· Private foundation
W D & Shirley Schafer-Ray Educational Trust
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k14 grants · $33k
- $10k–50k7 grants · $152k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $128k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Southwestern Community College | $128,200 |
| Iowa State University | $47,500 |
| University of Memphis | $31,300 |
| Northwest Missouri State University | $21,000 |
| University of Northern Iowa | $16,000 |
| University of Iowa | $15,000 |
| Central College | $11,000 |
| Arkansas State University | $10,000 |
| South Dakota State University | $4,000 |
| Simpson College | $4,000 |
| University of Kansas | $3,000 |
| Drake University | $3,000 |
| Allen College | $3,000 |
| Des Moines University | $3,000 |
| The University of Texas at Dallas | $3,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 91% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +12% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.
14 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $33k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
DRAKE UNIVERSITY3× · 2022–2025 · $18k · revenue +1%- SCSimpson College3× · 2022–2025 · $17k · revenue +28%
Buena Vista University2× · 2022–2024 · $11k · revenue +12%
Funded once
SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITYone grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +12%- UOUniversity of Nebraska - Lincolnone grant, 2022 · $9k
- OSOklahoma State Universityone grant, 2022 · $9k
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.
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.
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…
Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…
Union college is a seventh-day adventist community of higher education, inspired by jesus christ, and dedicated to empowering students to learn, serve, and lead.
Greenville college d/b/a greenville university empowers students for lives of character and service through a transforming christ-centered education in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies.
Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.
Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…
Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.
Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…
The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…
The university of rio grande/ rio grande community college is america's unique private/public institution of higher education designed to provide learners the opportunity to attain a high-quality, high-value education. our personalized,…
Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.
Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…
How this is measured
13 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. 13 of the 40 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 DRAKE UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Simpson College ↗
- Who funds CENTRAL COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds Buena Vista University ↗
- Who funds SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds GRACELAND UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds MORNINGSIDE UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds Creighton University ↗
- Who funds William Jewell College ↗
- Who funds GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ↗
- Who funds ALLEN COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds MERCY COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Bestenlehner D and F Educational Tr · Dean J King Family Foundation · Ottumwa Regional Legacy Foundation Inc · Snyder-Vaughn Trust Funds · Gwendolyn and Lucian L Hinecker Scholarship Trust · Willard E and Ella P Thompson Educational Fund · Fahrney Education Fdtn Trust · Roy J Carver Charitable Trust · United Way Worldwide · Meyerhoff Charitable Trust · Moore Scholarship Trust · Marguerite V Brown
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization W D & Shirley Schafer-Ray Educational Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from W D & Shirley Schafer-Ray Educational Trust. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on W D & Shirley Schafer-Ray Educational’s filings →