Donald E Nielsen Foundation Inc
Oakland, NE · EIN 20-2629290. Reported 63 grants totalling $6,100,943 to 53 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Donald E Nielsen Foundation Inc did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $50,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $19,500 and $100,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $1,000,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of West Point Ne | West Point, NE | $1,500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Educational Service Unit 2 | Fremont, NE | $535,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Blair Family YMCA | Blair, NE | $450,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Cuming County Economic Development Inc | West Point, NE | $385,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Fort Atkinson Foundation | Fort Atkinson, NE | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Midlands Community Foundation | Papillion, NE | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tekamah Pool Task Force | Tekamah, NE | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Burt County Ne | Tekamah, NE | $174,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| West Point Community Foundation | West Point, NE | $155,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Uehling Fire District | Uehling, NE | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Oakland Heights | Oakland, NE | $133,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Oakland Rural Fire Department | Oakland, NE | $122,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Bancroft Rural Vol Fire and Rescue Dept | Bancroft, NE | $120,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| City of Lyons Ne | Lyons, NE | $110,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| City of Blair Ne | Blair, NE | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Generation Diamond | Omaha, NE | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Thurston Volunteer Fire and Rescue | Thurston, NE | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Village of Decatur Ne | Decatur, NE | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| West Point Community Theatre | West Point, NE | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Historic Bryant House Inc | Tekamah, NE | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Logan View Public Schools | Hooper, NE | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Walthill Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department | Walthill, NE | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tekamah Community Foundation Inc | Tekamah, NE | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Walthill Volunteer Fire Dept | Walthill, NE | $64,400 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cuming County Ag Society | West Point, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Happy Days Senior Center | Lyons, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nebraska State Patrol | Omaha, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Roots to Wings | Arlington, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Susan Laflesche Picotte Center | Walthill, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Village of Howells Volunteer Rescue Squad | Howells, NE | $45,954 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| City of Lyons-Lyons Police Department | Lyons, NE | $45,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Cuming County Nebraska | West Point, NE | $40,916 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Nebraska State Patrol Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $39,100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Burt County Fair Foundation | Tekamah, NE | $33,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Village of Craig Nebraska | Craig, NE | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sunshine Center Inc | West Point, NE | $29,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Hartington-Newcastle Public School | Hartington, NE | $26,460 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Swedish Heritage Center | Oakland, NE | $26,400 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cattlemen's Ball of Nebraska Inc | Minatare, NE | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hooper Area Community Foundation | Fremont, NE | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tekamah-Herman Public School Foundation | Tekamah, NE | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| West Point Public Schools | West Point, NE | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| West Point Library Foundation | West Point, NE | $23,235 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools Foundation | Bancroft, NE | $16,300 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Dept Foundation | Tekamah, NE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Decatur Senior Center | Decatur, NE | $8,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools | Hartington, NE | $8,178 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Beemer Senior Citizens Center | Beemer, NE | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Just-a-Stitch Quilters Guild Inc | Elkhorn, NE | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Nebr Voe-Ag Found Dba Leadership Ctr | Aurora, NE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Relay for Life | Kennesaw, GA | $4,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Emerson-Hubbard Community Schools | Emerson, NE | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Relay for Life | Oklahoma City, OK | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
8 of 53 (15%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 15%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 16 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 20 | $1,693,105 | $43,208 |
| 2021 | 20 | $1,207,278 | $50,000 |
| 2022 | 11 | $1,340,500 | $75,000 |
| 2023 | 12 | $1,860,060 | $61,500 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 100% of this one's giving went to organizations in Nebraska. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $50,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Nebraska.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Donald E Nielsen Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 62, Oakland, NE, 68045. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 20-2629290 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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