Nebraska · Private foundation
Gardner Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $1.4M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 21
- Grants FY2025
- 19
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 47%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $15,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $764,194
- Organizations funded a year
- 11 to 19
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 2
- Total assets, FY2025
- $25M
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 47% of the organizations Gardner Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 21% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $293k 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 | 20 | $1.4M | 50% |
| FY2024 | 19 | $1.4M | 47% |
| FY2023 | 13 | $1.4M | 23% |
| FY2022 | 11 | $1.9M | 36% |
| FY2021 | 11 | $1.4M | 9% |
| FY2020 | 18 | $1.3M | 39% |
| FY2019 | 18 | $1.3M | 39% |
| FY2018 | 19 | $1.4M | 47% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne State Foundation | $4,910,374 | 9 | 18% |
| Providence Medical Center Foundation | $1,000,001 | 4 | 67% |
| Little Red Hen Theatre | $617,900 | 9 | 83% |
| Nebraska Wesleyan University | $175,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Dixon County Agricultural Society | $100,000 | 1 | 37% |
| Hopeful Horizons | $55,000 | 5 | 0% |
| Northeast Community College Foundation | $50,000 | 1 | 1% |
| St James Community Fund | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Emerson Betterment Committee | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Camp High Hopes | $23,750 | 1 | 3% |
Show all 28 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne State Foundation | $4,910,374 | 9 | 18% |
| Providence Medical Center Foundation | $1,000,001 | 4 | 67% |
| Little Red Hen Theatre | $617,900 | 9 | 83% |
| Nebraska Wesleyan University | $175,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Dixon County Agricultural Society | $100,000 | 1 | 37% |
| Hopeful Horizons | $55,000 | 5 | 0% |
| Northeast Community College Foundation | $50,000 | 1 | 1% |
| St James Community Fund | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Emerson Betterment Committee | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Camp High Hopes | $23,750 | 1 | 3% |
| Wakefield Health Care Center Inc | $23,070 | 2 | n/a |
| Quilts of Valor Foundation | $20,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Harrisons Playmakers | $20,000 | 2 | 6% |
| St Peters Catholic Church | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Homer Volunteer Fire Department | $19,550 | 1 | n/a |
| Project Pinkd Inc | $15,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Playmakers | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of the Lowcountry Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Lindsay Area Development | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Community Recreation of Wakefield Inc | $9,561 | 1 | n/a |
| Builders International Foundation | $7,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Pioneer Senior Citizens Inc | $7,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Food Bank for the Heartland | $6,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Faith & Family Production Inc | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Epic Youth Ministry Inc | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Arc of Norfolk | $2,000 | 1 | 3% |
| Maxwell Veterans Memorial Inc | $1,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Olive Branch Charitable Foundation | $1,000 | 1 | n/a |
Plus 38 recipients with no EIN on record ($5.5M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Gardner Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 3 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 15 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
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: Edward Jones Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
About Gardner Foundation
- How much does Gardner Foundation give?
- Gardner Foundation reported 21 grants totaling $1,397,188 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 11 and 19 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Gardner Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (55%), Health (11%), Recreation & Sports (10%).
- Who are Gardner Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Wayne State Foundation ($4.9M), Providence Medical Center Foundation ($1.0M), Little Red Hen Theatre ($618k).
- Does Gardner Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 47% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Gardner Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Gardner Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Edward Jones Foundation, The Blackbaud Giving Fund, National Philanthropic Trust.
- Where is Gardner Foundation based?
- Gardner Foundation is based in NE.
Play a game based on Gardner’s filings →