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Margaret & Martha Thomas Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Margaret & Martha Thomas Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$348k
Granted FY2026still arriving
10
Grants FY2026still arriving
1
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$330kPublic Safety & Disaster$274kRecreation & Sports$262kArts & Culture$217kHuman Services$105kHousing & Shelter$99kHealth$61kEnvironment$50kOther$0
02FY2026 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $173k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $175k
$30,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$8.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA$75,000
CITY OF BLUE SPRINGS$50,000
Individual grant recipient$50,000
Individual grant recipient$42,000
CITY OF BEATRICE$30,000
GAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCEITY$26,624
CITY OF BEATRICE$25,000
SEWING FOR BABIES$19,435
HEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–26) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ODELL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $20k → 10%HEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION: $15k → 13%Wymore Rural Fire Protection Dist: $100k → 10%CITY OF WYMORE: $58k → 10%NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA: $75k → 13%CITY OF WYMORE: $50k → 10%NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION: $40k → 13%SOUTHERN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $49k → 10%NET Foundation for Television Inc: $35k → 13%Southern Public Schools: $47k → 10%NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION: $35k → 13%CITY OF WYMORE: $42k → 10%NET Foundation for Television Inc: $30k → 13%Southern School District 1: $35k → 10%SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $38k → 13%CITY OF WYMORE NEBRASKA: $35k → 10%Southeast Community Foundation: $38k → 13%SOUTHERN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $18k → 10%HEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION: $15k → 13%Southern School District 1: $17k → 10%Southern School District 1: $17k → 10%Blue Springs Rural Fire District: $60k → 10%Southern Public Schools: $17k → 10%CITY OF BLUE SPRINGS: $50k → 10%WELSH HERITAGE CULTURE & CENTER: $15k → 10%CITY OF BLUE SPRINGS: $50k → 10%BARNESTON NE COMMUNITY CENTER FOUNDATIO: $50k → 10%ONE PROPERTY AT A TIME: $22k → 10%Barneston Rural Fire District: $20k → 10%Southern Youth Sports: $20k → 10%BARNESTON VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT: $20k → 10%City of Blue Springs: $17k → 10%Gage County Historical Soc Museum: $58k → 10%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GAGE COUNTY: $50k → 10%BEATRICE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $40k → 10%CITY OF BEATRICE: $30k → 10%GAGE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCEITY: $27k → 10%CITY OF BEATRICE: $25k → 10%BEATRICE NEBRASKA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $24k → 10%SEWING FOR BABIES: $19k → 10%BRAVE BE: $15k → 10%CITY OF BEATRICE: $15k → 10%Tri County Public Schools: $25k → 10%Village of Adams: $25k → 10%Village of Pickrell: $55k → 10%VILLAGE OF PICKRELL NEBRASKA: $44k → 10%FULLER PARK FOUNDATION: $40k → 10%Filley Cemetery Association: $19k → 10%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.

49%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$870k · 12 repeat orgs$916k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +11% since the first grant, against -29% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2026, 8 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
23

Total granted

$870k
$780k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
-29%

Still filing today

25%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $136k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25’26
HealthCrime & LegalArts & CultureEducationOther
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

  • HS
    HEALTH SYSTEMS OF BEATRICE INC
    4× · 2021–2026 · $89k · revenue +6%
  • NP
    NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $75k · revenue +38%
  • HC
    HEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION
    3× · 2023–2026 · $42k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • WR
    Wymore Rural Fire Protection Dist
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • GC
    Gage County Historical Soc Museum
    one grant, 2022 · $62k
  • BS
    Blue Springs Rural Fire District
    one grant, 2022 · $60k
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
Ness County Healthcare Foundation

Providing support for ness county hospital by serving as a fundraising organization for the hospital.

—
2
Gage County Foundation Inc

The foundation exists for the purpose of raising and providing funds to gage county, ne organizations engaged in providing the educational, cultural, recreational, historical, health and all meaningful needs of the citizens of gage county…

—
3
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska Foundation
Human Services
4
Lincoln County Hospital & Health Care Foundation

To support health care systems in lincoln county, kansas

Health
5
Home Buyers Assistance Foundation a Ne Corporation

To support first-time home buyers in nebraska, with an emphasis on low and moderate income individuals and communities. the foundation also works to offer housing relief to communities affected by natural disasters.

Housing & Shelter
6
Net Foundation for Radio

Support of public radio

—
7
Bellevue University Foundation

To support the activities of bellevue university.

—
8
Southern Valley Scholarship Foundation

Education scholarships and school donations

Philanthropy
9
Nebraska Press Assoc Foundation

Promote journalism in nebraska through scholarships, awards for excellence in journalism and support for journalism programs.

Education
10
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
Philanthropy
11
Cherry County Hospital Foundation

Provide hospital equipment

—
12
History Nebraska Foundation

The foundation spreads awareness of history nebraska's efforts and seeks financial support from those with a passion for nebraska's rich and diverse history.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nebraska Public Media Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Health Systems of Beatrice Inc. 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

10 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. 10 of the 39 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/10
Grantees still filing
5/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $149,921 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSOUTHERN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $142,658 · OtherSOUTHERN PUBLIC SCHOOLSCITY OF BLUE SPRINGS: $116,500 · OtherCITY OF BLUE SPRINGSWymore Rural Fire Protection Dist: $100,000 · OtherWymore Rural Fire Protection DistHEALTH SYSTEMS OF BEATRICE INC: $89,007 · OtherHEALTH SYSTEMS OF BEATRICE INCSouthern School District 1: $76,214 · OtherNEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA: $75,000 · OtherNET FOUNDATION FOR TELEVISION: $65,000 · OtherGage County Historical Soc Museum: $61,580 · OtherBlue Springs Rural Fire District: $60,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $55,200 · Other+22 more: $610,442 · Other+22 moreNEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 · Arts & CultureHEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION: $41,500 · HealthSEWING FOR BABIES INCORPORATED: $19,435 · HealthSOUTHEAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $37,500 · EducationCasa of Gage County: $6,691 · Crime & LegalSoutheast Nebraska CASA: $4,200 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,601,522Arts & Culture$75,000Health$60,935Education$37,500Crime & Legal$10,891

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNET FOUNDATION FOR TELEVISION: $65,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GAGE COUNTY: $50,000 over 1y, 67% of budgetHEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION: $41,500 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetSOUTHEAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $37,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCasa of Gage County: $6,691 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetSoutheast Nebraska CASA: $4,200 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetBEATRICE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.2% 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.

  • Who funds HEALTH SYSTEMS OF BEATRICE INC ↗
  • Who funds NEBRASKA PUBLIC MEDIA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NET FOUNDATION FOR TELEVISION ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GAGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds HEARTLAND CANCER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHEAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SEWING FOR BABIES INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds Casa of Gage County ↗
  • Who funds Southeast Nebraska CASA ↗
  • Who funds BEATRICE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC ↗

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.

Lincoln Community Fou…Gage County Foundatio…Abel FoundationFidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Lincoln Community Foundation IncNE17.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Community Foundation Inc · Gage County Foundation Inc · Abel Foundation · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Margaret & Martha Thomas Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Margaret & Martha Thomas Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Margaret & Martha Thomas Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Margaret & Martha Thomas 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 39 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Margaret & Martha Thomas’ 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