Woods Charitable Fund

What Woods Charitable Fund does

Woods Charitable Fund, Inc. is a private charitable foundation organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, established in 1941 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska at 1248 'O' Street, Suite 1130. It awards grants to eligible nonprofit organizations serving the Lincoln community across four focus areas: Arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, and Human Services. The foundation operates a structured grantmaking process with two semi-annual cycles; organizations submit Letters of Intent by February 15 or August 15 deadlines, are reviewed by staff, and invited applicants complete full proposals through a third-party web-based grant application system (grantinterface.com), with awards distributed after board approval.

The foundation runs three grant products: general operating support, project support, and the Breakthrough Initiative Grants program launched in 2017 for innovative, multi-year collaborative projects. It is associated with the Woods family; Tom Woods serves as President, and the foundation's board underwent a leadership transition following Donna W. Woods's retirement. Named grantees include Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln, Food Bank of Lincoln, Lincoln Literacy Council, LUX Center for the Arts, Civic Nebraska, Legal Aid of Nebraska, Flatwater Shakespeare Company, Mourning Hope, El Centro de las Américas, and Educare of Lincoln.

The fund's geographic scope is strictly limited to Lincoln, Nebraska, and it does not disclose commercial revenue, endowment size, or investment income; reported scale signals are grant outflows rather than inflows. Total annual grants have ranged from approximately $1.5M (2019) and $1.65M (2020) down to recent semi-annual cycles of $365K–$960K, with a pandemic-era peak of more than $1.8M awarded in May 2020. Recent infrastructure commitments include the Fall 2025 groundbreaking of the new Cultural Centers of Lincoln collaborative center, expected to open in 2027.

Name

Woods Charitable Fund

Legal name

Woods Charitable Fund

Website

https://woodscharitable.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1941

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Woods Charitable Fund is a 501(c)(3) private foundation established in 1941 in Lincoln, Nebraska that awards grants to local nonprofit organizations across Arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, and Human Services through semi-annual cycles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAE

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYBPADAOAB

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors)

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/Donor Coordination, Grantmaking & Development Finance Programs

Keywords

• Charitable grantmaking
• Nonprofit funding programs
• Private foundation grants
• Community philanthropy
• Civic grant programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lincoln

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Woods Charitable Fund provides grant funding to eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in Lincoln, Nebraska, across four focus areas: Arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, and Human Services. It offers general operating support, project support, and multi-year Breakthrough Initiative Grants for innovative community projects, distributed through biannual spring and fall grant cycles via a web-based application system.

Product overview

Woods Charitable Fund is a charitable foundation organization that does not offer a technology product in the traditional sense. The organization focuses on grant-making to eligible nonprofit organizations in Lincoln, Nebraska, with funding priorities in Arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, and Human Services. The Fund operates a web-based grant application and evaluation system for processing grant requests, but this is an internal operational tool rather than a product offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Breakthrough Initiative Grants: Special grant program for innovative, collaborative projects that may have trouble attracting other funding

Products and services

• General Operating and Project Support Grants Grants awarded to eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in Lincoln, Nebraska across four focus areas: Arts & Culture, Civic & Community, Education, and Human Services. Available as general operating support or project support through biannual grant cycles with Feb. 15 and Aug. 15 Letter of Intent deadlines.
• Breakthrough Initiative Grants Multi-year grant program for innovative, collaborative community projects that may have trouble attracting other funding. Designed to support creative alternatives and more just, effective approaches to meeting Lincoln, Nebraska community needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1.8 million awarded in May 2020 during pandemic relief efforts
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Omaha Community Foundation: Nebraska community foundation operating primarily in the Omaha metro. Shares community-foundation structure, donor-advised funds, and grant cycle operations but does not directly compete in Lincoln's market.

Direct peers

• Lincoln Community Foundation: Lincoln, Nebraska-based community foundation making grants across civic, education, arts, and human services in the same geographic market. Direct overlap in mission, focus areas, and grantee ecosystem as Woods Charitable Fund.
• Robert and Ardis James Foundation: Family foundation with Nebraska roots supporting education, arts, and human services initiatives. Comparable size, family governance model, and thematic focus areas to Woods Charitable Fund.
• The Cooper Foundation: Nebraska-based family foundation funding education, human services, and the arts. Similar governance structure, focus area mix, and Lincoln/Nebraska footprint to Woods Charitable Fund.
• The Sherwood Foundation: Nebraska-based family foundation active in civic engagement, education, and community development with similar programmatic structure and family-stewardship model. Comparable focus on Nebraska-rooted grantmaking.

Broad incumbents

• Peter Kiewit Foundation: Large Nebraska-based private foundation with broader geographic reach and substantially larger endowment. Operates in overlapping focus areas (education, human services, civic) and is a meaningful counterparty in the state's philanthropic landscape.
• ConAgra Brands Foundation: Corporate foundation based in Nebraska supporting hunger relief, education, and community development. Overlaps with Woods in human services and education focus areas, but operates with corporate-sponsor governance and a much larger scale.
• Mutual of Omaha Foundation: Nebraska-headquartered corporate foundation supporting youth, education, and community programs. Overlaps in human services and education focus areas but operates across a broader Nebraska geography with corporate funding dynamics.

Emerging players

• Hawks Foundation: Private family foundation focused on Nebraska communities with grantmaking in arts, education, and human services. Comparable thematic focus and family-stewardship model, though at a smaller scale than Woods Charitable Fund.
• Nebraska Cultural Endowment: Statewide arts and culture endowment that overlaps with Woods' Arts & Culture focus area and supports cultural institutions in Nebraska. Smaller and more specialized, serving as a thematic peer rather than direct competitor for grantees.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WoodsCharitableFund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/woods-charitable-fund-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Woods Charitable Fund