Rebensdorf Family Foundation

Rebensdorf Family Foundation is a small, closely-held Omaha family foundation (EIN 20-8090503, founded 2007) run entirely by three unpaid family/associate directors — John H. Rebensdorf (President & Treasurer), Margaret J. Rebensdorf (Secretary), and Dennis J. Duffy (Director) — with $3.6 million in assets and roughly $200,000-$230,000 in annual giving. Multiple independent sources (Grantable, Candid, GrantAdvance) and the foundation's own "preselected only" designation confirm it does not accept unsolicited proposals; its website (rebensdorf.org) is currently offline for maintenance and has never published a grants portal or guidelines. This is fundamentally a relationship-driven, invitation-based funder, not an open-application program. Of 285 tracked grants totaling $792,990, 184 (65%) went to Nebraska organizations, overwhelmingly in the Omaha metro, with the balance split among a small, stable set of out-of-state causes the family evidently cares about personally — most notably railroad heritage museums in Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee alongside the National Railroad Hall of Fame, a pattern consistent with a Rebensdorf family background tied to Nebraska's railroad industry. First-time seekers should not expect a cold LOI to work. The realistic path in is a warm introduction through an already-funded intermediary — the University of Nebraska Foundation, Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha institutions (Marian High School, Mercy High School, Creighton Prep, St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Charities Omaha), or Omaha civic/human-services circles (Open Door Mission, Heartland Family Service, Food Bank for the Heartland) — or genuine alignment with a niche the family has already shown passion for, such as railroad preservation. Grant sizes are modest ($100-$10,700 per gift, per the most recent typical-grant data, median $1,500), so this foundation functions best as a small supplemental gift within a larger funding mix, not an anchor grant. The clearest signal of favor is repeat funding: most top recipients (University of Nebraska Foundation, Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha, Millard Public Schools Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul, Open Door Mission) received the same or similar grant 3-4 years running, so once in, quiet, low-friction annual re-engagement — a brief thank-you and impact update rather than a new formal ask — appears to be what sustains the relationship.

Across the tracked grant history, Rebensdorf Family Foundation made 285 grants totaling $792,990 (average $2,782/grant); its own reported typical-grant data for the most recent filing year shows 69 grants ranging from $100 to $10,700, with a median of just $1,500 — this is a foundation of many small gifts, not a few large ones. The single largest cumulative recipient is University of Nebraska Foundation ($56,200 across 4 grants), followed by Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha ($37,800/4 grants), Millard Public Schools Foundation ($37,700/4 grants), St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church ($33,940/4 grants), and Open Door Mission ($27,000/4 grants) — no single grant in the visible data exceeds roughly $14,000 in any one recipient-year. By cause area (based on the top 50 recipients, which account for $738,440 of the $792,990 total): health/medical causes take the largest share at roughly 24% (Children's Hospital and Medical Center Foundation, Autism Speaks, HETRA equine therapy, St. Jude's, Smile Train, Nebraska Methodist Hospital Foundation, Madonna Foundation), closely followed by education at roughly 28% (University of Nebraska Foundation, Children's Scholarship Fund, Millard Schools Foundation, Marian and Mercy High Schools, Hillsdale College, Creighton Prep), and basic-needs/human-services at roughly 23% (Open Door Mission, Catholic Charities Omaha, Salvation Army Omaha, Heart Ministry Center, Heartland Hope Mission, Food Bank for the Heartland). Catholic religious institutions draw about 7%, arts and culture (Omaha Performing Arts, Omaha Symphony, Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha Zoo Foundation, The Durham Museum) about 7%, and a distinctive railroad-heritage niche (National Railroad Hall of Fame, Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, Railroaders Heritage Corporation in PA, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum) about 5% — small in dollars but notable because it is the foundation's only major funding category with no Nebraska or Catholic-institution tie. Geographically, Nebraska captures 184 of 285 grants (65%), with the next largest state footprints in New York (17 grants) and Florida (11), likely reflecting personal or family connections rather than programmatic expansion. Total annual giving has held in a fairly narrow band — $187,806 (FY2020), $210,838 (FY2021), a peak of $230,117 (FY2022), $209,272 (FY2023), and $200,750 in the newly-filed FY2025 return — off a $3.6-3.8 million asset base that has been essentially flat since a large funding event around FY2019 tripled it from roughly $1.2 million in prior years.

All five peers were matched purely on nearly identical asset size (within about $400 of Rebensdorf's $3,611,554) and shared NTEE classification (Philanthropy & Grantmaking, T22), but none publish grantee lists, websites, or giving figures in the available data — a strong indicator that Rebensdorf's profile (a single-family, unpaid-director, invite-only foundation with no public application process) is the norm rather than the exception at this asset tier. For grant seekers, this means peer benchmarking offers little competitive intelligence here: the more useful comparison is Rebensdorf's own past grantees, since foundations this size and this closely held almost never publish RFPs or open cycles, and success depends on personal or institutional relationships rather than matching a published funding profile.

The most recent available filing (fiscal year ended June 2025, filed with the IRS on August 6, 2025) shows Rebensdorf Family Foundation with $3,611,554 in net assets, $238,489 in revenue, and $200,750 in charitable disbursements (98.9% of expenses) — figures that closely track the foundation's FY2023 return ($209,272 in total giving on $3,576,014 in assets) and confirm continuity rather than any major change in scale or direction. No news articles, press releases, or public announcements about the foundation were found in web search for 2025 or 2026, which is consistent with its profile as a quiet, three-person family foundation with no communications presence — its own website is currently offline for maintenance, displaying only a placeholder message and a contact email. The three listed directors — John H. Rebensdorf (President & Treasurer), Margaret J. Rebensdorf (Secretary), and Dennis J. Duffy (Director) — appear unchanged across every filing year in the available data, with zero officer compensation reported each year, indicating a stable, unpaid family governance structure with no recent leadership turnover. In the absence of any new program announcements, the most relevant "recent activity" for applicants is the pattern of steady, repeat funding to the same core group of Omaha-area organizations (Catholic schools and parishes, human-services agencies, University of Nebraska Foundation) plus the recurring railroad-heritage gifts, both of which continued through the FY2023 and FY2025 filings with no sign of new causes being added.

There is no open application process to optimize — the foundation is confirmed by multiple independent sources as preselected-only and does not review unsolicited proposals, and its website carries no grants guidelines, LOI form, or portal (it is currently offline entirely). Do not submit a cold proposal by mail or email to the listed contact (jim.rebensdorf@rebensdorf.org / 14164 Seward St, Omaha, NE 68154); without an existing relationship it is very unlikely to be reviewed. The highest-value move is identifying a warm connection: organizations already in the foundation's orbit include University of Nebraska Foundation, Marian High School, Mercy High School, Creighton Preparatory School, the Archdiocese of Omaha and its parishes, Open Door Mission, Catholic Charities Omaha, Heartland Family Service, and Food Bank for the Heartland — a board member, major donor, or staff connection at any of these could plausibly open a conversation with the Rebensdorf or Duffy families. A second, more unusual angle is the foundation's demonstrated personal interest in railroad heritage preservation (National Railroad Hall of Fame, Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, Railroaders Heritage Corporation in Pennsylvania, Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum) — this is the one category funded well outside Nebraska and outside the Catholic/human-services cluster, suggesting a family tie to the railroad industry; a rail-history or preservation nonprofit anywhere in the country may have a better opening than a generic nonprofit inside Nebraska with no connection at all. Because typical individual grants are small ($100-$10,700, median $1,500), position any ask as a modest, specific need (e.g., a program supply cost or scholarship stipend) rather than a large capital or multi-year request — the data shows no grants in the tens of thousands in a single year to any one organization. If your organization has already received funding, the clearest path to renewal is a brief, low-effort annual touchpoint (a short impact update or thank-you note) rather than a new formal proposal, since most repeat recipients simply continued receiving similar gifts year over year without evidence of a renewal application process. Avoid generic form-letter outreach; given the tiny, all-family governance structure, anything that reads as mass-mailed is unlikely to get read at all.