FundersNebraska

Cope Ron & Carol Foundation Trust

Kearney, NE · EIN 36-3693227. Reported 77 grants totalling $2,999,214 to 52 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$24,240median grant
$2,999,214granted, 2021-2024
52organizations funded
35%of grantees funded again the next year
$16.6Massets, 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. Cope Ron & Carol Foundation Trust 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 $24,240. Half of everything it gave fell between $8,500 and $50,000; the smallest was $3,000 and the largest $298,435. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
6 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
15 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
18 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
15 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
16 grants
$100,000 and Up
7 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
University of Nebraska FoundationKearney, NE$520,000642024
Family Advocacy NetworkKearney, NE$450,000332024
Good Samaritan Hospital FoundationKearney, NE$206,716332024
Harmon Sonotorium Restoration CommiKearney, NE$178,000332024
Kearney Family YMCAKearney, NE$150,000332023
Rowe SanctuaryGibbon, NE$150,000112021
Buffalo County Historical SocietyKearney, NE$145,000332024
Kearney Jubilee CenterKearney, NE$100,000222022
Prince of Peace Catholic ChurchKearney, NE$100,000222024
Kearney Public SchoolsKearney, NE$72,000222022
Elm Creek Fire DepartmentElm Creek, NE$64,000222023
Kearney Area Communty FoundationKearney, NE$59,435112024
Crossroads Mission AvenueKearney, NE$58,829112022
Hot Meals USAKearney, NE$50,000112024
Kearney Catholic FoundatoinKearney, NE$50,000112024
Merryman Performing Arts CenterKearney, NE$50,000222024
Mosaic AxtellAxtell, NE$50,000112021
Kearney PartnershipKearney, NE$40,000112024
Nebraska Journalism TrustOmaha, NE$40,000222023
MosaicAxtell, NE$35,000112024
Ravenna Area Vision FundRavenna, NE$35,000112021
Kearney Area Animal ShelterKearney, NE$30,000112023
Kearney Noon RotaryKearney, NE$25,500332024
Three Trails Draft Horse ShowKearney, NE$25,500222023
Kearney Community Sustainable HousgKearney, NE$25,000112024
Kearney Rescue CatsKearney, NE$25,000112023
World TheaterKearney, NE$25,000112023
Master Trauma FoundationElkhorn, NE$24,240112021
Buffalo County Community Health ParKearney, NE$24,000112023
Kearney Catholic FoundationKearney, NE$20,000112021
Little Eagles Learning CenterOverton, NE$20,000112024
Kearney Area Community FoundationKearney, NE$15,000112022
Junior AchievementKearney, NE$12,500222024
Childrens Nebraska FoundationOmaha, NE$10,000112024
Crane River TheaterKearney, NE$10,000112021
Friend Historical SocietyFriend, NE$10,000112021
Kearney Housing Development CorpKearney, NE$10,000112022
Rowe SancturaryGibbon, NE$10,000112023
Nebraska Vietnam Veterans ReunionLincoln, NE$8,000112022
Kearney Symphony OrchestraKearney, NE$7,580112022
Classic Car CollectionKearney, NE$7,500112022
Kearney Area Symphony OrchestraKearney, NE$7,500112023
East Lawn Trailer and Food PantryKearney, NE$7,314112021
Helpcare ClinicKearney, NE$5,000112022
Kearney Woman's ClubKearney, NE$5,000112022
Make-a-Wish Greater NebraskaKearney, NE$5,000112024
Elm Creek High SchoolElm Creek, NE$4,000112022
Kearney Area Arts CouncilKearney, NE$3,600112023
Kearney CreatesKearney, NE$3,500112021
Make a Wish NebraskaLincoln, NE$3,500112021
Axtell Oratorio SocietyAxtell, NE$3,000112022
Help Care ClinicKearney, NE$3,000112024

15 of 52 (29%) 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 35%, 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 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 recipient's own IRS classification, for the 36 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
9 grants
Human Services
7 grants
Education
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Recreation & Sports
3 grants
Animal Welfare
2 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
2 grants
Housing & Shelter
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202118$664,213$27,500
202222$800,001$15,000
202317$760,000$24,000
202420$775,000$30,000

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.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Cope Ron & Carol Foundation Trust has 33 of them, worth $3,852,901. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.

OrganizationLocationApproved
University of Nebraska FoundationKearney, NE$716,565
University of Nebraska FoundationKearney, NE$600,000
Kearney Catholic FoundationKearney, NE$400,000
Kearney Catholic FoundationKearney, NE$350,000
Kearney PartnershipKearney, NE$200,000
Family Advocacy NetworkKearney, NE$162,965
Kearney PartnershipKearney, NE$160,000
Family Advocacy NetworkKearney, NE$150,000
Prince of Piece Catholic ChurchKearney, NE$150,000
Prince of Piece Catholic ChurchKearney, NE$100,000
Harmon Sonotorium Restoration CommiKearney, NE$100,000
Harmon Sonotorium Restoration CommiKearney, NE$100,000
Kearney Area Community FoundationKearney, NE$90,565
Harmon Sonotorium Restoration CommiKearney, NE$50,000
Kearney Community Sustainable HousiKearney, NE$50,000

Where its money goes

Kearney, NE
$2.5M
Gibbon, NE
$160K
Axtell, NE
$88K
Elm Creek, NE
$68K
Omaha, NE
$50K
Ravenna, NE
$35K
Elkhorn, NE
$24K
Overton, NE
$20K

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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.

Kearney Area Community Foundation16 shared recipientsHirschfeld Family Foundation Inc9 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc6 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc5 shared recipientsNebraska Community Foundation5 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $24,240. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  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 Cope Ron & Carol Foundation Trust'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: Po Box 1775, Kearney, NE, 68848. 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 36-3693227 · 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, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.