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Lawrence R & Jeannette James Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lawrence R & Jeannette James Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02Its granteesRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0181% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Animals$3.0MEnvironment$972kReligion$156kArts & Culture$120kEducation$89kHuman Services$70kHealth$28kRecreation & Sports$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 9 grants below total $1,136,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,236,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $100,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$26M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Omaha Zoo Foundation$1,000,000
Dundee Church$50,000
COPE$35,000
Kaneko$15,000
Bemis Center$15,000
Creighton University$10,000
JDRF$5,000
Papillion Humane Society$5,000
Make a Difference Foundation$1,000
02Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.3M · 8 repeat orgs$155k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
16

Total granted

$4.3M
$134k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+3%

Still filing today

63%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $21k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesAnimalsEnvironmentArts & 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

  • OZ
    OMAHA ZOO FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $3.0M · revenue +34%
  • NG
    NEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS FOUNDATION
    2× · 2020–2022 · $971k · revenue +29% · 57% of their budget
  • K
    KANEKO
    3× · 2020–2024 · $50k · revenue +77%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $56k · revenue -16%
  • BF
    Bemis Foundation
    one grant, 2020 · $35k
  • LF
    LUTHERAN FAMILY SERVICES OF NE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +3%
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.

03Its 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
Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Science & Tech
2
Nebraska Medicine

Our mission is to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for individuals and committees through premier educational programs, innovative research and extraordinary patient care.

Health
3
One Omaha

One omaha empowers people where they live with education, training, and engagement to develop thriving neighborhoods.

Community Improvement
4
Omaha Community Foundation

To serve the community by cultivating generosity and strengthening nonprofits.

Philanthropy
5
Unf Charitable Gift Fund

The unf charitable gift fund was established to enable donors to make charitable donations to multiple organizations, including the university of nebraska.

Philanthropy
6
Nebraska Realtors Association

Unite realtor boards to be able to influence matters affecting real estate state wide, unify laws and regulations and promote education among members

—
7
North Dakota State University Foundation

Building enduring relationships that maximize advocacy and philanthropy to support North Dakota State University.

Education
8
Nebraska Community Foundation

The nebraska community foundation unleashes abundant local assets, inspires charitable giving, and connects ambitious people to build stronger communities and a greater nebraska.

Philanthropy
9
Nebraska Organ Recovery System

We transform lives through organ and tissue donation.

Health
10
Nebraska Human Resources Research Foundation

To discover individuals with exceptional capacity to positively influence the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of others; to explore the dimensions of human leadership and ways in which this potential can be maximized; to develop…

Public Benefit
11
The Nebraska Land Trust Inc

To foster the protection of agricultural, historical and natural resources on land in nebraska through education, partnering and permanent conservation.

Environment
12
Bio Nebraska Life Sciences Assoc

To create an environment to share ideas and support, provide members a voice to be heard, foster growth and align industry influences, and aid in the development of a highly educated workforce.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Nebraska Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Kaneko. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

13 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 13 of the 27 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
10/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OMAHA ZOO FOUNDATION: $2,976,189 · AnimalsOMAHA ZOO FOUNDATIONNEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS FOUNDATION: $971,000 · EnvironmentNEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS …Dundee Church: $140,000 · OtherBemis Art Foundation: $70,000 · OtherCOPE: $45,000 · OtherBemis Foundation: $35,000 · OtherBemis Center: $15,000 · Other+11 more: $31,045 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $56,000 · EducationCreighton University: $30,000 · Education+1 more: $2,500 · EducationKANEKO: $50,000 · Arts & CultureBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $22,500 · HealthLUTHERAN FAMILY SERVICES OF NE INC: $10,000 · Human Services+2 more: $200 · Human ServicesB&B SPORTS ACADEMY: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports
Animals$2,976,189Environment$971,000Other$336,045Education$88,500Arts & Culture$50,000Health$22,500Human Services$10,200Recreation & Sports$5,000

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 budgetOMAHA ZOO FOUNDATION: $2,976,189 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetNEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS FOUNDATION: $971,000 over 2y, 57% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $56,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKANEKO: $50,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetCreighton University: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $22,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLUTHERAN FAMILY SERVICES OF NE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetB&B SPORTS ACADEMY: $5,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBellevue University: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN DOOR MISSION D/B/A OPEN DOOR MISSION & LYDIA HOUSE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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 OMAHA ZOO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds KANEKO ↗
  • Who funds Creighton University ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN FAMILY SERVICES OF NE INC ↗
  • Who funds B&B SPORTS ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Bellevue University ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK FOR THE HEARTLAND ↗
  • Who funds OPEN DOOR MISSION D/B/A OPEN DOOR MISSION & LYDIA HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds THE OMAHA HOME FOR BOYS ↗

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.

John K & Lynne D Boye…Robert B Daugherty Fo…The Lozier FoundationThe Sherwood Foundati…Phillip and Terri Sch…Jewish Federation of …The Hawks FoundationPeter Kiewit Foundati…The Sunderland Founda…Union Pacific Foundat…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…
John K & Lynne D Boyer FoundationNE15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John K & Lynne D Boyer Foundation · Robert B Daugherty Foundation · The Lozier Foundation · The Sherwood Foundation · Phillip and Terri Schrager Foundation · Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation · The Hawks Foundation · Peter Kiewit Foundation · The Sunderland Foundation · Union Pacific Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc

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.

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 27 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.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $889k of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

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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