FundersNebraska

Karl H and Wealtha H Nelson

Omaha, NE · EIN 36-3879767. Reported 71 grants totalling $909,525 to 36 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$8,000median grant
$909,525granted, 2021-2024
36organizations funded
53%of grantees funded again the next year
$4,004,040assets, 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. Karl H and Wealtha H Nelson 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 $8,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $4,000 and $12,500; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $100,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
18 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
23 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
23 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
2 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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
City of Nebraska CityNebraska City, NE$373,000942024
Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark CenterNebraska City, NE$65,000222023
St Mary's Hospital FoundationNebraska City, NE$60,000532024
Nebraska City Historical SocietyNebraska City, NE$44,500332024
Lourdes Central Catholic SchoolNebraska City, NE$40,000222022
Nebraska City Public Schools FoundationNebraska City, NE$36,300532024
University of Nebraska FoundationLincoln, NE$32,000442024
Kregel Windmill Factory MuseumNebraska City, NE$22,500332024
Nebraska City Museum AssocationNebraska City, NE$20,000222023
Nebraska City Veteran's BuildingNebraska City, NE$20,000112021
Edge Nebraska CityNebraska City, NE$15,000112023
Girl Scouts Spirit of NebraskaLincoln, NE$15,000112022
Nebraska City Fast Pitch SoftballNebraska City, NE$15,000222024
806 Historical FoundationNebraska City, NE$12,000222022
Nebraska Children and Families FoundationLincoln, NE$10,000112024
Nebraska City Museum AssocNebraska City, NE$10,000112021
Nebraska City Musuem AssocationNebraska City, NE$10,000112024
Bryan FoundationLincoln, NE$9,000332023
Peru State CollegePeru, NE$9,000332024
St Benedict Catholic ChurchNebraska City, NE$8,500112024
Civil War Veterans MuseumNebraska City, NE$8,000112024
Nebaraska City High School Allimni AssocNebraska City, NE$8,000112021
Nebraska City High School Alumni AssociationNebraska City, NE$8,000112022
Nebraska Community FoundationLincoln, NE$7,500112021
Nebraska City High School Alumni FoundationNebraska City, NE$6,000212024
Southeast Community CollegeLincoln, NE$6,000332024
Blue Star MothersNebraska City, NE$5,000112021
Blue Star Mothers of America Chapter NE1Nebraska City, NE$5,000112024
Child Advocacy CenterLincoln, NE$5,000112022
Nebraska City Baseball AssociationNebraska City, NE$5,000112023
Teammates MentoringNebraska City, NE$5,000112023
Nebraska City Fine Arts CommitteeNebraska City, NE$4,000112024
Bryan Hospital FoundationLincoln, NE$3,000112024
Nebraska City Municipal AirportNebraska City, NE$2,800112022
Nebraska City Tourism & CommerceNebraska City, NE$2,425112023
Civil War MuseumNebraska City, NE$2,000112021

14 of 36 (39%) 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 53%, 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 25 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
12 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Recreation & Sports
3 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants
Crime & Legal
1 grant
Youth Development
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202113$259,500$8,000
202220$232,200$8,000
202317$205,325$8,000
202421$212,500$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

Nebraska City, NE
$813K
Lincoln, NE
$88K
Peru, NE
$9K

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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.

Lincoln Community Foundation Inc6 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund5 shared recipientsAbel Foundation5 shared recipientsThe Steinhart Foundation Inc4 shared recipientsPaul John Anton & Doris Wirth4 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $8,000. 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 Karl H and Wealtha H Nelson'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: Co George Blazek 9290 W Dodge Rd, Omaha, NE, 68114. 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 36-3879767 · 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.