The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation
At a glance
This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.
Key takeaways
- The filing says the Foundation makes contributions only to preselected organisations and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a cold application is unlikely to be considered.
- Its organisational grants mainly support reproductive health care and access to abortion and contraception, so your work should clearly sit within that area before you approach it.
- About 8 in 10 of its 1,098 grants fall between $100,000 and $4,500,000, with a median of about $400,000, so a request near that scale fits its usual pattern, though this band is typical rather than a ceiling.
- In its most recent filing, 66% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded earlier, so returning grantees hold a large share of its funding.
- The filing does not state a geographic focus, so no area should be treated as a rule about who may apply.
Overview
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is a US private foundation based in Omaha, NE.
What they fund
Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website and other web pages about the foundation (ap.org), with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.
Priority Areas
Its organisational grants mainly support reproductive health care organisations and access to abortion and contraception. Alongside this grantmaking, the Foundation awards competitive college scholarships to Nebraska students. The scholarship programme is for first-time freshmen who live in Nebraska, graduate from a Nebraska high school or earn a Nebraska GED, plan to attend a Nebraska public college and demonstrate financial need. The Foundation says the number of scholarships is limited, so not every eligible candidate receives an award. Its filings state that charitable contributions are made only to preselected organisations and that unsolicited requests are not accepted.
Themes
- Reproductive health care
- College scholarships
Geographic Focus
No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in District of Columbia, New York, Nebraska, the United States, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Africa.
What They Don't Fund
- The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation Scholarship only: private or out-of-state colleges
How to apply
The foundation states that it does not accept unsolicited requests.
Application success factors
- Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 66% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
- Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 1,098 grants to organisations were about $400,000 or less.
Where grants go
From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2024.
Grant dollars by state
6 other states: 6%
Outside the US or with no state on the filing: 51%
- The largest single recipient received 5% of grant dollars to organisations.
- In tax year 2024, 66% of grant dollars went to organisations The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
- 40% of grant dollars went directly to organisations outside the US (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania).
- 23% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.
Grants
How much do they typically give?
Share of 398 grants in tax year 2024 by size
Median $452k (tax year 2024)
The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:
- NAF Hotline Fund · Program support$60,574,7462024 tax year
- Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Nigeria · Program support$50,000,0002024 tax year
- Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria · Program support$35,000,0002024 tax year
- Health Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean · Program support$33,635,8872024 tax year
- Ministry of Health Rwanda · Program support$32,772,2832024 tax year
- Center for International Reproductive Health Training · Program support$30,000,9872024 tax year
- King Faisal Hospital Rwanda Foundation · Program support$27,874,7702024 tax year
- Planned Parenthood Federation of America · Program support$25,386,1432024 tax year
Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.
Officers and directors
- Emily Greenberg — Director
- Peter A Buffett — Director
- Susan A Buffett — Board Chair
- Michelle Martinson — Secretary & Treasurer / Vice President Finance
- Allen Greenberg — President / Director
From the latest Form 990-PF filing
3 years of tax filings
| Year | Total expenses | Grants paid | Assets | Filing document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 tax year | $547,735,315 | $495,514,975 | $1,922,627,251 | Filing for 2022 tax year |
| 2023 tax year | $763,281,148 | $695,209,110 | $2,272,738,773 | Filing for 2023 tax year |
| 2024 tax year | $996,611,994 | $908,844,493 | $2,839,484,794 | Filing for 2024 tax year |
Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
Sources
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At a glance
Applying to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required
Contact
- (402) 943-1300
- scholarships@stbfoundation.org
- Omaha, NE
- buffettscholarships.org
Applying to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required
Contact
- (402) 943-1300
- scholarships@stbfoundation.org
- Omaha, NE
- buffettscholarships.org