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The LeBaron Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The LeBaron Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$62k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$15k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$73kHuman Services$53kRecreation & Sports$36kPhilanthropy$22kHealth$10kEnvironment$5kEducation$5kHousing & Shelter$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $35k
$3,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$215k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
United Way$15,000
Charles Malone Center$10,000
Clinic With a Heart$10,000
Mid-America Arts Alliance$5,000
Sheldon Art Association$5,000
Nebraska Cultural Endowment$5,000
Lincoln Community Foundation$3,000
Nebraska Cultural Endowment$2,500
MONA Courtesy Fund$2,500
Lux Center for the Arts$1,500
Charlie Russell Riders Foundation$1,000
Domesti-PUPS$500
Lincoln High Booster Club$500
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 (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Joslyn Art Museum: $10k → 12%Clinic With a Heart: $10k → 13%Charlie Russell Riders Foundation: $1k → 18%Mid-America Arts Alliance: $5k → 15%MONA Courtesy Fund: $3k → 9%International Sculpture Center: $10k → 11%Jackson Hole One Fly Foundation: $5k → 5%Nebraska Cultural Endowment: $5k → 12%Lux Center for the Arts: $3k → 13%INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE CENTER: $10k → 11%Nebraska Cultural Endowment: $5k → 12%Lux Center for the Arts: $2k → 13%INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE CENTER: $10k → 11%Nebraska Cultural Endowment: $3k → 12%Sheldon Art Association: $5k → 13%International Sculpture Center: $2k → 11%KANEKO: $1k → 12%SHELDON ART ASSOCIATION: $3k → 13%Lincoln Community Foundation: $3k → 13%Lincoln Community Foundation: $3k → 13%WILLARD COMMUNITY CENTER: $43k → 13%Greater Lincoln Chamber Foundation: $1k → 13%Charles Malone Center: $10k → 13%Domesti-PUPS: $500 → 13%United Way: $15k → 13%White Cane Foundation: $1k → 13%Lincoln High Booster Club: $500 → 13%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.

28%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$57k · 4 repeat orgs$146k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
8

Total granted

$57k
$101k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+27%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 24% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $45k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CulturePhilanthropyHealthAnimalsEducationEnvironmentOther
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

  • NC
    NEBRASKA CULTURAL ENDOWMENT
    2× · 2024–2025 · $13k · revenue +10%
  • NA
    NEBRASKA ART ASSOCIATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $8k · revenue +71%
  • LC
    LUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS
    2× · 2024–2025 · $5k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • WC
    WILLARD COMMUNITY CENTER
    one grant, 2018 · $43k · revenue +22%
  • NS
    NEBRASKA SPORTS COUNCIL
    one grant, 2021 · $35k · revenue +11%
  • JA
    JOSLYN ART MUSEUM
    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
Museum of Nebraska Art

The museum of nebraska art (mona) celebrates the history of nebraska's visual art for diverse audiences. mona collects, preserves, researches, exhibits, and interprets the work of artists who were born, lived, trained, or worked in…

Arts & Culture
2
Dubuque Museum of Art

To excite, engage & educate constituents through the presentation of collections, exhibitions, and programming; to form mutually beneficial partnerships that will enhance the role of the arts within the community.

Arts & Culture
3
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art

To excite, engage and educate through the arts.

Arts & Culture
4
Museum of Wisconsin Art Inc

The museum of wisconsin art celebrates the value, diversity, and uniqueness of the visual arts and artists of wisconsin. this is achieved by collecting, conserving, documenting, exhibiting, and promoting aesthetic understanding of the…

Arts & Culture
5
Minnetonka Center for the Arts

In the belief that the visual arts are indispensable to a healthy community, it is the mission of the minnetonka center for the arts to provide teaching excellence, quality exhibitions, and cultural enrichment for people of all ages,…

Arts & Culture
6
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
7
Museum of Northwest Art

The museum of northwest art collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits art created in the pacific northwest, supports artists, and strives to integrate art into the lives of all people. the museum is free and open to the public seven…

Arts & Culture
8
Kansas City Artists Coalition Inc

The kansas city atrtists coalition is a nonprofit organization that promotes visual arts awareness

Arts & Culture
9
Hastings Museum

The mission of the hastings museum is to bring to life the natural and cultural history of hastings, adams county and the great plains of nebraska through the use of educational programs, exhibits and films.

—
10
Lincoln Children's Museum

The lincoln children's museum invites children to create, discover and learn through the power of play.

Arts & Culture
11
Rochester Art Center

Rochester art center offers the opportunity for all people to understand and value the arts through innovative experiences with contemporary art. through world-class exhibitions and programs, we present a welcoming, integrated, and diverse…

Arts & Culture
12
Arts Midwest Incorporated

Arts Midwest works collaboratively with private and public arts supporters to support, inform, and celebrate arts organizations and creative communities across the Midwest. Our mission is to build unprecedented opportunity across the…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nebraska Cultural Endowment; the most unlike its peers is Charlie Russell Riders Foundation 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

17 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. 17 of the 21 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)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WILLARD COMMUNITY CENTER: $43,112 · OtherWILLARD COMMUNITY CENTERNEBRASKA SPORTS COUNCIL: $35,000 · OtherNEBRASKA SPORTS COUNCILUnited Way: $15,000 · OtherUnited WayCharles Malone Center: $10,000 · OtherCharles Malone Center+3 more: $4,000 · OtherINTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE CENTER INC: $32,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE CENTER I…JOSLYN ART MUSEUM: $10,000 · Arts & CultureJOSLYN ART MUSEUMNEBRASKA ART ASSOCIATION: $7,500 · Arts & CultureNEBRASKA ART ASSOCIATIONMid-America Arts Alliance: $5,000 · Arts & CultureMid-America Arts AllianceLUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $4,500 · Arts & CultureLUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureNEBRASKA CULTURAL ENDOWMENT: $12,500 · PhilanthropyNEBRASKA C…Lincoln Community Foundation Inc: $6,087 · PhilanthropyLincoln Co…FITTING FUTURES: $1,000 · PhilanthropyCLINIC WITH A HEART INC: $10,000 · HealthUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationJACKSON HOLE ONE FLY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentGREATER LINCOLN CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Community ImprovementDOMESTI-PUPS: $500 · Animals
Other$107,112Arts & Culture$60,000Philanthropy$19,587Health$10,000Education$5,000Environment$5,000Community Improvement$1,000Animals$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 budgetWILLARD COMMUNITY CENTER: $43,112 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetNEBRASKA SPORTS COUNCIL: $35,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE CENTER INC: $32,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNEBRASKA CULTURAL ENDOWMENT: $12,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJOSLYN ART MUSEUM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEBRASKA ART ASSOCIATION: $7,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetLincoln Community Foundation Inc: $6,087 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMid-America Arts Alliance: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJACKSON HOLE ONE FLY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $4,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGREATER LINCOLN CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFITTING FUTURES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetKANEKO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHARLIE RUSSELL RIDERS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDOMESTI-PUPS: $500 over 1y, 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.

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…Cooper FoundationAbel FoundationKinder Porter Scott F…Duncan Family TrustJames Stuart III Fami…Assurity Life Foundat…Complete Children's H…Lee and Debbie Stuart…D F Dillon FoundationSpreetail FoundationThe Sherwood Foundati…
Lincoln Community Foundation IncNE27.9× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Community Foundation Inc · Cooper Foundation · Abel Foundation · Kinder Porter Scott Family Foundation · Duncan Family Trust · James Stuart III Family Foundation · Assurity Life Foundation · Complete Children's Health Charitab Trust · Lee and Debbie Stuart Family Foundation · D F Dillon Foundation · Spreetail Foundation · The Sherwood 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 LeBaron Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The LeBaron Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–60%
    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 The LeBaron Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The LeBaron 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 21 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 LeBaron’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