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Iowa · Nonprofit

THE KERNELS FOUNDATION

THE KERNELS FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,623 to it, the largest being HILLS BANCORPORATION FOUNDATION ($6,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$51k
Funders on record
2
Grants received
$7k
Net assets
$45k
1/2 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 5%
01What it does

What The Kernels Foundation does

Mission

To create recreational facilities and programs for the citizens of cedar rapids and the surrounding areas.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Solicitation and collection of community contributions provided to the city of cedar rapids and qualified charitable organizations of linn county, ia for their use in creating recreational facilities and programs.

    $59,693 spentof which $59,193 as grants$12,000 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $59,693.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($60k) Expenses 100 ($49k) Net assets -202 ($-75107)2018 Revenue 64 ($38k) Expenses 50 ($24k) Net assets -164 ($-61031)2019 Revenue 86 ($52k) Expenses 69 ($34k) Net assets -116 ($-42943)2020 Revenue 43 ($26k) Expenses 69 ($34k) Net assets -137 ($-50773)2021 Revenue 87 ($52k) Expenses 50 ($25k) Net assets -62 ($-23094)2022 Revenue 161 ($97k) Expenses 75 ($37k) Net assets 100 ($37k)2023 Revenue 103 ($62k) Expenses 100 ($49k) Net assets 137 ($51k)2024 Revenue 107 ($65k) Expenses 111 ($55k) Net assets 164 ($61k)2025 Revenue 85 ($51k) Expenses 137 ($67k) Net assets 121 ($45k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (85)Expenses (137)Net assets (121)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $107k to $127k (+19%).

$85k
$99k
$117k
$109k
$107k
$127k
$141k
$151k
$135k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

5% of THE KERNELS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (95% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 8,549 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$11k
’17
$14k
’18
$18k
’19
−$8k
’20
$28k
’21
$60k
’22
$14k
’23
$10k
’24
−$16k
’25
24
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed10999910101010
Joined·+0+1+0+0+2+1+0+0
No longer listed·11001100
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $623 → $3k.

Funder
'20
'22
'23
total
funders
1
1
1

From the IRS filings of THE KERNELS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

THE KERNELS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 91% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

91%
largest funder
100%
top three
~1
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

Where its funders are

91% of THE KERNELS FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Iowa funders.

NY
IA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’20
’22
’23
Iowa out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

THE KERNELS FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 4,748 philanthropy nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−31% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve24.2mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−2% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,748 philanthropy nonprofits under $100k, FY2025

Organizations like THE KERNELS FOUNDATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Iowa

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

89% of spending goes to programs.

Program 89%Management 11%Fundraising 0%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

94%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE KERNELS FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds THE KERNELS FOUNDATION?
THE KERNELS FOUNDATION (Iowa) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,623 to it, the largest being HILLS BANCORPORATION FOUNDATION ($6,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE KERNELS FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $6,623 in grants to THE KERNELS FOUNDATION, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE KERNELS FOUNDATION?
HILLS BANCORPORATION FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $6,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE KERNELS FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 2 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing