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The C Robert Brenton and Babette C Bre at a glance

· Private foundation

The C Robert Brenton and Babette C Bre

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.

$13k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$201kReligion$153kEducation$138kEnvironment$68kRecreation & Sports$17kFood & Nutrition$12kHousing & Shelter$5kPhilanthropy$4kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $3k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$211k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DES MOINES METRO OPERA$10,000
Individual grant recipient$3,000
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 (FY19–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $500 → 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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$470k · 16 repeat orgs$131k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
12

Total granted

$470k
$128k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+21%

Still filing today

63%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHealthFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • LH
    LIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2024 · $110k · revenue +18%
  • IN
    IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2023 · $55k · revenue +154%
  • EA
    Edmundson Art Foundation Inc
    5× · 2018–2024 · $50k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • SP
    ST PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL
    one grant, 2024 · $102k
  • ED
    EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF IOWA
    one grant, 2019 · $6k
  • SM
    SPURGEON MANOR INC
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue +21%
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
Iowa Renewable Fuels Association

To promote the common business interests of member companies without profit and without the inuring of income to the benefit of any member company or individual. to present the executive, legislative, judicial and regulatory bodies…

Community Improvement
2
Iowa State University Alumni Association

To facilitate the lifetime connection of alumni, students, and friends with iowa state university and each other.

Education
3
Denver Botanic Gardens Inc

The mission of denver botanic gardens is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the rocky mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.

Environment
4
Midwest Dairy Association

Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.

—
5
West Michigan Horticultural Society Inc Dba Frederik Meijer Gardens

To promote the enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of gardens, sculpture, the natural environment and the arts. the most significant activity is to allow guests to experience horticulture and the arts.

Environment
6
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
7
National Tropical Botanical Garden

To enrich life by perpetuating tropical plants, ecosystems and cultural heritage through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education.

Environment
8
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

To excite, engage and educate through the arts.

Arts & Culture
9
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.

—
10
Iowa Soybean Association

The iowa soybean association (isa) is driven to deliver increased soybean demand through market development and new uses, farmer-focused research and results, timely information and know-how, and policy initiatives enabling farmers and the…

—
11
Iowa Medical Society

Our mission is to advance the practice of medicine through advocacy, education, and engagement with physicians throughout iowa to ensure the highest quality of care for the patients they serve.

—
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 Living History Farms Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Van Buren County Historical Society. 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

15 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. 15 of the 29 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
11/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION: $110,000 · Arts & CultureLIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATIONEdmundson Art Foundation Inc: $49,500 · Arts & CultureEdmundson Art Foundation IncDES MOINES METRO OPERA INC: $37,000 · Arts & CultureDES MOINES METRO OPERA INCBRENTON ARBORETUM INC: $11,500 · Arts & CultureBRENTON ARBORETUM INC+1 more: $4,000 · Arts & CultureST PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL: $102,000 · OtherST PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRALCATEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PAUL: $18,100 · OtherCATEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PAULVANBUREN COUNTY TRAILS ASSOCIATION INC: $16,500 · OtherVANBUREN COUNTY TRAILS ASSOCIATION …CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PAUL: $14,200 · OtherCATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST PAULST MARYS EPISCOPAL CHURCH: $8,300 · Other+10 more: $27,100 · Other+10 moreIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · EducationIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY F…+1 more: $500 · EducationIOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $55,000 · EnvironmentIOWA NATUR…+2 more: $1,100 · EnvironmentFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $11,500 · Food & NutritionSPURGEON MANOR INC: $5,000 · HealthAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,800 · Human ServicesWESLEYLIFE FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$212,000Other$186,200Education$125,500Environment$56,100Food & Nutrition$11,500Health$5,000Human Services$2,800Philanthropy$2,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION: $110,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetIOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEdmundson Art Foundation Inc: $49,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetDES MOINES METRO OPERA INC: $37,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRENTON ARBORETUM INC: $11,500 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE GOW SCHOOL: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPURGEON MANOR INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVan Buren County Historical Society: $4,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWESLEYLIFE FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA: $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 IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds IOWA NATURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Edmundson Art Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES METRO OPERA INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds BRENTON ARBORETUM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GOW SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SPURGEON MANOR INC ↗
  • Who funds Van Buren County Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds WESLEYLIFE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN ↗
  • Who funds THE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds THE GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA ↗

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.

Brenton FoundationMeredith Corporation …The Levitt FoundationGartner Family Founda…Mary K and Daniel M K…Weathertop Foundation…Fred Maytag Family Fo…EMC Insurance Foundat…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
Brenton FoundationIA15.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Brenton Foundation · Meredith Corporation Foundation · The Levitt Foundation · Gartner Family Foundation % Michael G Gartner · Mary K and Daniel M Kelly Family Foundation C/O Dan Kelly · Weathertop Foundation F/K/A Thomas Nelson Urban Jr · Fred Maytag Family Foundation · EMC Insurance Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 The C Robert Brenton and Babette C Bre funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The C Robert Brenton and Babette C Bre. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 29 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 C Robert Brenton and Babette C Bre’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