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Iowa · Private foundation

The Butler Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.4M
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
69
Grants FY2025
59
Organizations funded FY2024
3%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$5,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$1,062,365
Organizations funded a year
57 to 67
FY2020 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
13
Total assets, FY2025
$38M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 3% of the organizations The Butler Family Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 1% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $200k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Youth DevelopmentArts & CulturePublic BenefitEnvironmentHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving63$2.4M14%
FY202459$16M3%
FY202361$1.8M16%
FY202262$1.7M15%
FY202167$1.2M40%
FY202057$2.8Mn/a
98% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$21MPhilanthropy$4.8MEducation$2.4MHuman Services$745kCommunity Improvement$418kYouth Development$397kCrime & Legal$320kSocial Science$300kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
IA
OH
PA
CO
NE
VA
DC
GA
TX

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Show all 66 grantees
All grantees of The Butler Family Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Dubuque Museum of Art$16,319,995629%
Lyric Opera of Chicago$2,200,50051%
University of Dubuque$782,14751%
Dubuque Community Y$640,49246%
Laurel School$517,50062%
Noble Network of Charter Schools$315,00030%
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research$300,00060%
Liberty Justice Center$250,00062%
Illinois Network of Charter Schools$215,00061%
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dubuque$200,000110%
National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States$185,00060%
Dubuque Dream Center Inc$168,00063%
Clarke University of Dubuque Iowa$151,00060%
Babson College$150,00060%
Loras College$125,00050%
Mississippi Driftless Regional Foundation$100,000122%
St Mark Youth Enrichment$100,00015%
Friends of Homacho$77,5006n/a
Institute for Justice$70,00060%
Judicial Watch Inc$65,00050%
Young Americans for Liberty Foundation$65,00031%
Wellesley College$60,00060%
The Grand Opera House$36,00061%
Young Americans for Liberty Inc$30,00020%
Finley Health Foundation Inc$30,00060%
Dubuque Symphony Orchestra$27,92441%
Hillcrest Family Services Inc$22,50060%
Dubuque Rescue Mission$22,0006n/a
Dubuque Regional Humane Society$20,50061%
Dubuque City Youth Ballet Inc$20,3255n/a
Cato Institute$20,00040%
Union League Boys and Girls Clubs$18,00030%
Hills and Dales Child Development Center$16,00040%
The Heritage Foundation$15,00030%
Two By Two Character Development$15,00031%
Northeast Iowa School of Music$13,50051%
Bethany Home$12,75060%
Bryn Mawr College$12,00060%
Chicago Symphony Orchestra$12,00060%
Four Mounds Foundation$10,50050%
Camp Albrecht Acres of the Midwest$10,00021%
Dubuque County Historical Society$10,00040%
Little Heroes League$10,0001n/a
Uplift Internationale$10,0001n/a
Centrally Rooted Mission Inc$10,00022%
Area Residential Care Inc$9,00060%
Dubuque Arts Council$8,80061%
Hospice of Dubuque$8,10060%
National Arbor Day Foundation$4,60060%
United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States$3,00030%
Minnesota Marine Art Museum$2,50010%
Stonehill Benevolent Foundation$2,50010%
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation$2,50050%
Young America's Foundation$2,50010%
Fly by Night Productions Inc$2,2506n/a
Dubuque Chorale Inc$2,00051%
Duride$1,90050%
American Horticultural Society$1,70050%
The Art Institute of Chicago$1,25050%
Pigeon Art Center Inc$1,00010%
Legion-Aires Drum and Bugle Corps$1,00010%
Telluride Historical Museum Inc$90060%
The Newberry Library$62550%
Marys Inn$50010%
Iowa Public Radio Inc$15010%
Linwood Cemetery Association$10010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 48 recipients with no EIN on record ($2.6M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The Butler Family Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 60 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDubuque Museum of Art: $16,319,995 over 6y, 29% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $2,200,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetUniversity of Dubuque: $782,147 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetDubuque Community Y: $640,492 over 4y, 6.1% of budgetLaurel School: $517,500 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetNoble Network of Charter Schools: $315,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research: $300,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLiberty Justice Center: $250,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetIllinois Network of Charter Schools: $215,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetBoys and Girls Club of Greater Dubuque: $200,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetNational Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States: $185,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetDubuque Dream Center Inc: $168,000 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetClarke University of Dubuque Iowa: $151,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBabson College: $150,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLoras College: $125,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMississippi Driftless Regional Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetSt Mark Youth Enrichment: $100,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetInstitute for Justice: $70,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetJudicial Watch Inc: $65,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetYoung Americans for Liberty Foundation: $65,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWellesley College: $60,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Grand Opera House: $36,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetYoung Americans for Liberty Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFinley Health Foundation Inc: $30,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetDubuque Symphony Orchestra: $27,924 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetHillcrest Family Services Inc: $22,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDubuque Regional Humane Society: $20,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetCato Institute: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUnion League Boys and Girls Clubs: $18,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHills and Dales Child Development Center: $16,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Heritage Foundation: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTwo By Two Character Development: $15,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetNortheast Iowa School of Music: $13,500 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetBethany Home: $12,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBryn Mawr College: $12,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetChicago Symphony Orchestra: $12,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFour Mounds Foundation: $10,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCamp Albrecht Acres of the Midwest: $10,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetDubuque County Historical Society: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCentrally Rooted Mission Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetArea Residential Care Inc: $9,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDubuque Arts Council: $8,800 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetHospice of Dubuque: $8,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNational Arbor Day Foundation: $4,600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUnited Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMinnesota Marine Art Museum: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetStonehill Benevolent Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetIowa Natural Heritage Foundation: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 60.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Heartland Charitable TrustIA65.2× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Heartland Charitable Trust · James B & Melita a McDonough Foundation · Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque · Dubuque Racing Association Ltd · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Sirk Family Foundation · Falb Family Charitable Foundation · Ay McDonald Charitable Foundation · Spahn & Rose Lumber Co Charitable Fdtn · Mathis Pfohl Foundation · The Klauer Foundation Trust Xxxxx5009 · The Wm M & a Cafaro Family 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.

Compare The Butler Family Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Butler Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Butler Family 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.

About The Butler Family Foundation

How much does The Butler Family Foundation give?
The Butler Family Foundation reported 69 grants totaling $2,435,262 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 57 and 67 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
What does The Butler Family Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (67%), Philanthropy (15%), Education (8%).
Who are The Butler Family Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: Dubuque Museum of Art ($16M), Lyric Opera of Chicago ($2.2M), University of Dubuque ($782k).
Does The Butler Family Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 3% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Butler Family Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Butler Family Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Heartland Charitable Trust, James B & Melita a McDonough Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque.
Where is The Butler Family Foundation based?
The Butler Family Foundation is based in IA.

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 122 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

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