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The Gerdin Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Gerdin Charitable 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.

$6.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$3.0M
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.

Education$19MRecreation & Sports$15MHealth$10.0MCommunity Improvement$1.0MScience & Tech$10kArts & Culture$3kPhilanthropy$1k
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $4k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+6 grants · $6.8M
$500,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$64M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LUTHER COLLEGE$3,000,000
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR ADVANCEMENT$1,250,000
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR ADVANCEMENT$1,250,000
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER$550,000
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY$500,000
UNITYPOINT HEALTH ST LUKE'S FOUNDATION$250,000
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY$50,000
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION IOWA CHAPTER$2,500
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY$1,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 71% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $3.2M → 22%ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION IOWA CHAPTER: $3k → 5%UNITYPOINT HEALTH ST LUKE'S FOUNDATION: $250k → 9%LUTHER COLLEGE: $3.0M → 10%IOWA MOTOR CARRIERS FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%CEDAR SUMMERSTOCK THEATRE: $3k → 12%SOLON COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $5.0M → 15%IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $2.5M → 17%HOWARD YOUNG FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER: $550k → 9%CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $1.5M → 22%LUTHER COLLEGE: $3.0M → 10%FAITH BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE & THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $100k → 10%SOLON COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $1.8M → 15%IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $2.5M → 17%FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER: $550k → 9%LUTHER COLLEGE: $2.0M → 10%FAITH BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE & THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $100k → 10%ARENACO: $1.0M → 15%IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 17%FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER CENTER: $550k → 9%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF IOWA INC: $700k → 10%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY: $1k → 15%IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: $500k → 17%FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $500k → 9%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF IOWA INC: $700k → 10%IOWA DONOR NETWORK: $120k → 15%IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: $50k → 17%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF IOWA: $655k → 10%IOWA DONOR NETWORK: $60k → 15%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF IOWA: $655k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR ADVANCEMENT: $1.3M → 15%UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR ADVANCEMENT: $1.3M → 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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$39M · 9 repeat orgs$5.8M to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
6

Total granted

$39M
$2.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+23%

Still filing today

67%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.3M 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
EducationHealthRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyArts & CultureOther
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

  • LC
    LUTHER COLLEGE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $8.0M · revenue +7%
  • IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2021 · $7.0M · revenue +22%
  • TC
    THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $4.7M · revenue +148%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $1.0M · revenue -37%
  • A
    ARENACOgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $1.0M · revenue ×99
  • FH
    FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
    one grant, 2018 · $500k · revenue -18%
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
University of Iowa Research Foundation

The university of iowa research foundation's (uirf) mission is to: advance, develop, increase and extend the progress of science and useful arts through encouraging and assisting investigation, research and education at the state…

—
2
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.

—
3
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.

—
4
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
5
Iowa State University Alumni Association

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

Education
6
Indiana University Health Care Associates Inc

To deliver preeminent medical care and service to our patients and communities through outstanding and innovative medical leadership and practice, while participating in and supporting excellence in education and research. We achieve this…

Health
7
Indiana University Health Foundation Inc

Indiana university health foundation leverages the power of philanthropy to support the iu health goal of making indiana one of the healthiest states in the nation.

Health
8
Iowa Hospital Association

The iowa hospital association reimagines health care in iowa for life changing outcomes. as the voice and principal advocate for iowa's hospitals, iha provides strategic leadership, resources, and support to ensure its members can…

—
9
Indiana University Health West Hospital Inc

Lead the transformation of healthcare through quality, innovation & education, and make Indiana one of the nation's healthiest states.

Health
10
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
11
Iowa Public Health Association Foundation

Uniting and strengthening the voice for public health in iowa.

—
12
American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa

The union works to advocate and advance a public policy agenda to support and protect the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of iowa. it works to maintain throughout the united states the rights of free…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is State University of Iowa Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Arenaco. 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

16 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. 16 of the 20 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/16
Grantees still filing
9/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LUTHER COLLEGE: $8,000,000 · EducationLUTHER COLLEGEIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $7,000,000 · EducationIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $2,500,000 · EducationSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA FOUNDATIONTHE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $7,800,385 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATIONSOLON COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $6,763,427 · OtherSOLON COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICTIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: $550,000 · Other+5 more: $1,140,000 · Other+5 moreTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $4,700,000 · HealthTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITA…MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF IOWA INC: $2,710,000 · HealthMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION…Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $1,650,000 · HealthFred Hutchinson Cancer…+1 more: $2,500 · HealthARENACO: $1,000,000 · Recreation & SportsHOWARD YOUNG FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY: $1,000 · PhilanthropyCEDAR SUMMERSTOCK THEATRE: $2,500 · Arts & Culture
Education$18,500,000Other$16,253,812Health$9,062,500Recreation & Sports$1,000,000Philanthropy$6,000Arts & Culture$2,500

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 budgetLUTHER COLLEGE: $8,000,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $7,000,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $4,700,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF IOWA INC: $2,710,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $2,500,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFred Hutchinson Cancer Center: $1,650,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $500,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIOWA DONOR NETWORK: $180,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetIOWA MOTOR CARRIERS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetHOWARD YOUNG FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCEDAR SUMMERSTOCK THEATRE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JOHNSON COUNTY: $1,000 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.

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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO7.3× affinity7 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 The Gerdin Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Gerdin Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 20 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 Gerdin’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