· Public charity
Back to the River Inc
Through the vision of former nebraska senator bob kerrey, back to the river was created to preserve and improve wildlife habitat and provide economic development opportunities in a balanced, sustainable manner along the missouri river.
Read this first · the figures below need context
60% of Back to the River Inc’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Midlands Community Foundation, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| BELLEVUE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | $15,000 |
| CITY OF COUNCIL BLUFFS | $10,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–17, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- SISOUTHWEST IOWA NONPROFIT FOR COLLECTIVE IMPACT2× · 2020–2022 · $300k · revenue +296%
- RSROAM SHARE3× · 2018–2020 · $22k · revenue +198%
- RRRIVER RELIEF INC D/B/A MISSOURI RIVER RELIEF2× · 2021–2023 · $20k · revenue +52%
Funded once
- FFFONTENELLE FORESTone grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue +8%
- ODOMAHA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +238%
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.
6 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. 6 of the 7 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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.
Open a dossier: Iowa West Foundation · The Sherwood Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Back to the River Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Back to the River Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Back to the River’s filings →