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Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust

Its FY2023 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$675k
Granted FY2023
6
Grants FY2023
1
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, FY2017 to 2023.

Arts & Culture$1.9MHealth$1.7MEducation$1.2MHousing & Shelter$651kReligion$635kHuman Services$550kYouth Development$420kAnimals$375kOther$0
02FY2023 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $50k–250k5 grants · $425k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$100,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FORT DES MOINES MUSEUM AND EDUCATIO$250,000
LIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION$100,000
DSM PARK AND REC FOUNDATION$100,000
WAUKEE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$100,000
IOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION$62,500
EVERLY BALL COMM MENTAL HEALTH SVCS$62,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–22, $1.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%818 FORWARD WITH FAITH: $10k → 8%SALUTE TO THE FALLEN: $8k → 9%YOUTH AND SHELTER SERVICES: $125k → 10%YOUTH AND SHELTER SERVICES: $125k → 10%DES MOINES AREA RELIGIOUS COUNCIL: $100k → 10%JOPPA OUTREACH INC: $75k → 10%OAKRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $50k → 10%DSM AREA RELIGIOUS COUNCIL: $25k → 10%DOROTHY'S HOUSE: $10k → 10%SCKIC INC: $10k → 10%BALANCE AUTISM: $10k → 10%ON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION: $100k → 10%ON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION: $50k → 10%ON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION: $50k → 10%BEAVERDALE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: $5k → 10%CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $50k → 10%CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $50k → 10%OAKRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $50k → 10%OAKRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $30k → 10%OAKRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES: $25k → 10%HOMES OF OAKRIDGE HUMAN SERVICES: $25k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $20k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $20k → 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.
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.

66%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.0M · 47 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

47 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2023, 42 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

47
65

Total granted

$6.0M
$2.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+35%

Still filing today

57%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $250k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthEducationFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • BP
    BLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2018–2020 · $350k · revenue +71%
  • YA
    YOUTH AND SHELTER SERVICES INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $250k · revenue +145%
  • OW
    ON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2021 · $200k · revenue +421%

Funded once

  • DP
    DSM PUBLIC SCHOOLS CENTRAL ACADEMY
    one grant, 2018 · $200k
  • DM
    DES MOINES PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACADEMY
    one grant, 2020 · $200k
  • EH
    EAST HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $150k · revenue -38%
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
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.

—
2
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden

Exploring, explaining and celebrating the world of plants.

Environment
3
Iowa City Hospice Inc

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

Human Services
4
Invest Dsm

Provide holistic and innovative solutions that strengthen neighborhoods. we do this through strategic investments in real estate and partnerships to improve quality of life.

Housing & Shelter
5
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
6
Iowa College Foundation

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

—
7
Iowa Bird Rehabilitation

The organization's mission is to address the immediate needs of sick, injured, and orphaned wild birds, with the goal to return them to the wild and help educate and bring awareness to the global issue that birds are dissappearing at an…

Animals
8
Family Promise of Greater Des Moines

To provide shelter and services to families experiencing homelessness

—
9
United Way of East Central Iowa

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

Philanthropy
10
Iowa Newspaper Association

To improve member newspapers

—
11
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
12
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.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Downtown Events Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is Evergreen Cemetery. 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

61 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. 61 of the 113 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/61
Grantees still filing
43/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WAUKEE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $500,000 · OtherWAUKEE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHEVERLY BALL COMM MENTAL HEALTH SVCS: $450,000 · OtherEVERLY BALL COMM MENTAL HEALTH SVCSDSM INDEPENDENT COMM SCHOOL DISTRIC: $255,000 · OtherFORT DES MOINES MUSEUM AND EDUCATIO: $250,000 · OtherDSM PUBLIC SCHOOLS CENTRAL ACADEMY: $200,000 · OtherBLANK CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $200,000 · OtherDES MOINES PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACADEMY: $200,000 · OtherDSM CONSISTORY BUILDING TRUST: $200,000 · Other+66 more: $3,093,800 · Other+66 moreLIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION: $200,000 · Arts & CultureLIVING HISTORY…DES MOINES HERITAGE TRUST: $200,000 · Arts & CultureDES MOINES HER…MAINFRAME STUDIOS: $175,000 · Arts & CultureMAINFRAME STUD…HOYT SHERMAN PLACE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Arts & CultureHOYT SHERMAN P…ALEX BROWN FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Arts & CultureALEX BROWN FOU…IOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC: $80,000 · Arts & CultureIOWA PUBLIC RA…SCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA: $70,000 · Arts & CultureSCIENCE CENTER…SALISBURY HOUSE FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Arts & CultureDES MOINES COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE: $50,000 · Arts & CultureITALIAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER OF IOWA: $40,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $72,500 · Arts & Culture+5 moreYOUTH AND SHELTER SERVICES INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesYOUTH AND SH…ON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION: $200,000 · Human ServicesON WITH LIFE…HOMES OF OAKRIDGE HUMAN SERVICES: $180,000 · Human ServicesHOMES OF OAK…DES MOINES AREA RELIGIOUS COUNCIL: $125,000 · Human ServicesDES MOINES A…CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesCHILDSERVE F…JOPPA: $75,000 · Human ServicesJOPPAAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $40,000 · Human Services+5 more: $53,000 · Human ServicesIOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $250,000 · HealthORCHARD PLACE: $155,000 · HealthELLIPSIS INC: $100,000 · HealthHEALTHY BIRTH DAY INC: $20,000 · HealthBLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC: $350,000 · AnimalsGREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION: $75,000 · AnimalsFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $200,000 · Food & NutritionEat Greater Des Moines: $80,000 · Food & NutritionMEALS FROM THE HEARTLAND INC: $20,000 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY YOUTH CONCEPTS: $145,000 · Youth DevelopmentFREEDOM FOR YOUTH MINISTRIES: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentPURSUIT OF INNOVATION: $20,000 · Youth Development
Other$5,348,800Arts & Culture$1,147,500Human Services$1,023,000Health$525,000Animals$425,000Food & Nutrition$300,000Youth Development$190,000

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 budgetBLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC: $350,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetIOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetYOUTH AND SHELTER SERVICES INC: $250,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetLIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetFOOD BANK OF IOWA: $200,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetDES MOINES HERITAGE TRUST: $200,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetHOMES OF OAKRIDGE HUMAN SERVICES: $180,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetMAINFRAME STUDIOS: $175,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL IOWA: $165,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetORCHARD PLACE: $155,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetEAST HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY YOUTH CONCEPTS: $145,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetDES MOINES AREA RELIGIOUS COUNCIL: $125,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetHOYT SHERMAN PLACE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetCHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetALEX BROWN FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetON WITH LIFE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetELLIPSIS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetIOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC: $80,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetEat Greater Des Moines: $80,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetJOPPA: $75,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetGREAT OUTDOORS FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSCIENCE CENTER OF IOWA: $70,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSALISBURY HOUSE FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetSCOTTISH RITE PARK INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWELCOME HOME SOLDIER: $50,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetFIVE FIRES FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetITALIAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER OF IOWA: $40,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDRAKE UNIVERSITY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCIVIC MUSIC ASSOCIATION DES MOINES: $27,500 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetLINK ASSOCIATES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFREEDOM FOR YOUTH MINISTRIES: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetTHE EASTER SEAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPOLK COUNTY HOUSING TRUST FUND: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetURBANDALE COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK: $25,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetBEACON OF LIFE D/B/A THE BEACON: $25,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetSCKIC Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCAN PLAY: $20,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetPURSUIT OF INNOVATION: $20,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetMEALS FROM THE HEARTLAND INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetHEALTHY BIRTH DAY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetDOWNTOWN EVENTS GROUP INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetMIND AND SPIRIT COUNSELING CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKEEP IOWA BEAUTIFUL: $15,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetEdmundson Art Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER IOWA: $10,000 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 BLANK PARK ZOO FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds IOWA HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH AND SHELTER SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds ON WITH LIFE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LIVING HISTORY FARMS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF IOWA ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES HERITAGE TRUST ↗
  • Who funds HOMES OF OAKRIDGE HUMAN SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds MAINFRAME STUDIOS ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL IOWA ↗
  • Who funds ORCHARD PLACE ↗
  • Who funds EAST HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WAUKEE BAND PARENTS ORGANIZATION ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY YOUTH CONCEPTS ↗
  • Who funds DES MOINES AREA RELIGIOUS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds HOYT SHERMAN PLACE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDSERVE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ALEX BROWN FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ON WITH LIFE INC ↗
  • Who funds ELLIPSIS INC ↗
  • Who funds IOWA PUBLIC RADIO INC ↗
  • Who funds Eat Greater Des Moines ↗

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.

Prairie Meadows Race …Community Fdn of Grea…EMC Insurance Foundat…Meredith Corporation …The Merchants Bonding…The West Bancorporati…Ita Group FoundationWilliam C Knapp Chari…Golf Charitable Found…United Way of Central…John Ruan Foundation …Gartner Family Founda…
Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino IncIA81.9× affinity39 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc · Community Fdn of Greater Des Moines F/K/A Greater Des Moines Community Fdn · EMC Insurance Foundation · Meredith Corporation Foundation · The Merchants Bonding Company Foundation · The West Bancorporation Foundation Inc · Ita Group Foundation · William C Knapp Charitable Fdn · Golf Charitable Foundation of Greater Des Moines · United Way of Central Iowa · John Ruan Foundation Trust · Gartner Family Foundation % Michael G Gartner

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 Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust?

    Find your warmest path to Wt and Edna M Dahl Trust 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 113 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Wt and Edna M Dahl’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