How much does Cooper Foundation give?

Cooper Foundation reported 65 grants totaling $1,015,898 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 50 and 85 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.

What does Cooper Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (21%), Human Services (16%), Education (11%).

Who are Cooper Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: Malone Community Center ($240k), Rabble Mill ($230k), Lincolnlancaster County Child Advocacy Center ($93k).

Does Cooper Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2024, 19% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Does Cooper Foundation accept unsolicited applications?

Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.

Which funders back the same organizations as Cooper Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Lincoln Community Foundation Inc, The Sherwood Foundation, Abel Foundation.

Where is Cooper Foundation based?

Cooper Foundation is based in NE.

Foundation Dossiers Also receives grants: funding profile →

Nebraska · Private foundation

Cooper Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025(still arriving): 65
Grants FY2025: 52
Organizations funded FY2024: 19%
First-time grantees FY2024

Read the full brief

Median grant, FY2025: $15,000
Largest grant, FY2025: $80,398
Organizations funded a year: 50 to 85; FY2019 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025: 2
Total assets, FY2025: $30M
Applications: Takes unsolicited applications; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 19% of the organizations Cooper 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; $119k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

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

Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationEnvironmentHousing & ShelterOther

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.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2025still arriving	63	$996k	22%
FY2024	52	$693k	19%
FY2023	50	$653k	18%
FY2022	71	$943k	30%
FY2021	54	$998k	31%
FY2020	75	$653k	36%
FY2019	85	$904k	n/a

99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$1.2MHuman Services$935kEducation$625kInternational$420kCrime & Legal$375kCommunity Improvement$346kHealth$338kYouth Development$294kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Malone Community Center	$240,100	7	7%
Rabble Mill	$230,000	5	3%
Lincolnlancaster County Child Advocacy Center	$92,500	5	1%
Lux Center for the Arts	$90,000	5	4%
Civic Nebraska	$87,500	5	1%
Center for Legal Immigration Assistance	$81,000	5	5%
YWCA of Lincoln	$75,000	5	9%
Asian Community and Cultural Center	$75,000	3	3%
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Inc	$72,500	5	0%
Hopespoke	$70,000	4	0%

Show all 136 grantees

All grantees of Cooper Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Malone Community Center	$240,100	7	7%
Rabble Mill	$230,000	5	3%
Lincolnlancaster County Child Advocacy Center	$92,500	5	1%
Lux Center for the Arts	$90,000	5	4%
Civic Nebraska	$87,500	5	1%
Center for Legal Immigration Assistance	$81,000	5	5%
YWCA of Lincoln	$75,000	5	9%
Asian Community and Cultural Center	$75,000	3	3%
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Inc	$72,500	5	0%
Hopespoke	$70,000	4	0%
Center for People in Need	$65,000	3	0%
Nebraska Humanities Council	$64,500	4	1%
The Solidago Conservancy	$57,500	3	2%
Lincoln Literacy Council	$57,100	6	2%
Doane University	$56,500	7	0%
Give Nebraska	$55,000	7	3%
Nebraska Writers Collective	$55,000	5	4%
Lincoln Orchestra Association	$55,000	5	1%
Nebraska Cultural Endowment	$54,500	6	0%
Mid-America Arts Alliance	$54,000	5	0%
Food Bank of Lincoln Inc	$53,000	5	0%
Lincoln Children's Museum	$52,400	4	1%
Lincoln Arts Council	$50,250	5	3%
The Willa Cather Foundation	$50,000	3	1%
Midland University	$49,000	7	0%
Legal Aid of Nebraska	$45,000	4	0%
Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Coalition Inc	$45,000	2	8%
Educare of Lincoln Inc	$45,000	3	1%
Neighborhoods Inc	$45,000	2	1%
Indian Center Inc	$45,000	3	20%
Community Crops	$44,700	2	12%
Lincolnlancaster County Habitat for Humanity	$42,500	4	1%
Nebraska Wesleyan University	$41,500	7	0%
Boys and Girls Club of Lincolnlancaster County	$40,250	5	1%
Centerpointe Inc	$40,000	2	0%
The Bridge Behavioral Health Inc	$40,000	3	1%
Visionary Youth	$40,000	3	9%
Cedars Youth Services Inc	$40,000	2	0%
Foster Care Closet	$40,000	2	3%
Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders Counties	$40,000	2	0%
The Nebraska Land Trust Inc	$38,500	4	3%
Lincoln Community Playhouse	$37,500	4	1%
The Hub - Central Access Point for Young Adults	$37,000	3	4%
Southeast Community College Educational Foundation	$37,000	2	0%
The Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools	$35,600	2	1%
Junior Achievement of Lincoln Inc	$35,000	4	2%
Nebraska Children & Families Foundation	$35,000	3	0%
Nebraska Tribes Addressing Violence Coalition	$35,000	2	3%
Sunrise Communications Inc	$35,000	2	6%
Willard Community Center	$35,000	3	2%
Bridges to Hope	$32,500	3	9%
Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation	$30,500	2	1%
Nebraska Journalism Trust	$30,000	2	0%
Fresh Start Inc	$30,000	2	2%
Conservation Nebraska	$30,000	2	2%
Lincoln Crossroads Festival	$30,000	3	14%
El Centro de Las Americas	$30,000	2	2%
Meadowlark Music Festival	$27,500	3	18%
Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest	$27,500	3	0%
Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln	$27,500	2	4%
Mourning Hope	$26,300	2	3%
Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach	$25,500	3	0%
Nebraska Sports Council	$25,000	2	1%
Northeast Family Center	$25,000	2	1%
Rise Academy	$25,000	2	0%
Bellevue University	$24,000	7	0%
Hastings College	$24,000	7	0%
College of Saint Mary	$24,000	7	0%
Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska	$23,000	3	0%
Cause Collective	$22,925	3	6%
Nebraska Transition College	$22,500	3	9%
Echo Collective	$22,000	2	9%
Flatwater Shakespeare Company	$21,500	4	14%
Lincoln Medical Education Partnership	$20,000	2	0%
Stuhr Museum Foundation	$20,000	1	2%
Nebraska Civic Engagement Table	$20,000	3	1%
I Be Black Girl	$20,000	2	0%
Voices of Hope of Lincoln Inc	$20,000	1	1%
Mentor Nebraska	$20,000	1	2%
Friendship Home of Lincoln Inc	$20,000	1	0%
Opensky Policy Institute	$17,500	2	1%
Share a Fare Inc	$17,500	2	20%
Nebraskans for the Arts Inc	$17,500	3	9%
South of Downtown Community Development Organization	$17,500	2	2%
Voz de Esperanza	$17,500	2	1%
Multicultural Coalition	$17,500	2	3%
Nebraska Art Association	$16,000	2	2%
Inclusive Communities	$15,000	2	1%
Ho-Chunk Community Development Corporation	$15,000	1	n/a
Wachiska Audubon Society Inc	$15,000	1	6%
Men With Dreams Inc	$15,000	1	n/a
Bright Lights Inc	$15,000	3	2%
Lincoln Calling	$15,000	1	4%
Literacy Council of Grand Island Inc	$12,500	2	4%
Nebraska Statewide Arboretum Hanna Pinneo	$12,500	2	1%
The Groundwater Foundation	$12,500	1	n/a
Down Syndrome Association for Families	$12,000	1	11%
Lincoln Children's Zoo	$10,250	2	0%
Banister's Leadership Academy	$10,000	1	1%
Nebraska Trails Foundation Inc	$10,000	1	3%
Family Violence Council	$10,000	1	8%
At Ease USA	$10,000	1	n/a
Lincoln Bike Kitchen	$10,000	1	n/a
Poverty Impact Network Inc	$10,000	1	5%
No Footprint Too Small Birth and Bereavement Services	$10,000	1	14%
Carnegie Arts Center Inc	$10,000	1	7%
Fitting Futures	$10,000	1	3%
Nebraska Jazz Orchestra Inc	$10,000	1	9%
Nebraska Diaper Bank	$10,000	1	1%
The Brownville Concert Series Inc	$10,000	1	4%
Roper Organization of Parents and Educators Inc	$10,000	1	n/a
Legacy of the Plains Museum Inc	$10,000	1	1%
Stand for Schools	$10,000	1	3%
Special Olympics Nebraska Inc	$10,000	1	0%
Wellbeing Initiative Inc	$10,000	1	1%
Lincoln Music Teachers Association	$10,000	2	20%
Vision Maker Media	$7,500	2	0%
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands	$7,500	1	n/a
Big Gumdrop Outdoors	$7,500	1	n/a
Milkworks Inc	$7,500	1	0%
Lincoln Choral Artists	$6,500	2	n/a
Blixt Locally Grown	$5,000	1	8%
The Durham Museum	$5,000	1	0%
OpenAI Foundation fka OpenAI Inc	$5,000	1	0%
Malcolm Parent Teacher Organization	$5,000	1	n/a
Angels Theatre Company Inc	$5,000	1	n/a
Radio Talking Book Service Inc	$5,000	1	2%
Lincoln Housing Charities	$2,000	1	7%
Museum of Nebraska Art	$1,500	1	0%
Prairie Plains Resource Inst	$1,000	1	0%
Foundation for Lincoln City Libraries	$1,000	1	0%
Community Action of Nebraska Inc	$500	1	0%
Nac Development Corporation	$500	1	0%
People's City Mission	$500	1	0%
University of Nebraska Foundation	$100	1	0%
Stormont-Vail Foundation	$100	1	0%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 47 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.6M), not named here.

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Cooper Foundation supplied at peak.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 125.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 Foundation IncNE174.8× affinity96 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Community Foundation Inc · The Sherwood Foundation · Abel Foundation · Spreetail Foundation · United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County · D F Dillon Foundation · Assurity Life Foundation · Peter Kiewit Foundation · The Lozier Foundation · Acklie Charitable Foundation · Duncan Family Trust · Nebraska Community 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.

Compare Cooper Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Cooper Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Cooper 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.

About Cooper Foundation

How much does Cooper Foundation give?: Cooper Foundation reported 65 grants totaling $1,015,898 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 50 and 85 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.
What does Cooper Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (21%), Human Services (16%), Education (11%).
Who are Cooper Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: Malone Community Center ($240k), Rabble Mill ($230k), Lincolnlancaster County Child Advocacy Center ($93k).
Does Cooper Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2024, 19% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Cooper Foundation accept unsolicited applications?: Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as Cooper Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Lincoln Community Foundation Inc, The Sherwood Foundation, Abel Foundation.
Where is Cooper Foundation based?: Cooper Foundation is based in NE.