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The McGowan Family Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

The McGowan Family Foundation

To operate exclusively for the benefit of, to perform the functions of, and carry out the purpose of the Omaha Community Foundation.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$250k
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$2.4MHealth$1.6MArts & Culture$334kFood & Nutrition$286kYouth Development$234kReligion$141kRecreation & Sports$104kPhilanthropy$51kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $9k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $241k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $761k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$25,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JDRF$250,000
Heart Ministry Center$150,000
Jesuit Academy$120,000
Westside Community SchoolsFdn$100,000
University of Nebraska Fdn$100,000
Completely Kids$81,000
Omaha Equestrian Foundation$60,000
Omaha Performing Arts$50,000
College of Saint Mary$50,000
St Ignatius College Prep$50,000
Revive Inc$25,000
Texas Christian University$25,000
Iowa State University Fdn$25,000
Winston Preparatory School$25,000
North Star Foundation$25,000
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Revive Inc: $25k → 11%University of Nebraska Fdn: $100k → 12%St Ignatius College Prep: $50k → 10%University of Southern CA: $25k → 14%Winston Preparatory School: $25k → 17%Texas Christian University: $50k → 11%Drake University: $25k → 10%Iowa State University Fdn: $25k → 17%Red Cloud Indian School: $25k → 42%College of Saint Mary: $50k → 12%Texas Christian University: $48k → 11%University of Nebraska Fdn: $50k → 12%Texas Christian University: $37k → 11%University of Nebraska Fdn: $48k → 12%College of Saint Mary: $40k → 12%College of Saint Mary: $30k → 12%Heart Ministry Center: $150k → 12%Jesuit Academy: $120k → 12%Jesuit Academy: $68k → 12%Heart Ministry Center: $60k → 12%Heart Ministry Center: $51k → 12%Jesuit Academy: $26k → 12%Westside Community SchoolsFdn: $100k → 12%Omaha Community Fdn: $51k → 12%Methodist Hospital Foundation: $255k → 12%Creighton Prep: $255k → 12%Creighton Prep: $250k → 12%Creighton Prep: $250k → 12%JDRF: $250k → 12%Methodist Hospital Foundation: $250k → 12%Methodist Hospital Foundation: $250k → 12%Omaha Equestrian Foundation: $60k → 12%Childrens Hospital Fdn: $125k → 12%Omaha Performing Arts: $54k → 12%Childrens Hospital Fdn: $125k → 12%Omaha Performing Arts: $50k → 12%Omaha Discovery Trust: $100k → 12%Omaha Performing Arts: $25k → 12%JDRF: $67k → 12%Juvenile Diabetes Research: $60k → 12%Christ the King Church: $55k → 12%Christ the King Church: $36k → 12%JDRF: $35k → 12%Juvenile Diabetes Research: $35k → 12%Christ the King Church: $30k → 12%Creighton Prep: $27k → 12%Completely Kids: $81k → 12%Creighton University: $50k → 12%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

IL
NY
SD
IA
CA
NE
VA
AZ
KS
DC
TX
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.5M · 25 repeat orgs$508k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against -1% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
10

Total granted

$4.5M
$238k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
-1%

Still filing today

76%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $270k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterFood & NutritionOther
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

  • NM
    NEBRASKA METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    3× · 2020–2022 · $755k · revenue +36%
  • BT
    BREAKTHROUGH T1D
    5× · 2020–2024 · $447k · revenue +42%
  • HM
    HEART MINISTRY CENTER
    4× · 2021–2024 · $286k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • OD
    OMAHA DISCOVERY TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue +28%
  • KA
    Kindair at the Benson Theatre
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -71%
  • XF
    XCANCER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
2
Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Science & Tech
3
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
4
Unmc Physicians

Our mission is to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for all individuals and communities through premier educational programs, innovative research and extraordinary patient care.

Health
5
Children's Physicians

Children's physicians delivers the highest quality pediatric primary care while supporting education and research.

Health
6
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
7
Nebraska Wesleyan University

Nebraska wesleyan university is an academic community dedicated to intellectual and personal growth within the context of a liberal arts education and in an environment of christian concern.

Education
8
The Northern Michigan University Foundation

The nmu foundation will establish and foster relationships to generate resources that benefit the strategic goals of northern michigan university.

Education
9
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.

—
10
Council of Independent Nebraska Colleges Foundation

The council of indepependent nebraska colleges foundation exists to provide operating funds and scholarship support for students attending nebraska's independent institutions of excellence.

—
11
Western University of Health Sciences

To produce, in a humanistic tradition, health care professionals and biomedical knowledge that will enhance and extend the quality of life in our communities.

—
12
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of Nebraska Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Xcancer 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

36 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. 36 of the 46 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)
34/36
Grantees still filing
22/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NEBRASKA METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $755,450 · HealthNEBRASKA METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDA…BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $447,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1DCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $250,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENT…NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ECTODERMAL DYSPLASIAS: $55,000 · Health+4 more: $85,000 · Health+4 moreCREIGHTON PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $800,200 · OtherCREIGHTON PREPARATORY SCHOOLJESUIT ACADEMY: $243,750 · OtherJESUIT ACADEMYCHRIST THE KING PARISH: $130,500 · OtherCHRIST THE KING PARISHIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: $75,000 · OtherRED CLOUD INDIAN SCHOOL: $75,000 · Other+10 more: $250,440 · Other+10 moreUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $223,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FO…TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $168,347 · EducationTEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSIT…COLLEGE OF SAINT MARY: $145,000 · EducationCOLLEGE OF SAINT MARYOMAHA DISCOVERY TRUST: $100,000 · EducationOMAHA DISCOVERY TRUSTCreighton University: $100,000 · EducationCreighton UniversityUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $100,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CA…WESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · EducationWESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOL…DRAKE UNIVERSITY: $74,000 · EducationDRAKE UNIVERSITYWASHBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $46,570 · Education+6 more: $117,030 · Education+6 moreHEART MINISTRY CENTER: $285,500 · Food & NutritionCOMPLETELY KIDS: $151,000 · Youth DevelopmentNORTHSTAR FOUNDATION: $82,500 · Youth DevelopmentPartnership 4 Kids Inc: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentOMAHA PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY: $163,750 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART: $45,000 · Arts & CultureKindair at the Benson Theatre: $25,000 · Arts & CultureOMAHA EQUESTRIAN FOUNDATION: $104,000 · Recreation & Sports
Health$1,592,450Other$1,574,890Education$1,173,947Food & Nutrition$285,500Youth Development$243,500Arts & Culture$233,750Recreation & Sports$104,000

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 budgetNEBRASKA METHODIST HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $755,450 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $447,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHEART MINISTRY CENTER: $285,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $223,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $168,347 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetOMAHA PERFORMING ARTS SOCIETY: $163,750 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCOMPLETELY KIDS: $151,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCOLLEGE OF SAINT MARY: $145,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetOMAHA EQUESTRIAN FOUNDATION: $104,000 over 4y, 6.7% of budgetOMAHA DISCOVERY TRUST: $100,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCreighton University: $100,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWESTSIDE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNORTHSTAR FOUNDATION: $82,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetDRAKE UNIVERSITY: $74,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ECTODERMAL DYSPLASIAS: $55,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetOmaha Community Foundation: $50,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $46,570 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART: $45,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSIENA FRANCIS HOUSE: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $34,330 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREVIVE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetKindair at the Benson Theatre: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCity of Omaha Police Foundation Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetTHE WINSTON PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATIONAL FRAGILE X FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER OMAHA ALLIANCE FOR BUSINESS ETHICS: $20,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetNEBRASKA GREATS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetPartnership 4 Kids Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetQUALITY LIVING INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF OMAHA: $5,200 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.

The Lozier FoundationThe Sherwood Foundati…Robert B Daugherty Fo…Dr C C and Mabel L Cr…The Holland FoundationThe Hawks FoundationThe Charles and Mary …Jewish Federation of …Nebraska Community Fo…Mammel Family Foundat…Peter Kiewit Foundati…Parker Family Foundat…
The Lozier FoundationNE36.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Lozier Foundation · The Sherwood Foundation · Robert B Daugherty Foundation · Dr C C and Mabel L Criss Memorial · The Holland Foundation · The Hawks Foundation · The Charles and Mary Heider Family Foundation · Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation · Nebraska Community Foundation · Mammel Family Foundation · Peter Kiewit Foundation · Parker 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The McGowan Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The McGowan Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 McGowan Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The McGowan 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.

    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 46 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on McGowan Family’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