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Brenton Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Brenton Foundation

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.

$85k
Granted FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$29k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$230kArts & Culture$143kEducation$43kRecreation & Sports$26kHousing & Shelter$15kAnimals$15kHealth$14kFood & Nutrition$9kOther$0
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k15 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $61k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BRENTON ARBORETUM$28,500
GREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN$11,000
Individual grant recipient$11,000
DES MOINES METRO OPERA$10,000
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION$5,000
THE OUTREACH PROGRAM$5,000
ABOVE AND BEYOND CENTER$5,000
NANTUCKET SWIM ACROSS AMERICA$2,500
LAKE MINNETONKA GARDEN CLUB$2,000
DALLAS CENTER FOOD PANTRY$1,000
DES MOINES PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION$1,000
MISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL$1,000
SAILDC$500
YMCA OF GREATER DES MOINES$500
IOWA PUBLIC RADIO$250
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 32% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%NANTUCKET SWIM ACROSS AMERICA: $3k → 6%SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $2k → 11%THE MILLBROOK SCHOOL: $4k → 9%VOICES OF ASCENSION: $1k → 17%ABOVE AND BEYOND CENTER: $5k → 5%DES MOINES METRO OPERA: $40k → 6%IOWA ARBORETUM: $5k → 9%GREATER DES MOINES BOTANCIAL GARDEN: $26k → 10%THE OUTREACH PROGRAM: $5k → 11%YALE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 12%NATURE CONSERVANCY: $9k → 7%NATURE SACRED: $7k → 6%SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $2k → 11%THE MILLBROOK SCHOOL: $3k → 9%BRENTON ARBORETUM: $47k → 5%DES MOINES METRO OPERA: $16k → 6%GREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN: $11k → 10%THE OUTREACH PROGRAM: $3k → 11%NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5k → 7%NATURE SACRED: $4k → 6%WAZATA SAILING SCHOOL: $3k → 11%THE MILLBROOK SCHOOL: $2k → 9%BRENTON ARBORETUM: $34k → 5%DES MOINES METRO OPERA: $16k → 6%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF DES MOINES: $2k → 10%LAKE MINNETONKA GARDEN CLUB: $2k → 11%BRENTON ARBORETUM: $29k → 5%DES MOINES METRO OPERA: $10k → 6%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF DES MOINES: $2k → 10%MISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL: $8k → 11%DALLAS CENTER PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $25k → 5%DES MOINES METRO OPERA: $5k → 6%GREATER DES MOINES PUBLIC ART FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%MISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL: $4k → 11%BRENTON ARBORETUM: $19k → 5%DES MOINES METRO OPERA: $3k → 6%DES MOINES SYMPHONY: $1k → 10%MISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL: $1k → 11%BRENTON ARBORETUM: $16k → 5%DES MOINES SYMPHONY: $1k → 10%BRENTON ARBORETUM: $13k → 5%DES MOINES SYMPHONY: $1k → 10%SPURGEON MANOR: $10k → 5%SPURGEON MANOR: $5k → 5%DES MOINES ART CENTER: $15k → 10%DES MOINES ART CENTER: $15k → 10%DES MOINES ART CENTER: $3k → 10%DES MOINES ART CENTER: $3k → 10%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.
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.
$436k · 25 repeat orgs$79k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
12

Total granted

$436k
$52k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+21%

Still filing today

80%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $27k 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
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHealthFood & NutritionPhilanthropyAnimalsOther
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

  • BA
    BRENTON ARBORETUM INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $158k · revenue +4%
  • DM
    DES MOINES METRO OPERA INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $89k · revenue +89%
  • GD
    GREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN
    5× · 2021–2025 · $40k · revenue +294%

Funded once

  • DC
    DALLAS CENTER PUBLIC LIBRARYFOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $6k
  • YU
    YALE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
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
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

This member-supported organization protects and restores iowa's land, water and wildlife for future generations. priorities include permanent land protection, promotion of improved land management and bringing new conservation…

Environment
2
Dubuque Museum of Art

To excite, engage & educate constituents through the presentation of collections, exhibitions, and programming; to form mutually beneficial partnerships that will enhance the role of the arts within the community.

Arts & Culture
3
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

To excite, engage and educate through the arts.

Arts & Culture
4
Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce

Our mission is to inspire the iowa city area to be greater by: 1) elevating business, 2) investing in strategic initiatives, and 3) advocating for the economic resiliency of the greater community.

—
5
Denver Botanic Gardens Inc

The mission of denver botanic gardens is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the rocky mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.

Environment
6
Des Moines Golf and Country Club Educational Foundation
—
7
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
8
Midwest Dairy Association

Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.

—
9
Dubuque Arboretum Association Inc

To become a cherished destination for all, where vibrant gardens create transformative experiences that connect people, inspire learning, and deepen appreciation for nature.

Environment
10
Omaha Botanical Center Inc

We believe in thoughtful, ecologically-minded practices and the curation of accessible, educational, and inspirational experiences that enhance lives.

Environment
11
The Danish Immigrant Museum

The museum of danish america explores the danish-american experience, the historic and modern influences of denmark on the united states, and the continuing story of how a nation of immigrants shape american identity.

Arts & Culture
12
Des Moines Performing Arts

Engage the midwest in meaningful entertainment, education, and cultural activities. provide performing arts experiences that educate, inspire and challenge.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Iowa Arboretum Inc; the most unlike its peers is Nature Sacred. 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

29 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. 29 of the 46 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/29
Grantees still filing
21/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BRENTON ARBORETUM INC: $157,504 · Arts & CultureBRENTON ARBORETUM INCDES MOINES METRO OPERA INC: $89,000 · Arts & CultureDES MOINES METRO OPERA INCEdmundson Art Foundation Inc: $36,500 · Arts & CultureEdmundson Art Foundation Inc+7 more: $15,750 · Arts & CultureDALLAS CENTER PUBLIC LIBRARYFOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherDALLAS CENTER PUBLIC LIBRA…GREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION - CENTRAL IOWA WATER TRAILS: $20,000 · OtherGREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION …THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $14,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYIndividual grant recipient: $11,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $6,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · OtherSIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION: $5,000 · OtherOUTREACH INC: $7,500 · OtherOUTREACH INC+16 more: $27,810 · Other+16 moreGREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN: $40,000 · EnvironmentGREATER DE…IOWA ARBORETUM INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentIOWA ARBOR…LAKE MINNETONKA GARDEN CLUB: $2,000 · Environment+1 more: $500 · EnvironmentSPURGEON MANOR INC: $15,000 · HealthABOVE AND BEYOND CANCER INC: $5,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE HEARTLAND INC: $3,500 · HealthNATURE SACRED: $10,500 · PhilanthropyDES MOINES PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $4,500 · PhilanthropyMISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL: $12,000 · AnimalsBLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · AnimalsMILLBROOK SCHOOL: $8,000 · Education
Arts & Culture$298,754Other$121,310Environment$47,500Health$23,500Philanthropy$15,000Animals$14,500Education$8,000

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 budgetBRENTON ARBORETUM INC: $157,504 over 6y, 4.0% of budgetDES MOINES METRO OPERA INC: $89,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetGREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN: $40,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetEdmundson Art Foundation Inc: $36,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSPURGEON MANOR INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $14,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL: $12,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNATURE SACRED: $10,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMILLBROOK SCHOOL: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOUTREACH INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDES MOINES SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $5,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetABOVE AND BEYOND CANCER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetIOWA ARBORETUM INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDES MOINES PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE HEARTLAND INC: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $3,460 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSALISBURY HOUSE FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE MINNETONKA GARDEN CLUB: $2,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetHUNGER FREE DALLAS COUNTY: $2,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetGREATER DES MOINES PUBLIC ART FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC: $1,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER DES MOINES: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVOICES OF ASCENSION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPACEM IN TERRIS: $600 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANITIES IOWA: $500 over 1y, 0.5% 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 BRENTON ARBORETUM INC ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES METRO OPERA INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN ↗
  • Who funds Edmundson Art Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds SPURGEON MANOR INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds MISSION ANIMAL HOSPITAL ↗
  • Who funds NATURE SACRED ↗
  • Who funds MILLBROOK SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds OUTREACH INC ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds ABOVE AND BEYOND CANCER INC ↗
  • Who funds IOWA ARBORETUM INC ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE HEARTLAND INC ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND ↗
  • Who funds SALISBURY HOUSE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds SCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds LAKE MINNETONKA GARDEN CLUB ↗
  • Who funds HUNGER FREE DALLAS COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds GREATER DES MOINES PUBLIC ART FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds IOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC ↗
  • Who funds THE YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER DES MOINES ↗
  • Who funds VOICES OF ASCENSION INC ↗

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.

Meredith Corporation …Community Fdn of Grea…Gartner Family Founda…Bookey Family Foundat…EMC Insurance Foundat…Prairie Meadows Race …The Levitt FoundationJohn Ruan Foundation …William C Knapp Chari…Mary K and Daniel M K…Weathertop Foundation…The Merchants Bonding…
Meredith Corporation FoundationIA32× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Meredith Corporation Foundation · Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · Gartner Family Foundation % Michael G Gartner · Bookey Family Foundation · EMC Insurance Foundation · Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc · The Levitt Foundation · John Ruan Foundation Trust · William C Knapp Charitable Fdn · Mary K and Daniel M Kelly Family Foundation C/O Dan Kelly · Weathertop Foundation F/K/A Thomas Nelson Urban Jr · The Merchants Bonding Company 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 Brenton Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Brenton Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 46 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 Brenton’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