Funders › South Dakota

Orrion and Edith Barger Memorial

Chamberlain, SD · EIN 26-1875189. Reported 193 grants totalling $2,093,488 to 73 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$2,093,488granted, 2021-2025
73recipients, as named on its returns
64%of grantees funded again the next year
$9,418,490assets, latest filing

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. Orrion and Edith Barger Memorial did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $10,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $100,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
8 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
74 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
62 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
27 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
10 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
9 grants
$100,000 and Up
3 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
City of ChamberlainChamberlain, SD$721,0973252025
Chamberlain School District FoundatChamberlain, SD$357,000632025
Chamberlain Oacoma Trails CoalitionChamberlain, SD$75,000112025
Lake Francis Case Economic DevelopmChamberlain, SD$55,000642025
Kimball School DistrictKimball, SD$47,500332025
City of KimballPukwana, SD$47,469652025
Lake Francis Case DevelopmentChamberlain, SD$42,000222024
Chamberlain School DistrictChamberlain, SD$40,000322025
Chamberlain Swim TeamChamberlain, SD$40,000112022
Helping Ends Meet Food ProgramChamberlain, SD$40,000542025
Buffalo County Fire Protection DistGann Valley, SD$36,000222023
Fishing for a CureChamberlain, SD$35,000552025
Missouri Valley Crisis CenterChamberlain, SD$30,800552025
Grandview Properties IncChamberlain, SD$30,000112022
Town of KennebecKennebec, SD$30,000112022
Town of RelianceReliance, SD$29,370332025
Dakota State UniversityMadison, SD$25,000552025
St James Catholic ChurchChamberlain, SD$25,000552025
St Joseph Indian SchoolChamberlain, SD$25,000552025
United Church of ChristChamberlain, SD$25,000552025
Chs Clay Target TeamPukwana, SD$20,000442024
Presho Volunteer Fire DeptPresho, SD$16,000112022
Rocs - KimballKimball, SD$15,400442025
The Children's ArkChamberlain, SD$15,000222024
Central Dakota Development CorpKennebec, SD$13,500112023
Academy Volunteer Fire DepartmentAcademy, SD$13,000112021
Red Cross of SdSioux Falls, SD$12,500552025
Salvation Army of South DakotaOmaha, NE$12,500552025
Tri-County Cheer & Dance IncOacoma, SD$12,500222024
Pukwana Fire DeptPukwana, SD$12,400112021
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6436Chamberlain, SD$10,500222024
First Circuit CASAMitchell, SD$10,300552025
Cath Diocese of Sioux FalSioux Falls, SD$10,000442024
Chamberlain High SchoolChamberlain, SD$10,000552025
Chamberlain-Coacoma Area ChamberChamberlain, SD$10,000112022
Chamberlain-Oacoma Area ChamberChamberlain, SD$10,000112022
Kimball High SchoolKimball, SD$10,000552025
Lyman School DistrictPresho, SD$10,000552025
Chamberlain-Oacoma Area Chamber ofChamberlain, SD$9,000222025
The Childrens ArkChamberlain, SD$8,000112021
Town of OacomaChamberlain, SD$7,500112021
St Joseph's Indian SchoolChamberlain, SD$6,000112022
Tri-County LandfillReliance, SD$5,872112023
Chamberlain-Oacoma ChamberChamberlain, SD$5,250112025
Chamberlain-Oacoma Chamber of CommeChamberlain, SD$5,250112025
Brule County Leaders Association inChamberlain, SD$5,000112025
Central Plains Evangelical Free ChuChamberlain, SD$5,000112024
Helping Ends MeetChamberlain, SD$5,000112025
Jls Love Big ProjectChamberlain, SD$5,000112025
Presho Fire DepartmentPresho, SD$5,000112025
Kimball Center Food PantryKimball, SD$3,500222022
Kimball Economic Development CorpKimball, SD$3,500112021
Kimball Ambulance DistrictKimball, SD$3,300112021
Kwl High School Trap ClubKimball, SD$3,000112023
Missouri Valley Ambulance ServiceChamberlain, SD$3,000112021
Cath Diocese of Sioux FallsSioux Falls, SD$2,500112025
Pukwana Fire DepartmentPukwana, SD$2,500112025
Town of PukwanaPukwana, SD$2,500112025
St Joseph's Catholic ChurchFort Thompson, SD$2,380112022
Brule County Child Protection TeamChamberlain, SD$2,000112024
Embe - Girls on the RunSioux Falls, SD$2,000112021
Junior Achievement of South DakotaSioux Falls, SD$2,000112024
Kimball American LegionKimball, SD$2,000112024
Chamberlain-Oacoma Vol Fire DepartmChamberlain, SD$1,600112025
Junior Achievement of SdSioux Falls, SD$1,200112022
Kimball Area Horizons Team - KimbalKimball, SD$1,000112024
Kimball Senior CitizensChamberlain, SD$1,000112025
RocsChamberlain, SD$1,000112025
Lyman County Ambulance DistrictKennebec, SD$800112025
CesChamberlain, SD$250112025
Middle America Communication SolutiOacoma, SD$250112024
St James Parish Food PantryChamberlain, SD$250112025
State TheatreChamberlain, SD$250112025

30 of 73 (41%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 64%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

Plus 5 grants to individuals totalling $5,000 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 34 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
10 grants
Community Improvement
9 grants
Health Care
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Human Services
2 grants
International Affairs
2 grants
Recreation & Sports
1 grant
Youth Development
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202136$396,200$5,000
202237$464,099$5,000
202335$441,239$5,000
202442$369,850$4,000
202543$422,100$5,000

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

99% of its giving went to organizations in South Dakota. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

South Dakota
$2.1M
Nebraska
$12K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

South Dakota Community Foundation11 shared recipientsFirst Interstate Bancsystem Foundation7 shared recipientsSioux Falls Area Community Foundation5 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc4 shared recipientsThrivent Financial for Lutherans3 shared recipientsXcel Energy Foundation3 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in South Dakota.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 Orrion and Edith Barger Memorial's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 609, Chamberlain, SD, 57325. 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 26-1875189 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.