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The Denny and Candy Elwell Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Denny and Candy Elwell 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.

$726k
Granted FY2025still arriving
72
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$414kReligion$244kHuman Services$214kArts & Culture$189kAnimals$154kPhilanthropy$101kEducation$97kFood & Nutrition$89kOther$0
02FY2025 · 72 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k41 grants · $119k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $382k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $225k
$5,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$4.3M
Total assets

Anchored by a single position: about 95% of reported assets are held in Anglogold Stock.

Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PRAIRIE RIDGE CHURCH$75,000
MAYO CLINIC$50,000
IOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION$50,000
DES MOINES CHILDREN MUSEUM$50,000
ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF IOWA INC$35,000
ALZHEIMERS ASSOCATION$26,500
ON WITH LIFE$25,000
THE EASTER SEAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION$25,000
BLANK CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$25,000
LITTLE WHITE SCHOOLHOUSE FOUNDATION$15,300
CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC$15,000
GARDEN GATE RANCH$15,000
DENTAL CONNECTIONS$15,000
THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE FOUNDATION$12,500
NORTH POLK CUMMUNITY SCHOOL FOUNDATION$12,000
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, $113k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 16% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $5k → 14%FOOD AT FIRST: $1k → 17%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $5k → 14%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $5k → 14%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $3k → 14%YOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $10k → 10%YOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $5k → 10%YOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $5k → 10%YOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $5k → 10%YOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $5k → 10%DOROTHY'S HOUSE: $10k → 10%SITE FOR SMILES & SMARTS: $5k → 10%JOPPA: $3k → 10%CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $15k → 10%THE ANKENY KLOTHING EXCHANGE: $10k → 10%THE ANKENY KLOTHING EXCHANGE: $5k → 10%THE ANKENY KLOTHING EXCHANGE: $5k → 10%THE ANKENY KLOTHING EXCHANGE: $5k → 10%ANKENY AFTER PROM INC: $1k → 10%OAKRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $5k → 10%ANKENY AFTER PROM INC: $1k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
NY
IA
CA
CO
VA
AZ
KS
TN
NC
DC
FL
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 50 repeat orgs$264k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

50 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 29 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

50
27

Total granted

$1.3M
$70k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
0%

Still filing today

58%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $193k 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
Human ServicesArts & CulturePhilanthropyHealthAnimalsRecreation & 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

  • AR
    ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF IOWA INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $76k · revenue +90%
  • IH
    IOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2025 · $70k · revenue +38%
  • DM
    DES MOINES CHILDRENS MUSEUM
    4× · 2022–2025 · $65k · revenue +621%

Funded once

  • PF
    PROFESSIONALS FOR CHARITY
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • KC
    Kingdom Cares International
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +28%
  • ZA
    ZAFAR AND MIR FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue 0%
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 Credit Union Foundation

Founded in 1995 as the philanthropic arm of the iowa credit union league and guided by the credit union philosophy of "people helping people", the iowa credit union foundation (the foundation) works to champion financial well-being for…

Unclassified
2
Common Good Iowa

Common good iowa engages iowans to create and advocate for research-based public policy that makes life better and more equitable for all who make iowa home.

—
3
Iowa Farm Bureau Foundation

Building iowa's values by recognizing and responding to significantchanges in iowa - those that fundamentally affect families and communities.

Housing & Shelter
4
Iowa City Hospice Inc

To provide high-quality and compassionate care to community members approaching the end of life.

Human Services
5
United Way of North Central Iowa

Seeking to build a stronger, more caring community by forming partnerships with businesses, community experts, education & health & human service agencies to achieve targeted outcomes & sustained changes in community conditions which will…

Philanthropy
6
Children's Cancer Connection

Connecting families affected by childhood cancer by providing opportunities that encourage relationships and strengthen community.

—
7
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.

—
8
Iowa Physicians Clinic Medical Foundation

To improve the health of the people and communities we serve.

Health
9
Iowa Sister States

Iowa sister states is dedicated to connecting iowans with the world community. our mission is to develop and implement international partnerships and programs that promote the cultural, economic, and other interests of iowa and its friends…

International
10
Iowa College Foundation

The foundation is organized to further the growth and development of private colleges and universities of higher education in iowa.

—
11
Iowa Health System

To improve the health of the people and communities we serve.

Health
12
United Way of East Central Iowa

Unite the caring power of communities to invest in effective solutions to improve people's lives.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Iowa Health Foundation; the most unlike its peers is World Food Prize Foundation. 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

59 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. 59 of the 109 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
57/59
Grantees still filing
30/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRAIRIE RIDGE CHURCH: $137,000 · OtherPRAIRIE RIDGE CHURCHALZHEIMERS ASSOCATION: $91,500 · OtherALZHEIMERS ASSOCATIONSCOTTSDALE BIBLE CHURCH: $61,500 · OtherSCOTTSDALE BIBLE CHURCHANKENY SERVICE CENTER: $52,500 · OtherANKENY SERVICE CENTERIMPACT COMMUNITY ACTION: $47,500 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $43,800 · Other+66 more: $493,913 · Other+66 moreMAYO CLINIC: $101,000 · HealthMAYO CLINICIOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $70,000 · HealthIOWA HEALTH FO…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $17,500 · HealthST JUDE CHILDR…DENTAL CONNECTIONS INC: $17,500 · HealthDENTAL CONNECT…THE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $11,000 · Health+1 more: $7,450 · HealthAnkeny Community Foundation: $50,000 · PhilanthropyAnkeny Com…World Food Prize Foundation: $42,500 · PhilanthropyWorld Food…GARDEN GATE RANCH INC: $30,000 · PhilanthropyGARDEN GAT…THE EASTER SEAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTHE EASTER…GREATER GREENFIELD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER GR…ZAFAR AND MIR FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyZAFAR AND …+3 more: $2,500 · PhilanthropyDES MOINES CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $65,000 · Arts & CultureDES MOINE…SCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA: $30,000 · Arts & CultureSCIENCE C…BALLET DES MOINES: $28,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET DE…Ankeny Area Historical Society: $11,500 · Arts & CultureAnkeny Ar…IOWA BARN FOUNDATION: $8,500 · Arts & CultureIOWA BARN…ANKENY FRIENDS OF THE ARTS: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF IOWA INC: $75,500 · AnimalsBLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · AnimalsFURRY FRIENDS REFUGE: $12,500 · Animals+1 more: $500 · AnimalsYOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $30,000 · Human ServicesThe Ankeny Klothing Exchange: $25,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $22,500 · Human ServicesCHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesSCKIC Inc: $10,000 · Human ServicesHOMES OF OAKRIDGE HUMAN SERVICES: $5,000 · Human ServicesSITE FOR SMILES AND SMARTS INC: $5,000 · Human Services+3 more: $5,500 · Human ServicesFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $40,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$927,713Health$224,450Philanthropy$170,000Arts & Culture$148,500Animals$128,500Human Services$118,000Food & Nutrition$40,000

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 budgetMAYO CLINIC: $101,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF IOWA INC: $75,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetIOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDES MOINES CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $65,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetWorld Food Prize Foundation: $42,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetBLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $40,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $30,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetSCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGARDEN GATE RANCH INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetBALLET DES MOINES: $28,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetDES MOINES PERFORMING ARTS: $27,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Ankeny Klothing Exchange: $25,000 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetON WITH LIFE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $22,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNew Horizons Adult Day Center: $20,863 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $17,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDENTAL CONNECTIONS INC: $17,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFURRY FRIENDS REFUGE: $12,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetAnkeny Area Historical Society: $11,500 over 2y, 13% of budgetWINGS OF HOPE INTERNATIONAL: $11,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCKIC Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetGREATER GREENFIELD COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPROFESSIONALS FOR CHARITY: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKingdom Cares International: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetZAFAR AND MIR FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetDRAKE UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIOWA BARN FOUNDATION: $8,500 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetSTRANDS OF STRENGTH INC: $7,450 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetJOHN WAYNE BIRTHPLACE SOCIETY: $5,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS IOWA INC: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOMES OF OAKRIDGE HUMAN SERVICES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWILLKIE HOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetANKENY FRIENDS OF THE ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE FAMILY LEADER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetGRANNY BASKETBALL LEAGUE: $3,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetJOPPA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILIES FORWARD: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetANKENY AFTER PROM INC: $2,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetNEW MISSION SYSTEMS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD AT FIRST: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 MAYO CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF IOWA INC ↗
  • Who funds IOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES CHILDRENS MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds Ankeny Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds World Food Prize Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds SCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds GARDEN GATE RANCH INC ↗
  • Who funds BALLET DES MOINES ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE EASTER SEAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds The Ankeny Klothing Exchange ↗
  • Who funds ON WITH LIFE INC ↗
  • Who funds WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds New Horizons Adult Day Center ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds DENTAL CONNECTIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SMILE TRAIN INC ↗
  • Who funds FURRY FRIENDS REFUGE ↗
  • Who funds Ankeny Area Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds WINGS OF HOPE INTERNATIONAL ↗

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.

Community Fdn of Grea…Prairie Meadows Race …The West Bancorporati…The Merchants Bonding…Meredith Corporation …EMC Insurance Foundat…Pella Rolscreen Found…Deb & Bob Pulver Foun…Wt and Edna M Dahl Tr…Bookey Family Foundat…Bravo Greater Des Moi…John Ruan Foundation …
Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community FdnIA51.7× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc · The West Bancorporation Foundation Inc · The Merchants Bonding Company Foundation · Meredith Corporation Foundation · EMC Insurance Foundation · Pella Rolscreen Foundation · Deb & Bob Pulver Foundation · Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust · Bookey Family Foundation · Bravo Greater Des Moines Inc · John Ruan Foundation Trust

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 Denny and Candy Elwell Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Denny and Candy Elwell Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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 · 0–20%
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 109 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 Denny and Candy Elwell’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