· Private foundation
James W and Ella B Forster Trust
Its FY2026 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2026
- Under $10k2 grants · $15k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $46k
- $50k–250k2 grants · $254k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| MERRILL PIONEER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL | $183,685 |
| ROCK RAPIDS AREA DEVELOPMENT FDN | $70,345 |
| ATLAS OF LYON COUNTY | $36,000 |
| INSPIRATION HILLS CAMP RETREAT CENT | $10,000 |
| LESTER DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION | $7,500 |
| ROCK RAPIDS MURAL SOCIETY | $7,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–23, $145k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 5%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
9 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2026, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2026, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- RRROCK RAPIDS AREA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION7× · 2020–2026 · $502k · revenue +124% · 58% of their budget
- AGATLAS GROUP OF LYON COUNTY5× · 2019–2026 · $164k · revenue +35%
- RRROCK RAPIDS KIDS CLUB INC2× · 2017–2023 · $100k · revenue +18%
Funded once
- MOMID-SIOUX OPPORTUNITY INCgraduatedone grant, 2018 · $40k · revenue +70%
- DYDESTINY YOUTH RANCH INCgraduatedone grant, 2019 · $40k · revenue +67% · 25% of their budget
- RCRANSOM CHURCHone grant, 2025 · $30k
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.
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.
To retain and develop industrial, commercial and retail businesses in rock rapids, iowa. to promote our community as a great place to live, work, play and conduct business
Provide a well rounded, affordable and dependable daycare facility for parents with children growing up in a rural north iowa area.
Day care facility, preschool facility and after-school program for children who live in or whose parents work in the greater little river, kansas community to enable their parents or guardians to be gainfully employed.
Foster Business Development in Cozad, NE
The organization assists individuals and families with economic hardships.
To provide a public daycare and preschool to the lynnville, iowa area.
Economic development for keokuk, ia and surrounding community.
Crossroads of crawford county is a christian outreach for the people and communities in crawford county, in iowa. it seeks to match people with resources which fit their personal or family needs while encouraging and supporting them though…
The organization promotes, develops and advances the business community in iowa city and the surrounding area. in addition, the organization connects business and industry with federal, state and local resources to enable and stimulate…
To provide the city of alton, iowa with economic development possibilities ranging from residential, industrial and commercial development. the organization will make available places of residence and work attracting people to the city of…
Providing day care services to mitchell county, iowa, and the surrounding area. 50 to 70 children are serviced on a daily basis.
How this is measured
9 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. 9 of the 18 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 MERRILL PIONEER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC ↗
- Who funds ROCK RAPIDS AREA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds ATLAS GROUP OF LYON COUNTY ↗
- Who funds ROCK RAPIDS KIDS CLUB INC ↗
- Who funds MID-SIOUX OPPORTUNITY INC ↗
- Who funds DESTINY YOUTH RANCH INC ↗
- Who funds LESTER DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds JUSTICE FOR ALL NW IOWA CHAPTER ↗
- Who funds CENTER FOR FINANCIAL EDUCATION ↗
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: Dorothy E McCormack Charitable Trust · Lyon County Riverboat Foundation Inc · Stewart Family Foundation · Premier Communications Foundation · Land O'Lakes Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization James W and Ella B Forster Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James W and Ella B Forster Trust. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
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