Harper Family Foundation

The Harper Family Foundation is a legacy family foundation built on the fortune of Charles Harper, the late CEO of ConAgra Foods who transformed the company into a Fortune 50 enterprise. Today the board consists exclusively of eight family members — Dr. Charles Mike Harper Jr., Mary Harper, Kathleen Wenngatz, Rebecca Wenngatz, Chris Murphy, Elizabeth Murphy, John Herrold, and Bregan Herrold — each compensated a modest $8,000 annually. There is no professional program staff, no formal RFP cycle, and no public-facing grant portal.

The single most important strategic fact for any grant seeker: this foundation does not make direct grants to nonprofits at this time. Since at least 2020, every documented dollar of Harper Family Foundation grantmaking has flowed as general operating support to the Omaha Community Foundation. The three transactions on record total $11.66M across three grants — an average of approximately $3.89M per transfer — all coded "GENERAL" to OCF. This is a deliberate architectural choice: the family deploys capital community-wide through an intermediary rather than managing an internal grants program.

For organizations seeking Harper resources, the practical path runs through OCF's competitive grantmaking programs, where Harper funds are pooled with other donors' contributions and distributed to Omaha-area nonprofits. Building a strong relationship with OCF program staff is the highest-leverage move any applicant can make.

Historically, before the shift to OCF pass-through giving, the foundation awarded direct grants to organizations including the Alexis De Tocqueville Society, Cornbelt Diabetes Connection, and Angeles Among Us. These past grantees reflect a broad civic philanthropy model: education, health, youth, social services, and religious organizations in the Omaha metro area. If the family ever reestablishes a direct grantmaking program, organizations in those sectors with deep Omaha roots and strong local credibility will be best positioned.

First-time applicants who attempt direct contact should reach the foundation by phone at 402-778-1312 or mail to PO Box 241259, Omaha, NE 68124-5259. Written requests should be concise, mission-focused, and tied to demonstrable community impact in Omaha. Given the all-family board, a personal introduction through trusted civic or business networks — particularly those with ConAgra/Conagra Brands connections — is vastly more effective than unsolicited correspondence.

Harper Family Foundation's grantmaking has undergone two distinct eras. From its 1993 founding through approximately 2015, it operated as a modest family foundation with assets under $30M and annual giving under $1.3M. The period 2015-2019 saw a dramatic capital infusion — assets surged from $28.2M (2015) to $173.6M (2019), a 515% increase, almost certainly reflecting estate planning transfers or the movement of ConAgra-related assets after the death of founder Charles Harper.

Full giving history from available 990 data: - 2012: $1.39M total giving, $22.2M assets - 2013: $817K total giving, $24.7M assets - 2014: $877K total giving, $27.0M assets - 2015: $1.26M total giving, $28.2M assets - 2019: $9.28M total giving, $173.6M assets - 2020: $10.57M total giving, $167.7M assets - 2021: $13.23M total giving, $168.6M assets - 2022: $3.19M total giving, $173.3M assets - 2023: $10.17M total giving, $167.5M assets - 2024: ~$10.63M disbursements, $169.1M assets

Post-2019 annual giving averages approximately $9.5M, with a meaningful outlier in 2022 ($3.19M) that may reflect a deliberate pause or a year of portfolio repositioning. Total assets have been remarkably stable at $167M-$173M since 2019, suggesting the foundation is well-managed to the IRS's 5% minimum distribution requirement while preserving principal.

All three grantee transactions on record are single large transfers to the Omaha Community Foundation (averaging $3.89M each), all designated for "GENERAL" operating support. There is no documented program-area breakdown or geographic sub-allocation visible in public filings. Prior to the OCF consolidation, grant sizes ranged from $1,000 to $500,000 for individual awards, with rare exceptional grants reaching $11 million. Net investment income drives nearly all revenue — $7.86M in 2023 — underscoring the endowment-like character of the foundation.

The Harper Family Foundation sits in the mid-tier of Omaha's private philanthropic landscape — substantial enough to move markets at OCF, but operating far more quietly than the region's headline funders. Peer foundations in the Omaha/Nebraska ecosystem offer useful contrast:

Among Omaha foundations, Harper is notable for its unusually opaque grantmaking structure — routing everything through OCF rather than maintaining a visible direct-grant program. This contrasts sharply with the Sherwood Foundation, which publishes detailed guidelines and runs competitive cycles, or the Peter Kiewit Foundation, which operates a formal LOI process. The Buffett Foundation dwarfs all regional peers in scale but is similarly closed to unsolicited applicants. For organizations that cannot access Harper directly, the Sherwood Foundation and OCF's competitive programs represent the most accessible alternatives in the same funding ecosystem.

The most significant confirmed recent news is a potential September 2024 announcement of a $10 million gift from a Harper Family Foundation to Mayo Clinic, earmarked to launch an AI education in medicine program. That grant would train medical staff to deploy AI ethically for patient care. Caution: A second Harper Family Foundation with EIN 58-1921771 exists in ProPublica's database; the attribution to the Omaha foundation (EIN 47-0761456) has not been independently confirmed.

Beyond that item, 2024 990 data (filed but partial in the DB) shows $169.1M in total assets — essentially flat from 2023's $167.5M — and approximately $10.6M in charitable disbursements, continuing the $10M annual run rate established since 2020. No leadership changes are documented in recent 990 filings; the same eight family trustees have served consistently since at least 2019. Trustee compensation dropped from $8,000 to $4,000 per person in at least one filing year (2020), then returned to $8,000, suggesting modest governance adjustments rather than structural changes.

The Omaha Community Foundation — the foundation's exclusive grantee since approximately 2020 — reported that metro area nonprofits received more than $250 million in combined contributions in 2024, a figure that likely includes Harper distributions flowing through OCF's donor-advised and discretionary programs. No new direct grantmaking program, RFP launch, or leadership announcement from Harper Family Foundation itself has surfaced in public sources through early 2026.

Access the foundation through Omaha Community Foundation, not directly. Every dollar Harper Family Foundation has publicly distributed in recent years routes through OCF. Organizations should pursue OCF's competitive grant cycles — particularly the Community Grants and Capacity Building programs — rather than attempting direct Harper outreach. OCF program staff can speak to how Harper's unrestricted dollars are being deployed.

If pursuing direct contact, the only available channels are phone (402-778-1312) and postal mail (PO Box 241259, Omaha, NE 68124-5259). There is no email address, no web portal, and no submission form. A written request should be one to two pages maximum: mission statement, specific project description, clear community impact tied to Omaha, requested amount, and proof of 501(c)(3) status. Do not submit before establishing a warm introduction if at all possible.

Leverage ConAgra/Conagra Brands networks. The foundation's roots are in Charles Harper's ConAgra legacy. Board members of Conagra Brands, members of Omaha's business civic leadership (YPO, Chamber), and long-time United Way of the Midlands leaders are the most likely pathways to a trustee introduction.

Align with legacy priorities. Even in the pass-through era, the family has stated consistent interest in: education (K-12 and higher ed), health and human services, youth development, civic projects, and religious organizations in the Omaha metro. Frame proposals around community-wide systemic impact rather than program-specific outputs.

Do not expect a response timeline. The foundation has no professional staff, no stated review cycles, and no acknowledgment protocol for unsolicited requests. If you haven't heard within 90 days of mailing, a single follow-up call is appropriate. Persistence beyond that is counterproductive with family foundations of this profile.

General operating support is the language that works here. All documented grants are for general operating support. Proposals should emphasize organizational strength, financial sustainability, and track record — not narrow project deliverables.