Funders › Nebraska

The Owen Foundation

Omaha, NE · EIN 47-6025298. Reported 92 grants totalling $2,089,055 to 55 recipients across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$2,089,055granted, 2020-2023
55recipients, as named on its returns
42%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,939,486assets, 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. The Owen 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.

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 $1,000 and $15,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $800,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
15 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
27 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
17 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
12 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
10 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
7 grants
$100,000 and Up
4 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
Boys & Girls Club of Omaha IncOmaha, NE$907,500332022
Heart Ministry CenterOmaha, NE$260,000442023
University of Nebraska FoundationOmaha, NE$154,000332023
Aksarben FoundationOmaha, NE$119,350442023
Opera OmahaOmaha, NE$110,000332023
Lpif FoundationOmaha, NE$100,000112023
Holy Name SchoolOmaha, NE$55,000222023
Vita Nova Maternity CommunityPapillion, NE$50,000112023
Crohn's & Colitis FoundationOmaha, NE$45,000332023
Friends of Nebraska ParksOmaha, NE$42,500332023
St Margaret Mary ChurchOmaha, NE$40,000442023
Pace OmahaOmaha, NE$25,000112022
United Way of the MidlandsOmaha, NE$20,000222023
Ross LeadersOmaha, NE$15,000112023
The Jet Award Foundation and TrustOmaha, NE$15,000222023
Boy Scouts of AmericaOmaha, NE$14,500332023
Omaha SymphonyOmaha, NE$11,800332023
American Foundation for Suicide PreventionSan Diego, CA$10,600332023
Creighton Prep High SchoolOmaha, NE$10,250222023
Film StreamsOmaha, NE$10,000112022
Lauritzen GardensOmaha, NE$7,500332023
Jdrf Omaha-Council Bluffs ChapterOmaha, NE$5,000112020
Joslyn Art MuseumOmaha, NE$5,000112021
Makr GroupBritish Columbia$5,000112023
Omaha Community PlayhouseOmaha, NE$5,000112023
Omaha Performing Arts SocietyOmaha, NE$5,000112022
Omaha Zoo FoundationOmaha, NE$5,000112021
Boys and Girls Club of Siouxland IncSioux City, IA$4,500112020
The Als AssociationOmaha, NE$3,500222021
App FoundationArlington, VA$2,500112021
Minnesouri Club Scholarship ProgramMissions Hills, KS$2,500112020
Wahoo Ministerial CommitteeWahoo, NE$2,000222023
Nebraska State FairGrand Island, NE$1,800222021
Nebraska Game and Parks FoundationWaverly, NE$1,555222023
Completely Kids GuildOmaha, NE$1,500112023
Northstar Foundation - Camp NorthstarOmaha, NE$1,500112020
American Heart AssociationDallas, TX$1,000112020
Bensen TheatreOmaha, NE$1,000112023
Bluestem Robotics IncorporatedClinton, WI$1,000112023
Junior Achievement of the MidlandsOmaha, NE$1,000112020
Madonna School and Community Based ServicesOmaha, NE$1,000112020
Marian High SchoolOmaha, NE$1,000112021
Omaha Latino Peace Officers AssociationOmaha, NE$1,000222021
Saunders County Food PantryWahoo, NE$1,000112021
The Bay Fka Rabble MillOmaha, NE$1,000112023
Westside FoundationOmaha, NE$1,000112022
Corporal Daegan Page FoundationOmaha, NE$700222022
Heartland Family Service Student LeagueOmaha, NE$700112020
Waverly Chamber of CommerceWaverly, IA$550112020
American Veterans Mc of NebraskaOmaha, NE$500112021
City of Carter LakeCarter Lake, IA$500112020
Mcmillan Magnet SchoolOmaha, NE$500112022
Metro Community College FoundationKansas City, MO$500112021
Wahoo Elementary PTOWahoo, NE$500112021
Sioux Center Chamber of CommerceSioux Center, IA$250112021

22 of 55 (40%) 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 42%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 36 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.

Arts & Culture
8 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Education
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Food & Nutrition
4 grants
Youth Development
3 grants
Community Improvement
2 grants
Environment
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202026$344,650$2,250
202123$224,900$2,500
202217$966,905$5,250
202326$552,600$6,500

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

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

Nebraska
$2.1M
California
$11K
Iowa
$6K
British Columbia
$5K
Kansas
$2K
Virginia
$2K
Texas
$1K
Wisconsin
$1K

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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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund17 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation13 shared recipientsNebraska Community Foundation11 shared recipientsThe Hawks Foundation10 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 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 Nebraska.
  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 The Owen Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). 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 1085, Omaha, NE, 68101. 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 47-6025298 · 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.