Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation
Okoboji, IA · EIN 26-3868563. Reported 88 grants totalling $2,031,210 to 36 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $200,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dordt University | Sioux Center, IA | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Isu Foundation (ag College) | Ames, IA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Uptown Revitalization Growth for Everyone Inc | Creston, IA | $120,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Camp High Hopes | Sioux City, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Creston Cwc | Creston, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Lakeside Lab | Milford, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Iowa National Heritage Foundation | Des Moines, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Southern Prairie Family Fitness Center | Creston, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Gamma Pi Educational Foundation | Ames, IA | $86,210 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Iowa Central Community College Foundation | Fort Dodge, IA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Matura Action Corporation | Creston, IA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Union Co Historical Society | Creston, IA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Algona Community School Foundation | Algona, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| City of Creston | Creston, IA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Creston Activities Booster Club Inc | Creston, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| East Union Eagle Pride Booster Club | Afton, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Estherville Lincoln Centeral Patrons of the Arts | Estherville, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of Garrigan High School Inc | Algona, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Gehlen Catholic School | Le Mars, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Humboldt Music Booster Club Inc | Humboldt, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Lemars Community School Boosters | Le Mars, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Shenandoah Iowa Education Foundation | Shenandoah, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Spencer Fine Arts Booster | Spencer, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Spirit Lake Music Parents | Spirit Lake, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| St Edmond Catholic School | Fort Dodge, IA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sioux Center Music Booster Inc | Sioux Center, IA | $35,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Okoboji Community School Foundation | Milford, IA | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lemars Community Daycare Center Inc | Lemars, IA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sioux Center Christian School | Sioux Center, IA | $25,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Creston St Malachy School | Creston, IA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mayflower Heritage Christian School | Creston, IA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ida County Agricultural Society | Ida Grove, IA | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fort Dodge Community School Foundation | Fort Dodge, IA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Greater Greenfield Community Foundation | Greenfield, IA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Okoboji Fine Arts | Milford, IA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fort Dodge Comm School District Foundation | Fort Dodge, IA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
19 of 36 (53%) 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 77%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Creston Cwc
LINCOLN SCHOOL AND CRESTON HOUSING - Iowa Central Community College Foundation
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVITIES
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 34 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | $606,210 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 21 | $520,000 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 22 | $408,000 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 23 | $497,000 | $10,000 |
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
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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 $10,000. 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 Iowa.
- 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 Dwight and Marilyn Conover Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 7007 Lake Shore Drive, Okoboji, IA, 51355. 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 26-3868563 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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