Molony Foundation
Bernard, IA · EIN 47-4869856. Reported 99 grants totalling $535,576 to 61 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. 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. Molony 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,500 and $5,000; the smallest was $59 and the largest $37,720. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resources Unite | Dubuque, IA | $138,792 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Patrick's Catholic Church | Bernard, IA | $50,128 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Latino Empowerment and Development | Peosta, IA | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Research for the Kids | Dubuque, IA | $35,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Presentation Lantern | Dubuque, IA | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Divine Word College Seminary | Epworth, IA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Maquoketa Community Cupboard Inc | Maquoketa, IA | $16,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Centrally Rooted Mission Inc | Dubuque, IA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| St Thomas Aquinas Pastorate | Cascade, IA | $13,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey | Dubuque, IA | $10,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Community Solutions of Eastern Iowa | Dubuque, IA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Dubuque Dream Center | Dubuque, IA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Matthias Catholic Parish Church Food Pantry | Cascade, IA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Avery Foundation | Dubuque, IA | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Erin Knipper | Cascade, IA | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| New Melleray Abbey Monastery | Peosta, IA | $7,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Dubuque Rescue Mission | Dubuque, IA | $6,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Sylur Horn | Schaumburg, IL | $6,062 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Convivium Urban Farmstead | Dubuque, IA | $5,200 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Various Individuals of the Western Dubuque Community School District | Farley, IA | $5,130 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Elizabeth Sheets | Maquoketa, IA | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Iowa Public Radio Inc | Des Moines, IA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Opening Doors | Dubuque, IA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary | Dubuque, IA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Farley Elementary School | Farley, IA | $3,762 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Tyler Soule | Oregon, WI | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chiarts Foundation | Chicago, IL | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ava Noonan | Bernard, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Callie Lynch | Cascade, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Carrie Elscamp | Sherrill, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Claire Molony | Cascade, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Elizabeth Ann Wessel | Colesburg, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ella Donavan | Peosta, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Erin Sheffield | Prosper, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Iowa PBS Foundation | Johnston, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jamie Kruse | Farley, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| John Federspiel | Bernard, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Josey Boyle | Peosta, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kalynn Vosberg | Potosi, WI | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lauren Henneberry | Asbury, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rance Churack | Coon Rapids, MN | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Regina Catholic Education Center | Iowa City, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tessa Nolan | Bernard, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Vanessa Rose Gaul | Dyersville, IA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bernard Fire Department | Bernard, IA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Iowa Newspaper Foundation | Des Moines, IA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| City of Dyersville Iowa | Dyersville, IA | $1,810 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Savrina Aguilar | Farley, IA | $1,467 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Individuals of the Western Dubuque Community School District | Farley, IA | $1,350 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jada Merrick | Maquoketa, IA | $1,250 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lilly Topping | Cascade, IA | $1,250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brody Supple | Cascade, IA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Dream Iowa | Des Moines, IA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Indigent Individual | Hawesville, KY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Madelyn Deutsch | Asbury, IA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Seton Catholic School | Farley, IA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Siteman Cancer Center (washington University in St Louis) | St Louis, MO | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Isd 701 Hibbing Community Education | Hibbing, MN | $705 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| American Cancer Society | Hagerstown, MD | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc | Dallas, TX | $111 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Network for Good Inc | Washington, DC | $59 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
22 of 61 (36%) 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 41%, across 4 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.
- Various Individuals of the Western Dubuque Community School District
FOR ASSISTANCE TO VARIOUS INDIGENT FAMILIES (SCHOOL SUPPLIES, SOCCER ACTIVITIES, FUNERAL SERVICES, CAR SEATS AND DAYCAMP SUPPLIES) - Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
HISPANIC OUTREACH MINISTRY OF EVANGELIZATION - Sylur Horn
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP FOR ATTENDING HARPER COLLEGE - Tyler Soule
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP FOR ATTENDING UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-STEVENS POINT - Elizabeth Sheets
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP FOR ATTENDING MOUNT MERCY UNIVERSITY - Erin Sheffield
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP FOR ATTENDING UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 26 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 | 9 | $44,000 | $1,500 |
| 2022 | 24 | $99,175 | $2,500 |
| 2023 | 22 | $102,620 | $2,500 |
| 2024 | 26 | $159,900 | $2,500 |
| 2025 | 18 | $129,881 | $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
96% of its giving went to organizations in Iowa. 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 $2,500. 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 Iowa.
- 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 Molony Foundation'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: 15343 Higginsport Rd, Bernard, IA, 52032. 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 47-4869856 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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