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Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$414k
Granted FY2025still arriving
25
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Education$1.4MArts & Culture$437kRecreation & Sports$329kCommunity Improvement$227kEnvironment$202kHuman Services$124kReligion$104kScience & Tech$86kOther$0
02FY2025 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $296k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$12,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$8.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SWCC FOUNDATION$100,000
SOUTHERN PRAIRIE FAMILY FITNESS CENTER$45,000
UNITY POINT HEALTH$25,000
SOUTHWESTERN IA EDUCATIONAL DEV FOUNDATION$12,000
SIOUX CENTER MUSIC BOOSTER INC$12,000
FORT DODGE COMM SCHOOL DISTRICT FOUNDATION$12,000
LEMARS COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOOSTERS$12,000
IOWA CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE$12,000
SPENCER FINE ARTS BOOSTER$12,000
HUMBOLDT MUSIC BOOSTER CLUB INC$12,000
ESTHERVILLE LINCOLN CENTERAL PATRONS OF THE ARTS$12,000
EAST UNION EAGLE PRIDE BOOSTER CLUB$12,000
GEHLEN CATHOLIC SCHOOL$12,000
ST EDMOND CATHOLIC SCHOOL$12,000
SPIRIT LAKE MUSIC PARENTS$12,000
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, $280k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%MOVING VETERANS FORWARD: $1k → 6%LEMARS COMMUNITY DAYCARE CENTER INC: $25k → 7%CENTER FOR SIOUXLAND: $1k → 13%SOUTHERN PRAIRIE FAMILY FITNESS CENTER: $100k → 13%CAMP HIGH HOPES: $100k → 13%SOUTHERN PRAIRIE FAMILY FITNESS CENTER: $45k → 13%WEST DES MOINES HUMAN SERVICES FRIENDS FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%NISHNA PRODUCTIONS INC: $2k → 13%GRAND AVENUE COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $2k → 9%CHERISH CENTER: $2k → 7%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.

57%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 23 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
96

Total granted

$1.8M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+5%

Still filing today

61%
34%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $171k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementHealthArts & CultureFood & NutritionOther
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

  • DU
    DORDT UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2022–2024 · $250k · revenue +17%
  • CA
    CRESTON ACTIVITIES BOOSTER CLUB INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $82k · revenue +71%
  • FO
    Friends of Garrigan High School Inc
    7× · 2019–2025 · $72k · revenue +83%

Funded once

  • IF
    ISU FOUNDATION (AG COLLEGE)
    one grant, 2024 · $200k
  • UR
    UPTOWN REVITALIZATION GROWTH FOR EVERYONE
    one grant, 2022 · $120k · revenue -96% · 92% of their budget
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF LAKESIDE LAB INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +38%
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
Central Iowa Christian School

Provision of christ centered education with scholastic excellence.

Education
2
Food Bank of Iowa

The organization receives, warehouses, and distributes salvageable food items to non-profit tax exempt member agencies to feed the ill, needy, and infants.

Food & Nutrition
3
Iowa Mennonite School

To offer high school students an academically excellent, christ-centered education. within a caring community, hillcrest academy prepares students for lives of christian discipleship, peacemaking and service.

Education
4
Iowa College Foundation

The foundation is organized to further the growth and development of private colleges and universities of higher education in iowa.

—
5
Iowa Automotive Heritage Foundation
Science & Tech
6
Heart of Iowa Habitat for Humanity

To provide low-cost housing to eligible families.

—
7
South Central Iowa Community Action Program Inc

To provide advocacy and services for disadvantaged persons and bring about institutional change for the benefit of the people we serve and the community at large. (see schedule o).to achieve this mission, scicap operates programs to…

Community Improvement
8
Iowa Giving Crew

Raising funds and marshaling resources within our collective networks to serve those in need throughout our community.

Unclassified
9
Iowa Laborers' Employers Cooperation & Education Trust

Improve communications between employers and local unions.

—
10
Food Bank of Southern Iowa

Obtain, warehouse, and distribute food products to client agencies to help alleviate hunger in southern iowa communities.

—
11
Iowa Farmers Union Education Foundation

To work with farmers, rural communities and cosumers to promote a viable system of family agriculture and a high qualtiy of life in rural communities through education , cooperation and community activism.

Education
12
The Foundation for the Iowa City Community School District

The foundation for the iowa city community school district connects the community with our schools to ensure every student has extraordinary learning experiences. together we empower teachers and district staff and inspire students to…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southwest Iowa Families Inc; the most unlike its peers is Miracle Travel Works Inc. 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

49 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 49 of the 127 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/49
Grantees still filing
28/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ISU FOUNDATION (AG COLLEGE): $200,000 · OtherISU FOUNDATION (AG COLLEGE)SWCC FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherSWCC FOUNDATIONCRESTON CWC: $100,000 · OtherCRESTON CWCGAMMA PI EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $86,210 · OtherGAMMA PI EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONSPENCER FINE ARTS BOOSTERS: $82,000 · OtherCRESTON ACTIVITIES BOOSTER CLUB INC: $82,000 · OtherST EDMOND CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $74,000 · OtherGEHLEN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: $72,000 · OtherLEMARS COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOOSTERS: $72,000 · OtherSPIRIT LAKE MUSIC PARENTS INC: $72,000 · OtherESTHERVILLE LINCOLN CENTERAL PATRONS OF THE ARTS: $72,000 · OtherALGONA COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $72,000 · OtherEAST UNION EAGLE PRIDE BOOSTER CLUB: $72,000 · Other+84 more: $458,750 · Other+84 moreDORDT UNIVERSITY: $250,000 · EducationDORDT UNIVERSITYIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $157,000 · EducationIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT…FRIENDS OF LAKESIDE LAB INC: $100,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF LAKESIDE LAB INCFriends of Garrigan High School Inc: $72,000 · EducationFriends of Garrigan High Scho…HUMBOLDT MUSIC BOOSTER CLUB INC: $72,000 · EducationHUMBOLDT MUSIC BOOSTER CLUB I…SHENANDOAH IOWA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $52,000 · EducationSHENANDOAH IOWA EDUCATION FOU…SIOUX CENTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $41,000 · EducationMAYFLOWER HERITAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $36,000 · Education+4 more: $26,750 · EducationSOUTHERN PRAIRIE FAMILY FITNESS CENTER: $145,000 · Human ServicesSOUTHERN P…CAMP HIGH HOPES: $100,000 · Human ServicesCAMP HIGH …LE MARS COMMUNITY DAYCARE CENTER INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesLE MARS CO…+6 more: $9,500 · Human ServicesUPTOWN REVITALIZATION GROWTH FOR EVERYONE: $120,000 · Community ImprovementMATURA ACTION CORPORATION: $50,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $2,000 · Community ImprovementIOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EnvironmentOKOBOJI COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $72,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER GREENFIELD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropySIOUX CENTER MUSIC BOOSTERS INC: $57,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC ARNOLDS PARK INC: $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,614,960Education$806,750Human Services$279,500Community Improvement$172,000Environment$100,000Philanthropy$82,500Arts & Culture$67,000

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 budgetDORDT UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $157,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN PRAIRIE FAMILY FITNESS CENTER: $145,000 over 2y, 9.5% of budgetUPTOWN REVITALIZATION GROWTH FOR EVERYONE: $120,000 over 1y, 92% of budgetFRIENDS OF LAKESIDE LAB INC: $100,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetIOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCAMP HIGH HOPES: $100,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetCRESTON ACTIVITIES BOOSTER CLUB INC: $82,000 over 8y, 16% of budgetFriends of Garrigan High School Inc: $72,000 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetHUMBOLDT MUSIC BOOSTER CLUB INC: $72,000 over 7y, 30% of budgetOKOBOJI COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $72,000 over 7y, 27% of budgetSPIRIT LAKE MUSIC PARENTS INC: $72,000 over 7y, 22% of budgetALGONA COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $72,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetSIOUX CENTER MUSIC BOOSTERS INC: $57,000 over 6y, 6.7% of budgetSHENANDOAH IOWA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $52,000 over 5y, 5.8% of budgetIOWA CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetMATURA ACTION CORPORATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSIOUX CENTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $41,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetMAYFLOWER HERITAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $36,000 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetLE MARS COMMUNITY DAYCARE CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFort Dodge Community School District Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetGREATER GREENFIELD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHISTORIC ARNOLDS PARK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMORNINGSIDE UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKOSSUTH COUNTY FOOD PANTRY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetUPPER DES MOINES OPPORTUNITY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND AVENUE COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $2,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCHERISH CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHWEST IOWA FAMILIES INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCRESTON AREA FOOD PANTRY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetHoly Family Hospital Foundation: $1,750 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNISHNA PRODUCTIONS INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIRACLE TRAVEL WORKS INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetON WITH LIFE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEOPLE FOR PETS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNoahs Hope Animal Rescue Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSANFORD CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDSHIP HAVEN INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR SIOUXLAND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHumboldt Athletic Booster Club: $750 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPolice Athletics for Community Engagement: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER IOWA: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISCOVERY HOUSE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.2% 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 DORDT UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN PRAIRIE FAMILY FITNESS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds UPTOWN REVITALIZATION GROWTH FOR EVERYONE ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF LAKESIDE LAB INC ↗
  • Who funds IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAMP HIGH HOPES ↗
  • Who funds CRESTON ACTIVITIES BOOSTER CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Garrigan High School Inc ↗
  • Who funds HUMBOLDT MUSIC BOOSTER CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds OKOBOJI COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SPIRIT LAKE MUSIC PARENTS INC ↗
  • Who funds ALGONA COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX CENTER MUSIC BOOSTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds SHENANDOAH IOWA EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds IOWA CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MATURA ACTION CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX CENTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MAYFLOWER HERITAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds LE MARS COMMUNITY DAYCARE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Fort Dodge Community School District Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Ida County Agricultural Society ↗

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.

Community Fdn of Grea…Pella Rolscreen Found…Missouri River Histor…United Way of Siouxla…Interstates FoundationSouth Central Iowa Co…First Interstate Banc…Alliant Energy Founda…Good Neighbor Fund-Sp…Walden Charitable Fou…Ef & Sylvia Schildber…The Chesterman Family…
Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community FdnIA40.8× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · Pella Rolscreen Foundation · Missouri River Historical Development Inc · United Way of Siouxland Inc · Interstates Foundation · South Central Iowa Community Founda · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Good Neighbor Fund-Spirit Lake · Walden Charitable Foundation · Ef & Sylvia Schildberg Foundation · The Chesterman 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 Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Dwight and Marilyn Conover 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.

    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 127 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 Dwight and Marilyn Conover’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