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Backer Family Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Backer Family Charitable Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$360k
Granted FY2025still arriving
45
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$402kEducation$381kHealth$248kHuman Services$241kYouth Development$194kFood & Nutrition$81kInternational$55kArts & Culture$52kOther$0
02FY2025 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k30 grants · $80k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $229k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$4,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREATER OMAHA YOUTH FOR CHRIST$50,000
CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION$38,000
WEST HILLS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$30,000
SPCCTF MOZAIK PROJECT-JIM AND RENATE BULTEMA & JOE & SUE SAUNDERS-ROBB$25,000
SPECIAL HOPE NETWORK$20,000
ASCENT COMMUNITY CHURCH$18,000
FOR HIS CHILDREN$12,866
LUIS PALAU ASSOCIATION$12,500
JOSIE HARPER HOSPICE HOUSE$12,000
REAL LIFE CHURCH$11,000
CHILDRENS SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF OMAHA$10,000
LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE OPPD$10,000
FOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND$10,000
MOUNTAINS MOVE$10,000
EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN$10,000
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, $81k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 88% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MOUNTAINS MOVE: $10k → 10%PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES: $2k → 14%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $10k → 12%PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES: $1k → 14%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $10k → 12%PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES: $1k → 14%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $8k → 12%PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES: $1k → 14%PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES: $500 → 14%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $13k → 12%PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES: $500 → 14%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $6k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $8k → 12%OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $2k → 12%OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $2k → 12%OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $2k → 12%OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $2k → 12%OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $1k → 12%OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $1k → 12%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

WA
MN
IL
MI
OR
PA
CA
CO
NE
MO
TN
NC
DC
GA
FL
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 51 repeat orgs$88k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

51 repeat relationships: 38 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
11

Total granted

$1.6M
$61k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+21%

Still filing today

51%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $28k 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 ServicesReligionCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureEducationOther
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

  • CH
    CHI HEALTH FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2023 · $135k · revenue +42%
  • SH
    Special Hope Network
    4× · 2022–2025 · $75k · revenue +6%
  • LP
    Luis Palau Association
    6× · 2020–2025 · $68k · revenue +47%

Funded once

  • TN
    THE NAVIGATORS
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • SO
    SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • JA
    JOE AND SUE SAUNDERS-ROBB CO RELIANT
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
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
Methodist Fremont Health

The mission of methodist fremont health is to improve the quality of life by caring for the body and mind. methodist fremont health supports its mission of caring for people through the provision of inpatient and outpatient hospital…

Health
2
Omaha Community Foundation

To serve the community by cultivating generosity and strengthening nonprofits.

Philanthropy
3
Omaha Youth for Christ

To communicate the life changing message of jesus christ to every young person, giving them the opportunity to make an informed decision to become a follower of jesus christ.

Youth Development
4
Unmc Physicians

Our mission is to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for all individuals and communities through premier educational programs, innovative research and extraordinary patient care.

Health
5
Share Omaha

Our mission is to help nonprofits fulfill theirs.

Philanthropy
6
One Omaha

One omaha empowers people where they live with education, training, and engagement to develop thriving neighborhoods.

Community Improvement
7
Nebraska Organ Recovery System

We transform lives through organ and tissue donation.

Health
8
Regional West Health Services

Health care services for the people of western nebraska and eastern wyoming.

Health
9
Ecumen

We empower individuals and families to confidently navigate aging so that it is a purposeful journey filled with dignity and support.

—
10
Omaha Children's Museum

Omaha children's museum is a not-for-profit organization that provides children and families with opportunities to discover how the world works, challenge themselves, and learn through play. the mission of the museum is to engage the…

Arts & Culture
11
Nebraska Community Foundation

The nebraska community foundation unleashes abundant local assets, inspires charitable giving, and connects ambitious people to build stronger communities and a greater nebraska.

Philanthropy
12
Union College

Union college is a seventh-day adventist community of higher education, inspired by jesus christ, and dedicated to empowering students to learn, serve, and lead.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nebraska Methodist Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Luis Palau Association. 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

36 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. 36 of the 69 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/36
Grantees still filing
25/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER OMAHA YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $185,000 · OtherGREATER OMAHA YOUTH FOR CHRISTWEST HILLS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $136,000 · OtherWEST HILLS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHJOSIE HARPER HOSPICE HOUSE: $63,166 · OtherJOSIE HARPER HOSPICE HOUSEASCENT COMMUNITY CHURCH-LONGMONT CO: $63,000 · OtherASCENT COMMUNITY CHURCH-LONGMONT COFOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND: $54,100 · OtherFOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLANDSPCCTF MOZAIK PROJECT-JIM AND RENATE BULTEMA & JOE & SUE SAUNDERS-ROBB: $46,500 · OtherCORNERSTONE CHURCH BOULDER: $35,000 · Other+38 more: $367,355 · Other+38 moreTHE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $207,103 · EducationTHE CENTRAL HIGH S…CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF OMAHA: $32,000 · EducationCHILDREN'S SCHOLAR…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $25,800 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUST…Wheaton College: $22,000 · EducationWheaton CollegeCHI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $135,000 · HealthCHI HEALTH …SCV PREGNANCY CENTER: $18,500 · HealthSCV PREGNAN…+4 more: $18,350 · Health+4 moreSpecial Hope Network: $75,000 · Human ServicesSpecial Ho…EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $55,000 · Human ServicesEMERGENCY …THE OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $10,000 · Human ServicesTHE OMAHA …MOUNTAINS MOVE: $10,000 · Human ServicesMOUNTAINS …PROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES INC: $6,000 · Human ServicesLuis Palau Association: $67,500 · ReligionCUES FUND: $21,000 · ReligionKanakuk Ministries: $3,500 · ReligionDMU - UNVEIL: $3,200 · ReligionSANTA CLARITA VALLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $35,750 · Community ImprovementOMAHA COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE: $22,484 · Community ImprovementYATES FUND: $19,000 · Community ImprovementHEART MINISTRY CENTER: $23,842 · Food & NutritionFeeding America: $3,500 · Food & Nutrition
Other$950,121Education$286,903Health$171,850Human Services$156,000Religion$95,200Community Improvement$77,234Food & Nutrition$27,342

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 budgetTHE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $207,103 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetCHI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $135,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetSpecial Hope Network: $75,000 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetLuis Palau Association: $67,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetEMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $55,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND: $54,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSANTA CLARITA VALLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $35,750 over 6y, 10% of budgetCHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF OMAHA: $32,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $25,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHEART MINISTRY CENTER: $23,842 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: $22,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOMAHA COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE: $22,484 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWheaton College: $22,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCUES FUND: $21,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYATES FUND: $19,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetSCV PREGNANCY CENTER: $18,500 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetOMAHA TENNIS ASSOCIATION: $13,500 over 6y, 4.7% of budgetFOR HIS CHILDREN: $12,866 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $10,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMOUNTAINS MOVE: $10,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetTHE DURHAM MUSEUM: $7,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOMAHA ZOO FOUNDATION: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFostering Youth Independence: $6,300 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetOPERA OMAHA INC: $6,250 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPROVIDENCE WORLD MINISTRIES INC: $6,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $5,400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRADIO TALKING BOOK SERVICE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetNEBRASKA METHODIST HOSPITAL: $4,700 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKanakuk Ministries: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNEBRASKA METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDMU - UNVEIL: $3,200 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetKIM FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

  • Who funds THE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHI HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Special Hope Network ↗
  • Who funds Luis Palau Association ↗
  • Who funds EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND ↗
  • Who funds SANTA CLARITA VALLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF OMAHA ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds HEART MINISTRY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds OMAHA COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE ↗
  • Who funds Wheaton College ↗
  • Who funds CUES FUND ↗
  • Who funds YATES FUND ↗
  • Who funds SCV PREGNANCY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds OMAHA TENNIS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FOR HIS CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS ↗
  • Who funds MOUNTAINS MOVE ↗

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.

The Lozier FoundationThe Sherwood Foundati…Gilbert M and Martha …The Holland FoundationThe Charles and Mary …The Hawks FoundationRobert B Daugherty Fo…Amy L Scott Family Fo…Walter Scott Family F…The Fred and Sally Be…Kenneth (Kim) & Karen…The Rebensdorf Family…
The Lozier FoundationNE34× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Lozier Foundation · The Sherwood Foundation · Gilbert M and Martha H Hitchcock Foundation · The Holland Foundation · The Charles and Mary Heider Family Foundation · The Hawks Foundation · Robert B Daugherty Foundation · Amy L Scott Family Foundation · Walter Scott Family Foundation · The Fred and Sally Bekins Foundation · Kenneth (Kim) & Karen Hawkins Foundation · The Rebensdorf 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 Backer Family Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Backer Family Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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.

    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 69 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 Backer Family’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