Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation
ActivePrivate FoundationPhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
Cedar Falls, IAWebsite
About Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation
To work in partnership with others to improve the vitality of our community, addressing issues important now and into the future. The Foundation focuses support on a broad spectrum of needs including education that builds character, programs that enhance family life, key social issues, science programs that aim for community betterment, health and life skills, sports, fitness, and activities that recognize the value of people.
Focus Areas
Social IssuesEducationFamily Life & Community BettermentHealth, Recreation, & Fitness
Who They Fund
children and adolescents / school-aged youthlow-income familiesrefugee and immigrant youthsurvivors of domestic violence and human traffickingwomen in transitional recoverypeople with disabilities / adult day care participants
About Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation
A $35,000 grant to Successlink Inc for Together 4 Youth Programming is one example of how the Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation shows up in its service area: through competitive annual grants that back local nonprofits and government entities working on youth, family, health, and community needs. The foundation funds both program support and operating support, and its recent awards also include capital requests, such as school playground equipment, park construction, and a new fire station. In the 2025 grant list, several awards sit at the top end of the stated range, including support for Cedar Valley Preschool & Childcare Center’s Building Bright Futures Program and Transformations by Cedar Valley Angels’ Dare to Dream & Love Box Programs, each at $35,000. The foundation’s stated priorities extend across education that builds character, family life, social issues, science programs aimed at community betterment, health and life skills, sports, fitness, and activities that recognize the value of people. Its giving pattern reflects a broad community-support approach rather than a single-program or single-issue strategy.
What Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation Funds
Youth development is a visible thread in the foundation’s recent awards. It gave $35,000 to Successlink Inc for Together 4 Youth Programming and $30,000 to Boys & Girls Club of the Cedar Valley for operating support. Early learning and school readiness also appear in the portfolio: Cedar Valley Preschool & Childcare Center received $35,000 for Building Bright Futures Program, while Jesup Elementary PTO received $30,000 for capital for elementary school playground equipment. The foundation also supports family and crisis-related services. Waypoint Services received $30,000 for domestic violence victim services, and Riverview Center Inc received $30,000 for its crisis intervention program. Arts and enrichment are present too, including $30,000 to Hawkeye Community College Foundation for Hawkeye Celebrates the Arts! Program.
How Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation Gives
The stated grant size range is $1,000 to $35,000, and the recent awards cluster heavily at the top end, with multiple grants at $30,000 and several at $35,000. The foundation operates as a private foundation and awards annual competitive grants, with a separate biannual competitive grant program also listed. Unsolicited applications are accepted in the active grant programs. Recurring patterns appear in the program structure rather than in named grantees; the same general categories and county service area are repeated across the annual and biannual descriptions, indicating an established local grantmaking rhythm.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.2M
Total Assets
$49.9M
Total Revenue
$3.4M
Total Expenses
$2.5M
Geographic Reach
Local4 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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