Iowa · Private foundation
Carlson Family 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.
- $1.5M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 35
- Grants FY2025
- 31
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 10%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $40,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $250,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 26 to 31
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 4
- Total assets, FY2025
- $5.5M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 10% of the organizations Carlson Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 17% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $310k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 34 | $1.4M | 18% |
| FY2024 | 31 | $1.9M | 10% |
| FY2023 | 31 | $1.7M | 16% |
| FY2022 | 26 | $940k | 4% |
| FY2021 | 29 | $591k | 10% |
| FY2020 | 28 | $548k | 4% |
| FY2019 | 28 | $525k | 7% |
| FY2018 | 26 | $461k | 4% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ellipsis Inc | $725,000 | 5 | 9% |
| Cystic Fibrosis Foundation | $385,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Youth and Shelter Services Inc | $377,500 | 9 | 0% |
| Urbandale Food Pantry | $340,000 | 2 | 10% |
| Food Bank of Iowa | $325,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Meals From the Heartland Inc | $320,000 | 9 | 2% |
| Hope Ministries | $310,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Iowa Public Radio Inc | $235,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Inc | $212,500 | 8 | 0% |
| Grand View University | $210,000 | 7 | 0% |
Show all 25 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 24 recipients with no EIN on record ($3.6M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Carlson Family Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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: Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc · Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · The Merchants Bonding Company Foundation · The West Bancorporation Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Pella Rolscreen Foundation · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Mid-Iowa Health Foundation · Athene Charitable Foundation · Ita Group Foundation · EMC Insurance Foundation · United Way Worldwide
How this is measured
About Carlson Family Foundation
- How much does Carlson Family Foundation give?
- Carlson Family Foundation reported 35 grants totaling $1,455,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 26 and 31 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Carlson Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (21%), Youth Development (15%), Human Services (15%).
- Who are Carlson Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Ellipsis Inc ($725k), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ($385k), Youth and Shelter Services Inc ($378k).
- Does Carlson Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 10% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Carlson Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Carlson Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc, Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn, The Merchants Bonding Company Foundation.
- Where is Carlson Family Foundation based?
- Carlson Family Foundation is based in IA.
Play a game based on Carlson Family’s filings →