha Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $265k · revenue -17%
  • MO
    MUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue -57%
  • NP
    NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +38%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Lincoln County Community Development Corporation

To promote, facilitate and develop or co-develop affordable housing in lincoln county, nebraska.

Philanthropy
2
Nebraska Alliance of Child Advocacy Centers

To enhance nebraska's response to child abuse.

Crime & Legal
3
Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

Community development in lincoln, ne

—
4
Lincoln University Aka Lincoln College

Lincoln college uniquely empowers students to realize their full potential

Education
5
The Nebraska Land Trust Inc

To foster the protection of agricultural, historical and natural resources on land in nebraska through education, partnering and permanent conservation.

Environment
6
Nebraska Children & Families Foundation

Nebraska children's mission is to create positive change for children through community engagement. our vision is a nebraska where all children will have the resources and support to reach their full potential. our values are (1)…

Philanthropy
7
Nebraska Civic Engagement Table

The nebraska civic engagement table works with nonprofits to increase voting and build an engaged nebraska.

Civil Rights
8
Nebraska Credit Union League Inc

To promote credit unions in nebraska

—
9
Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Science & Tech
10
Leading Age Nebraska

The organization's mission is to expand the world of possibilities for aging through advocacy, collaboration, and education.

Housing & Shelter
11
Nebraska Safety Council

Provide education and leadership to empower people to live safe and healthy.

—
12
Lincoln Area Chamber of Commerce

To Market Lincoln as the area of choice in which to live and do business, by attracting, assisting, retaining and promoting our members

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nebraska Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Tilt-Up Concrete Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

113 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 113 of the 224 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
112/113
Grantees still filing
64/113
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MALONE COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,122,500 · OtherMALONE COMMUNITY CENTERUNITED WAY OF LINCOLN AND LANCASTER: $545,774 · OtherUNITED WAY OF LINCOLN AND LANCASTERSOUTHEAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATI: $270,000 · OtherTabitha Inc: $265,000 · OtherLINCOLN PARKS FOUNDATION: $257,500 · OtherUNITED WAY: $201,200 · Other+139 more: $2,340,939 · Other+139 moreUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $2,071,966 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASK…NEBRASKA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $115,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $100,000 · Education+7 more: $89,000 · EducationLINCOLN YOUTH COMPLEX: $1,125,000 · Recreation & SportsLINCOLN YOUT…RABBLE MILL: $105,000 · Recreation & SportsRABBLE MILLKEARNEY FAMILY YMCA FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Recreation & SportsKEARNEY FAMI…+2 more: $30,100 · Recreation & SportsLincoln Community Foundation Inc: $518,066 · PhilanthropyKEARNEY AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $155,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY: $103,100 · PhilanthropyASHLAND AREA FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Philanthropy+7 more: $57,200 · PhilanthropyCULTURAL CENTERS OF LINCOLN: $333,333 · Human ServicesYMCA OF LINCOLN: $109,999 · Human ServicesTHE CEDARS HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION: $50,600 · Human ServicesIVE GOT A NAME: $50,000 · Human ServicesLinked2Literacy: $30,000 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE: $27,000 · Human Services+9 more: $71,500 · Human ServicesLINCOLN CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $143,100 · Arts & CultureMOURNING HOPE: $131,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART: $100,000 · Arts & CultureASIAN COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL CENTER: $85,000 · Arts & CultureCEDARS YOUTH SERVICES INC: $65,000 · Arts & CultureNEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $37,000 · Arts & CultureNEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS FOUNDATION: $301,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $51,100 · EnvironmentNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $33,334 · Environment+1 more: $757 · Environment
Other$6,002,913Education$2,375,966Recreation & Sports$1,360,100Philanthropy$908,366Human Services$672,432Arts & Culture$611,100Environment$386,191

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMALONE COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,122,500 over 4y, 15% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $2,071,966 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLINCOLN YOUTH COMPLEX: $1,125,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetLincoln Community Foundation Inc: $518,066 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetNEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS FOUNDATION: $301,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetTabitha Inc: $265,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCAPITAL HUMANE SOCIETY: $179,876 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetKEARNEY AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $155,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetLINCOLN CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $143,100 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetMOURNING HOPE: $131,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetFOOD BANK OF LINCOLN INC: $115,100 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetNEBRASKA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $115,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYMCA OF LINCOLN: $109,999 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetRABBLE MILL: $105,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF LINCOLN AND LANCASTER COUNTY: $103,100 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetASIAN COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL CENTER: $85,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetASHLAND AREA FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 3y, 32% of budgetCLINIC WITH A HEART INC: $68,700 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetCEDARS YOUTH SERVICES INC: $65,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER FOR PEOPLE IN NEED: $60,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetLINCOLNLANCASTER COUNTY CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: $60,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF THE KEARNEY AREA INC: $55,000 over 3y, 5.8% of budgetNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $51,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CEDARS HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION: $50,600 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetFRESH START INC: $50,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetNEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetIVE GOT A NAME: $50,000 over 2y, 5.6% of budgetNORTHEAST FAMILY CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetMILKWORKS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetSPASTIC PARAPLEGIA FOUNDATION INC: $46,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetANGELS AMONG US: $40,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetHEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION: $37,700 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetNEBRASKA DIAPER BANK: $35,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $33,334 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLINCOLN BIKE KITCHEN: $33,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetNEBRASKA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLinked2Literacy: $30,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE: $27,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLINCOLN LITERACY COUNCIL: $25,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS NEBRASKA INC: $20,100 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPeru State College Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetNEIGHBORHOODS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $16,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF NEBRASKA INC: $15,860 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSEAL-NSW FAMILY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCAMP JEFFERSON INC: $15,000 over 1y, 25% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Lincoln Community Fou…Cooper FoundationThe Sherwood Foundati…Assurity Life Foundat…D F Dillon FoundationDuncan Family TrustAcklie Charitable Fou…Rogers FoundationSpreetail FoundationUnited Way of Lincoln…Viking Foundation of …Kinder Porter Scott F…
Lincoln Community Foundation IncNE148.9× affinity79 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Community Foundation Inc · Cooper Foundation · The Sherwood Foundation · Assurity Life Foundation · D F Dillon Foundation · Duncan Family Trust · Acklie Charitable Foundation · Rogers Foundation · Spreetail Foundation · United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County · Viking Foundation of Lincoln · Kinder Porter Scott Family Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Abel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Abel Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Abel Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Abel Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 224 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Abel’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home