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Louetta M Cowden Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Louetta M Cowden Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$647k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$55k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$1.8MHealth$1.1MYouth Development$795kFood & Nutrition$378kHuman Services$360kCommunity Improvement$235kEducation$216kEnvironment$210kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $7k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $380k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $260k
$25,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NELSON GALLERY FOUNDATION$55,000
METROPOLITAN ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER$55,000
Individual grant recipient$50,000
ALPHAPOINTE$50,000
BOYS CLUB OF GREATER KANSAS CITY$50,000
CHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATION$45,000
BRIDGING THE GAP INC$40,000
KANSAS CITY COMMUNITY GARDENS INC$40,000
MIDWEST INNOCENCE PROJECT INC$35,000
ENGLEWOOD ARTS$30,000
DRUMM CENTER FOR CHILDREN$25,000
THE FARMER'S HOUSE$25,000
POWELL GARDENS INC$25,000
YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY$20,000
NORTHLAND EARLY EDUCATION CENTER$20,000
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 (FY17–25, $250k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $50k → 15%PLATTE SENIOR SERVICES INC: $5k → 8%YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $50k → 15%YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $25k → 15%LIFE UNLIMITED INC: $10k → 8%YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $20k → 15%YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $20k → 15%YMCA OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $20k → 15%JOHN KNOX VILLAGE FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%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.
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.8M · 26 repeat orgs$533k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
23

Total granted

$4.8M
$406k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+23%

Still filing today

77%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $127k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterEducationFood & NutritionOther
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

  • NW
    NATIONAL WWI MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL
    7× · 2018–2024 · $650k · revenue +142%
  • CS
    CHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $610k · revenue +80%
  • HF
    Heartland Foundation
    2× · 2021–2023 · $450k · revenue +95%

Funded once

  • TJ
    THE JOHN KNOX VILLAGE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +160%
  • HO
    HEART OF AMERICA COUNCIL BOY
    one grant, 2017 · $50k
  • AL
    ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF KANSAS CITY
    one grant, 2024 · $45k · revenue -24%
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
Cultivate Kansas City Inc

Grow food, farms and community in support of a sustainable, healthy and local food system.

Food & Nutrition
2
Kansas City Ballet Association

To inspire and engage through the beauty, power and passion of dance

Arts & Culture
3
Kansas Legal Services Inc

Kansas legal services is devoted to helping low income kansans meet their basic needs through the provision of important legal and mediation services.

—
4
Bike Share Kc

Bike share kc provides the greater kansas city area with a bike share system designed for transportation, recreation, and exercise.

Human Services
5
Kansas City Community Land Trust

Acquire and develop real estate to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing to low-income homeowners while working to ensure a culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse and stable community where generations can thrive in place.

Housing & Shelter
6
Kanza Mental Health and Guidance Center Inc

Offer hope to build a better tomorrow through mental health services.

Health
7
Kansas Healthcare Collaborative Inc

Engaging and aligning providers and stakeholders to establish Kansas as a role model for health care quality and a top performer in health care outcomes.

Health
8
Kansas City Artists Coalition Inc

The kansas city atrtists coalition is a nonprofit organization that promotes visual arts awareness

Arts & Culture
9
Front Porch Alliance - Kansas City Inc

Front Porch Alliance works together with residents of Kansas City, Missouris eastside and urban core to meet their changing needs at home and in school.

Community Improvement
10
Kansas City Pet Project

Leading the way in creating a compassionate, safe community for pets and people through progressive lifesaving programs and services, community resources, and educational opportunities.

Animals
11
Catholic Charities of Kansas City - St Joseph Inc

Helping people move to a better life through hope-filled care, services, and advocacy; calling all those of goodwill to join us

Human Services
12
Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City

The mission of The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City is to educate and inspire our community by presenting and promoting appreciation for African-American culture through our stories.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Truman Heartland Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Wylliams-Henry Productions. 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

45 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. 45 of the 55 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
45/45
Grantees still filing
32/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GIRLS SCOUTS OF NE KANSAS &: $300,000 · OtherGIRLS SCOUTS OF NE KANSAS &Individual grant recipient: $274,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER: $245,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATERBRIDGING THE GAP INC: $215,000 · OtherBRIDGING THE GAP INCPOWELL GARDENS INC: $210,000 · OtherPOWELL GARDENS INCIndividual grant recipient: $150,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMETROPOLITAN ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER: $110,000 · OtherPLAZA ACADEMY: $106,000 · OtherNorthland Early Education Cent: $85,000 · OtherOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH INC: $80,000 · Other+21 more: $475,000 · Other+21 moreNATIONAL WWI MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL: $650,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL WWI MUSEUM AND MEMORIALCHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATION: $610,000 · Arts & CultureCHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATIONKANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE INC: $140,000 · Arts & CultureKANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE INCKANSAS CITY FRIENDS OF ALVIN AILEY: $75,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $212,500 · Arts & Culture+7 moreHeartland Foundation: $450,000 · HealthHeartland F…GIFT OF LIFE INC: $35,575 · HealthGIFT OF LIF…HOPE FAMILY CARE CENTER LLC: $30,000 · HealthHOPE FAMILY…+3 more: $15,000 · HealthYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $185,000 · Human ServicesTHE JOHN KNOX VILLAGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Human ServicesLIFE UNLIMITED INC: $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesKANSAS CITY COMMUNITY GARDENS INC: $230,000 · EnvironmentALPHAPOINTE: $225,000 · EmploymentBOYS CLUB OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $200,000 · Youth Development
Other$2,250,500Arts & Culture$1,687,500Health$530,575Human Services$250,000Environment$230,000Employment$225,000Youth Development$200,000

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 budgetNATIONAL WWI MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL: $650,000 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetCHARLOTTE STREET FOUNDATION: $610,000 over 9y, 7.6% of budgetHeartland Foundation: $450,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetKANSAS CITY COMMUNITY GARDENS INC: $230,000 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetALPHAPOINTE: $225,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBRIDGING THE GAP INC: $215,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetPOWELL GARDENS INC: $210,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetBOYS CLUB OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $200,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $185,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetKANSAS CITY REPERTORY THEATRE INC: $140,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetPLAZA ACADEMY: $106,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetNorthland Early Education Cent: $85,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH INC: $80,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetKANSAS CITY FRIENDS OF ALVIN AILEY: $75,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetMIDWEST INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $55,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetMid-America Arts Alliance: $55,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetTHE NELSON GALLERY FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE JOHN KNOX VILLAGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF KANSAS CITY: $45,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetKANSAS CITY SYMPHONY: $40,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FARMER'S HOUSE INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGlobal One Urban Farming: $40,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetGIFT OF LIFE INC: $35,575 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetHOPE FAMILY CARE CENTER LLC: $30,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY LINC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTRUMAN HEARTLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDRUMM CENTER FOR CHILDREN INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetJACKSON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $20,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetCHRISTMAS IN OCTOBER: $20,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetHILLCREST PLATTE COUNTY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetJourney to New Life INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMARIAN HOPE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE HARRY S TRUMAN LIBRARY INSTITUTE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLIFE UNLIMITED INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWylliams-Henry Productions: $7,500 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetBASE ACADEMY OF MUSIC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetGREAT CIRCLE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWARRIORS' BEST FRIEND FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetDKMS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLATTE SENIOR SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPETS FOR LIFE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetROCKHURST UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD EQUALITY INITIATIVE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 2.2% 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.

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.

Greater Kansas City C…The Sunderland Founda…The H & R Block Found…The Francis Family Fo…United Way of Greater…Oppenstein Brothers F…William T Kemper Foun…Menorah Heritage Foun…Muriel McBrien Kauffm…Hallmark Corporate Fo…Jewish Community Foun…Health Forward Founda…
Greater Kansas City Community FoundationMO54.8× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · The Sunderland Foundation · The H & R Block Foundation · The Francis Family Foundation · United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc · Oppenstein Brothers Foundation · William T Kemper Foundation Commerce Bank Trustee · Menorah Heritage Foundation · Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation · Hallmark Corporate Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City · Health Forward 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 Louetta M Cowden Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Louetta M Cowden Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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.

    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 55 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Louetta M Cowden’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