Cl Werner Foundation

The CL Werner Foundation is a family-directed private foundation based in Valley, Nebraska, established by trucking magnate CL Werner and his wife Rachel, whose personal philosophy — "be honest, work hard, and treat people right" — visibly shapes its giving. The board remains tightly held: Mary R. Werner serves as President, Gail M. Werner-Robertson chairs the board, and Stefanie K. Christensen serves as Secretary/Treasurer, with several other Werner and Robertson family members and long-time associates rounding out governance. This is a relationship-driven funder, not a formulaic RFP shop — there is no public opportunities portal or formal RFP cycle, and applications flow through a single grant inquiry channel that the Foundation uses to gauge mission fit before inviting a fuller request. First-time applicants should expect a two-stage relationship: an initial inquiry demonstrating alignment with the Foundation's four pillars (faith, family, health, education), followed — if there's a fit — by a request for a document packet (501(c)3 letter, Form 990, budget, financials, impact letter). The grantee list confirms this isn't a niche funder: of 63 recent grants totaling $4.92M, recipients span major capital campaigns (University of Nebraska Foundation's $2.04M cancer hospital gift, Omaha Zoo Foundation's $1M orangutan forest renovation), regional health and human-services nonprofits (Open Door Mission, Heartland Hope Mission, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital), and small community and faith-based organizations receiving four- and five-figure grants (Story Street Pantry at $1,500, Oasis Counseling International at $15,000). First-time applicants without a personal or institutional connection to the Werner or Robertson families should expect longer odds for anything beyond modest general-operating or program support, since the largest gifts in the record clearly trace to organizations with direct founder ties (Creighton University, University of Nebraska). Smaller Nebraska nonprofits doing frontline human-services, health, or faith-based work have a demonstrably real path in, especially if they can show measurable community impact and lean, efficient operations — repeat funding (multiple grantees received 2+ grants) suggests the Foundation values sustained relationships over one-off gifts.

Across the 63 grants captured in the current data (recent-year snapshot), total giving is $4,919,893 with an average grant of $78,094 — but that average is skewed hard by two outlier capital gifts. The University of Nebraska Foundation received $2,035,957 across 2 grants for a cancer hospital building campaign, and the Omaha Zoo Foundation received $1,000,000 across 2 grants for orangutan forest renovations; together these two recipients account for 62% of all dollars granted. Strip those out and the remaining 61 grants total roughly $1.88M, averaging just over $30,000 each — a figure much more representative of what a typical applicant should expect. The bulk of the grant count clusters in the $10,000–$250,000 range: Skutt Catholic High School ($250,000 for a performing arts center capital campaign), Open Door Mission ($239,036 across 4 grants for homeless services), Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital ($200,000), and Retrieving Freedom Inc. ($200,000 for service-dog placement for veterans and autistic children). At the smaller end, grants of $1,500–$40,000 support food pantries, counseling services, children's museums, and COVID-relief efforts. Geographically, giving is overwhelmingly Nebraska-concentrated: 52 of 63 grants (83%) went to NE-based organizations, with small pockets in Colorado (4), Iowa (3), Missouri (2), and Oklahoma (2) — consistent with the Foundation's stated geographic focus on NE and CO. Historically, annual grants-paid figures swing widely: $4.1M (2019), $2.1M (2020), $129K (2021), $1.3M (2022), $2.1M (2023), reflecting a foundation that times big capital commitments (like the Creighton gift) around specific building campaigns rather than a smooth fixed payout. Total assets have held steady near $12.8–15.5M over the past several years, with net investment income consistently in the $950K-$1.07M range funding most of the annual grant budget.

The CL Werner Foundation sits among a cluster of similarly sized Philanthropy & Grantmaking-classified private foundations with assets just under $13M, though its actual annual giving output is markedly larger than most size-matched peers because its founders periodically fund large capital campaigns.

All five peer foundations are asset-matched almost to the dollar ($12.8M range) but none publish grantee lists or giving detail as rich as CL Werner's, making direct payout comparison difficult. What differentiates CL Werner from this peer set is transparency and an active public-facing grant inquiry process — most peers in this bracket appear to operate as closed, invitation-only family vehicles with no public application path, whereas CL Werner explicitly solicits inquiries and publishes application requirements on its website.

The most significant documented activity remains the CL and Rachel Werner Center for Health Sciences Education at Creighton University — an $85 million project (including a $10M Criss Complex renovation) anchored by a transformational lead gift from the founders, which opened in fall 2023 as the new home of Creighton's School of Medicine and now serves an estimated 5,900 students, faculty, and staff annually. No subsequent major capital announcements were found in web searches for 2025-2026. The Foundation's most recent publicly indexed Form 990 was filed September 14, 2025, consistent with its normal annual filing cadence and indicating the organization remains active and in good standing. Foundation leadership saw a modest transition around 2021: Gail M. Werner-Robertson's board chairmanship is noted as "thru 3/21" in one filing period and Brynn Robertson's board seat as "thru 5/21," with Joe Hartnett, Westley Werner, Aaron Luttrell, and Lyndsie Vacanti added to the board in subsequent filings — signaling a generational board refresh within the Werner/Robertson family circle rather than any change in mission or focus. No new program announcements, RFPs, or public statements from 2025-2026 were located beyond routine tax-filing activity; grant seekers should treat the Foundation's giving priorities (faith, family, health, education; NE/CO geographic focus) as stable and unchanged from prior years.

The CL Werner Foundation does not run a competitive open RFP — it operates a relationship-first inquiry model, so the single most important move for a first-time applicant is to submit a concise grant inquiry through the Foundation's website that clearly maps the organization's work to one or more of its four pillars: faith, family, health, or education. Because the Foundation reviews requests only quarterly (January, April, July, October), submit inquiries at least 4-6 weeks ahead of a review window to allow time for any follow-up requests before that cycle's meeting. Once invited to submit a full request, come prepared with the complete document packet the Foundation lists: 501(c)(3) determination letter, most recent Form 990, an itemized project budget (for capital or program-specific asks), a current financial statement, and — notably — an impact letter that spells out concretely how the grant will benefit the organization and the community it serves; this impact letter appears to carry real weight given how frequently the recipient list features tangible, measurable outcomes (service dogs placed, meals served, students housed). Given that Nebraska organizations receive 83% of grant dollars, out-of-state applicants should lead with any Nebraska or Colorado connection or footprint. A common mistake to avoid: treating this as a mass-mailing prospect — the Foundation's tight, family-run governance (Werner and Robertson family members hold every officer role) means proposals that read as generic or templated are unlikely to advance past the inquiry stage. Applicants should also plan for a long-term relationship rather than a one-time ask: several current grantees (Open Door Mission, Truckers Against Trafficking, Angels Among Us) received multiple grants, suggesting the Foundation rewards demonstrated follow-through and prefers renewing support to proven partners. Be aware of the re-application cooldown: organizations that receive three consecutive years of funding must sit out one year before reapplying, so build that gap into any multi-year funding plan.