Iowa · Private foundation
Gunderson 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.
- $171k
- Granted FY2019
- 10
- Grants FY2019
- 10
- Organizations funded FY2019
- 70%
- First-time grantees FY2019
Read this first · the figures below need context
88% of Gunderson Family Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 4 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year Gunderson Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 5 organizations, $171k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2019
- $1,000
- Largest grant, FY2019
- $120,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 7 to 11
- FY2017 to FY2019
- States reached, FY2019
- 2
- Total assets, FY2019
- $3.7M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2019, 70% of the organizations Gunderson Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 84% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2019, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $144k 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2019 | 10 | $171k | 70% |
| FY2018 | 7 | $95k | 71% |
| FY2017 | 11 | $54k | n/a |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State University Foundation | $80,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Kids First Law Center | $50,000 | 2 | 4% |
| Iowa Parks Foundation | $26,448 | 2 | 93% |
| Harvest Academy | $25,000 | 1 | 31% |
| Georgetown University | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| St Thomas Episcopal Church | $16,500 | 4 | n/a |
| Sun Valley Summer Symphony Inc | $15,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Youth and Shelter Services Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Iowa European Cultural Connection | $5,000 | 1 | 4% |
Show all 23 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa State University Foundation | $80,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Kids First Law Center | $50,000 | 2 | 4% |
| Iowa Parks Foundation | $26,448 | 2 | 93% |
| Harvest Academy | $25,000 | 1 | 31% |
| Georgetown University | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| St Thomas Episcopal Church | $16,500 | 4 | n/a |
| Sun Valley Summer Symphony Inc | $15,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Youth and Shelter Services Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Iowa European Cultural Connection | $5,000 | 1 | 4% |
| Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood | $5,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Cultureall Inc | $4,180 | 1 | 1% |
| Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley Inc | $2,500 | 1 | n/a |
| Sun Valley Culinary Institute Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Blaine County Seniors Council Inc the Senior Connection | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Genesis Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Iowa Public Radio Inc | $750 | 1 | n/a |
| Mind and Spirit Counseling Center | $500 | 1 | 0% |
| Self-Help International | $250 | 1 | 0% |
| Keep Iowa Beautiful | $140 | 1 | 0% |
| Young Women's Resource Center | $100 | 1 | n/a |
| Mary's Meals USA Inc | $100 | 1 | 0% |
| Hope Lutheran Church | $100 | 1 | n/a |
Plus 23 recipients with no EIN on record ($212k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Gunderson Family Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 17 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: Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc · Spur Community Foundation Inc · Ita Group Foundation · United Way of Central Iowa · The West Bancorporation Foundation Inc · Lsb Foundation · Idaho Community Foundation Inc · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment Foundation
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Gunderson Family Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Gunderson Family 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 Gunderson Family Foundation
- How much does Gunderson Family Foundation give?
- Gunderson Family Foundation reported 10 grants totaling $170,990 in its FY2019 IRS filing. It funded between 7 and 11 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2019.
- What does Gunderson Family Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Philanthropy (60%), Education (11%), Crime & Legal (7%).
- Who are Gunderson Family Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Iowa State University Foundation ($80k), Kids First Law Center ($50k), Iowa Parks Foundation ($26k).
- Does Gunderson Family Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2019, 70% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Gunderson 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 Gunderson Family Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn, Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc, Spur Community Foundation Inc.
- Where is Gunderson Family Foundation based?
- Gunderson Family Foundation is based in IA.
Play a game based on Gunderson Family’s filings →