Lienemann Charitable Foundation Inc
Lincoln, NE · EIN 47-6044090. Reported 78 grants totalling $3,562,474 to 45 recipients 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. Lienemann Charitable Foundation Inc 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 $12,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $4,953 and $32,500; the smallest was $500 and the largest $973,469. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See Attached Schedule | Lincoln, NE | $1,719,428 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| University of Nebraska Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $336,250 | 6 | 2 | 2022 |
| Omaha Zoo Foundation | Omaha, NE | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lincoln Children's Zoo | Lincoln, NE | $174,370 | 4 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lake Cunningham Development Trust | Omaha, NE | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Estes Park Health Foundation | Estes Park, CO | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lincoln Symphony Orchestra | Lincoln, NE | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Food Fort | Lincoln, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lincoln Community Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Lincoln Housing Charities | Lincoln, NE | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Bryan Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Nebraska District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod | Seward, NE | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Boy Scouts of America - Cornhusker Council | Walton, NE | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Valley Church | West Des Moines, IA | $37,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church | Lincoln, NE | $34,739 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Teammates Mentoring Program | Lincoln, NE | $34,739 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Friendship Home | Lincoln, NE | $34,738 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Healing Kadi Foundation | Omaha, NE | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Tabitha Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $27,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| St Marks United Methodist Church | Lincoln, NE | $23,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| People's City Mission | Lincoln, NE | $19,370 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lincoln Children's Museum | Lincoln, NE | $18,474 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Common Threads Ministry | Lincoln, NE | $18,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Faith Lutheran Church of Golden | Golden, CO | $16,100 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Big Brothersbig Sisters Lincoln | Lincoln, NE | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nebraska Childrens Home Society | Lincoln, NE | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Living History Farms | Des Moines, IA | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Center for People in Need | Lincoln, NE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Crohn's & Colitis Foundation | Omaha, NE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Heartland Hope Mission | Omaha, NE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lighthouse | Lincoln, NE | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| American Red Cross | Lincoln, NE | $8,685 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Lincoln Police Department | Lincoln, NE | $8,685 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mount Calvary Lutheran Church | Estes Park, CO | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lincoln Parks & Recreation Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Open Door Mission | Omaha, NE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Project Harmony | Omaha, NE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Monica's Home | Lincoln, NE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fresh Start Inc | Lincoln, NE | $3,474 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Pioneer Park Nature Center | Lincoln, NE | $3,474 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| YMCA of Lincoln | Lincoln, NE | $3,474 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| YWCA of Lincoln | Lincoln, NE | $3,474 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Four Paws for Hope | Talmage, NE | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Food Bank of Lincoln Inc | Lincoln, NE | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
27 of 45 (60%) 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 41%, across 2 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 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.
- University of Nebraska Foundation
UNL STATE MUSEUM - MORRILL HALL PERMANENT PHOTO ARK EXHIBIT - Omaha Zoo Foundation
HENRY DOORLY ZOO SEA LIONS SHORE PROJECT - Lake Cunningham Development Trust
LAKE CUNNINGHAM REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT - Lincoln Children's Zoo
ZOO EXPANSION FOR GIRAFFE HABITAT - Lincoln Symphony Orchestra
REDUCED STUDENT TICKET PROGRAM - The Bryan Foundation
NURSE NAVIGATOR ENDOWMENT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 49 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | $800,738 | $11,750 |
| 2022 | 42 | $1,042,308 | $12,500 |
| 2023 | 1 | $745,959 | $745,959 |
| 2024 | 1 | $973,469 | $973,469 |
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. Lienemann Charitable Foundation Inc has 27 of them, worth $10.7M. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| See Attached Schedule | Lincoln, NE | $3,315,000 |
| See Attached Schedule | Lincoln, NE | $2,982,500 |
| The Bryan Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $1,000,000 |
| The Bryan Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $950,000 |
| Lincoln Children's Zoo | Lincoln, NE | $425,000 |
| Lincoln Children's Zoo | Lincoln, NE | $350,000 |
| University of Nebraska Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $300,000 |
| University of Nebraska Foundation | Lincoln, NE | $200,000 |
| Lake Cunningham Development Trust | Omaha, NE | $175,000 |
| Estes Park Health Foundation | Estes Park, CO | $150,000 |
| Omaha Zoo Foundation | Omaha, NE | $125,000 |
| Estes Park Health Foundation | Estes Park, CO | $100,000 |
| Lake Cunningham Development Trust | Omaha, NE | $100,000 |
| Lincoln Symphony Orchestra | Lincoln, NE | $100,000 |
| Lincoln Children's Zoo | Lincoln, NE | $85,000 |
Where its money goes
95% 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.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $12,750. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Nebraska.
- 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 Lienemann Charitable Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: Pobox 81407, Lincoln, NE, 68501. 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 47-6044090 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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