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Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
20
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$1.8M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$2.9MYouth Development$2.4MEducation$2.1MHuman Services$903kReligion$856kHealth$665kPublic Benefit$499kCivil Rights$91kOther$0
02FY2024 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $135k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $453k
  • $250k+2 grants · $2.2M
$26,600
Median grant
4
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUSSE FOUNDATION FUND AT DAFGIVING360$1,754,990
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE COORIDOR$455,998
MERCY MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION$103,920
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR ADVANCEMENT$100,913
TANAGER PLACE$92,120
MOUNT MERCY UNIVERSITY$55,888
Individual grant recipient$50,415
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY$50,121
MAYO CLINIC DEPT OF DEVELOPMENT$42,924
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF EASTERN IOWA INC$26,600
LINN COUNTY TRAILS ASSOCIATION$25,270
Individual grant recipient$25,000
WARTBURG COLLEGE$15,237
ADVISORY COMMITTEE PUBLIC CHARITY INC$9,591
Individual grant recipient$7,500
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 (FY17–23, $309k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 24% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ACADEMY: $3k → 10%TIP OF THE SPEAR LANDMINE REMOVAL: $5k → 9%CAMP COURAGEOUS: $20k → 11%PREBORN: $5k → 16%CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ACADEMY: $1k → 10%CAMP COURAGEOUS: $11k → 11%CATHERINE MCCAULEY CENTER: $50k → 9%CAMP COURAGEOUS: $10k → 11%CAMP COURAGEOUS: $10k → 11%CEDAR VALLEY HOSPICE: $3k → 17%CATHERINE MCCAULEY CENTER: $24k → 9%CAMP COURAGEOUS: $10k → 11%CATHERINE MCCAULEY CENTER: $20k → 9%FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: $2k → 14%FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: $2k → 14%KATHERINE MCCAULEY CENTER: $2k → 9%CATHERINE MCCAULEY CENTER: $2k → 9%FREEDOM FOUNDATION: $40k → 9%FREEDOM FOUNDATION: $30k → 9%WAYPOINT SERVICES FOR WOMEN CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: $300 → 9%FOUR OAKS: $17k → 9%FOUR OAKS: $12k → 9%FOUR OAKS: $12k → 9%FOUR OAKS: $7k → 9%FOUR OAKS: $6k → 9%FOUR OAKS: $2k → 9%FOUR OAKS: $2k → 9%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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
IA
IN
NJ
CA
CO
MO
VA
AZ
KS
TN
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.6M · 78 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

78 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 64 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

78
34

Total granted

$7.6M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+5%

Still filing today

46%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 35% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.8M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationHealthPhilanthropyArts & CultureRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE CORRIDOR
    8× · 2017–2024 · $2.1M · revenue +95% · 26% of their budget
  • MF
    MOUND FARM HOLDINGS INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $736k · revenue +3%
  • TP
    TANAGER PLACE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $454k · revenue +68%

Funded once

  • TL
    THE LORIANN BUSSE CHARITABLE FUND
    one grant, 2019 · $500k
  • TL
    THE LISA R CARPENTIER CHARITABLE FUND
    one grant, 2019 · $429k
  • SM
    ST MARKS CHURCH
    one grant, 2017 · $90k
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
Common Good Iowa

Common good iowa engages iowans to create and advocate for research-based public policy that makes life better and more equitable for all who make iowa home.

—
2
University of Iowa Facilities Corporation

The university of iowa facilities corporation acquires and holds property for the benefit and use of the university of iowa.

—
3
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
4
American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa

The union works to advocate and advance a public policy agenda to support and protect the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of iowa. it works to maintain throughout the united states the rights of free…

—
5
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Iowa

The foundation works to defend and promote the constitution of the united states, focusing especially on the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and 14th amendments. the foundation also works to defend and promote the constitution of the…

Civil Rights
6
Iowa Credit Union Foundation

Founded in 1995 as the philanthropic arm of the iowa credit union league and guided by the credit union philosophy of "people helping people", the iowa credit union foundation (the foundation) works to champion financial well-being for…

Unclassified
7
Grand View University

Engages, equips and empowers learners to explore their vocations, fulfill their potential and serve the world.

Education
8
Columbia College

Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.

Education
9
University Family Physicians Inc

Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…

—
10
Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce

Our mission is to inspire the iowa city area to be greater by: 1) elevating business, 2) investing in strategic initiatives, and 3) advocating for the economic resiliency of the greater community.

—
11
Cedar Falls Lutheran Home

Christian caring - enhancing lives through a commitment to individualized care in a home empowered by god's love.

Housing & Shelter
12
State University of Iowa Alumni Association

Our mission is to strengthen the university of iowa through alumni engagement. we do this through our communications, alumni programs, and events.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Arc of East Central Iowa; the most unlike its peers is Monarch Research Project. 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

53 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. 53 of the 118 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/53
Grantees still filing
38/53
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BUSSE FOUNDATION FUND AT DAFGIVING360: $1,754,990 · OtherBUSSE FOUNDATION FUND AT DAFGIVING360THE LORIANN BUSSE CHARITABLE FUND: $499,855 · OtherTHE LORIANN BUSSE CHARITABLE FUNDTHE LISA R CARPENTIER CHARITABLE FUND: $429,204 · OtherTHE LISA R CARPENTIER CHARITABLE FUNDLA CASA DE CRISTO CHURCH: $299,899 · OtherLA CASA DE CRISTO CHURCHUNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $245,726 · OtherMERCY MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $241,625 · Other+83 more: $2,138,463 · Other+83 moreBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE CORRIDOR: $2,119,864 · Recreation & SportsBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF …+1 more: $25,270 · Recreation & SportsMOUND FARM HOLDINGS INC: $735,643 · EducationMOUND FARM HOLDI…STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $444,830 · EducationSTATE UNIVERSITY…COE COLLEGE: $185,316 · EducationCOE COLLEGEWARTBURG COLLEGE: $181,237 · EducationWARTBURG COLLEGE+4 more: $56,000 · EducationTANAGER PLACE: $453,681 · HealthMAYO CLINIC: $142,320 · Health+3 more: $33,700 · HealthCATHERINE MCAULEY CENTER INC: $97,656 · Human ServicesThe Freedom Foundation: $70,000 · Human ServicesCAMP COURAGEOUS OF IOWA: $60,500 · Human ServicesFOUR OAKS FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $58,000 · Human Services+7 more: $22,800 · Human ServicesTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $137,500 · Public BenefitJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $131,000 · Public BenefitJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF EASTERN IOWA INC: $190,560 · Youth Development
Other$5,609,762Recreation & Sports$2,145,134Education$1,603,026Health$629,701Human Services$308,956Public Benefit$268,500Youth Development$190,560

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE CORRIDOR: $2,119,864 over 8y, 26% of budgetMOUND FARM HOLDINGS INC: $735,643 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetTANAGER PLACE: $453,681 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $444,830 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF EASTERN IOWA INC: $190,560 over 3y, 5.4% of budgetCOE COLLEGE: $185,316 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWARTBURG COLLEGE: $181,237 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $142,320 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $137,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $135,656 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $131,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF EAST CENTRAL IOWA: $110,444 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetCATHERINE MCAULEY CENTER INC: $97,656 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $93,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Freedom Foundation: $70,000 over 2y, 8.7% of budgetCAMP COURAGEOUS OF IOWA: $60,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFOUR OAKS FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $58,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY: $50,121 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE ARC OF EAST CENTRAL IOWA: $40,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLinn County Trails Association: $25,270 over 1y, 12% of budgetCONNECTCR INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetKIDS FIRST LAW CENTER: $24,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetBENTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 7.5% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $18,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Hospital Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetHOUSE OF HOPE: $10,100 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetNORTHEAST IOWA FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSCORE MINISTRIES: $10,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetThe Kansas University Endowment Association: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMONARCH RESEARCH PROJECT: $7,396 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetDubuque County Historical Society: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLESSMAN INTERNATIONAL INC: $5,100 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLINN-MAR SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTIP OF THE SPEAR LANDMINE REMOVAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMission Pre-Born Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF IOWA INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE OF WASHINGTON COUNTY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHAPPY HILL FARM CHILDRENS HOME INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOrange County Rescue Mission Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE OF ORANGE COUNTY: $3,754 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBIOLA UNIVERSITY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetIOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRACE CENTERS OF HOPE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCEDAR VALLEY HOSPICE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTED LINDSAY FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 1.1% 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 BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE CORRIDOR ↗
  • Who funds MOUND FARM HOLDINGS INC ↗
  • Who funds TANAGER PLACE ↗
  • Who funds STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF EASTERN IOWA INC ↗
  • Who funds COE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds WARTBURG COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds ST MARK LUTHERAN CHURCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Young America's Foundation ↗
  • Who funds JUDICIAL WATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF EAST CENTRAL IOWA ↗
  • Who funds CATHERINE MCAULEY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds TURNING POINT USA INC ↗
  • Who funds The Freedom Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CAMP COURAGEOUS OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds FOUR OAKS FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds THE ARC OF EAST CENTRAL IOWA ↗

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.

Alliant Energy Founda…GreenState Credit Uni…Greater Cedar Rapids …United Fire Group Fou…Hawkeye Area Communit…The Hall-Perrine Foun…Carleen and Eugene Gr…TrueNorth Legacy Foun…John P & Lawrence J G…The Accel FoundationDavid Neuhaus Family …The McIntyre Foundati…
Alliant Energy Foundation IncWI51.7× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · GreenState Credit Union · Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation · United Fire Group Foundation · Hawkeye Area Community Action Program Inc · The Hall-Perrine Foundation · Carleen and Eugene Grandon Charitable Foundation · TrueNorth Legacy Foundation · John P & Lawrence J Giacoletto Fnd · The Accel Foundation · David Neuhaus Family Foundation · The McIntyre 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 Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse 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 118 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lavern T Busse & Audrey Busse’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