We spend $17 million a year. Not all of it goes where you think.

Show Your Work is a 7-part series from the Health Trust on how we operate, how we make decisions, and why we think the community deserves more than our word for it.

This year, the Trust will spend approximately $17 million. That is 2026’s budget, and it is also our largest annual budget yet. It is not what we have spent every year since 2020, and it will change as the endowment grows. Most people who engage critically with that number assume it means $17 million is available for grants and direct community investment. That is not how it works, and understanding why is worth the five minutes it takes.

The $17 million has three destinations. The percentages below reflect the long-run average across the Trust’s full history, not this year’s budget alone. That average is the most honest way to show how the money moves.

The largest share, about 58%, is the required annual distribution to Banner Wyoming Medical Center. This is not a grant. It is not discretionary. It is a contractual obligation written into the governing agreement that created the Trust in 2020. When Banner Health acquired Wyoming Medical Center, the transaction came with a permanent requirement: the Trust must transfer 3.33% of its total assets to Banner WMC every year. In 2026, that transfer is approximately $9.3 million. The Trust does not control how Banner uses those funds, though Banner reports annually on how they are spent.

This matters for context. More than half of the Trust’s long-run spending is not a choice. It is the cost of the structure that makes everything else possible. Without the conversion that created the Trust, none of this money would exist as a community resource at all.

The second part, about 25%, is what the Trust invests directly into the community. This flows through general operating grants, participatory grantmaking, advocacy, research, and collaborative initiatives like NCSJ and the Youth Mental Health Collective. It also includes programs and positions the Trust funds directly: the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, operated by the Natrona County Library, which mails free books to registered children from birth to age 5; a Community Case Manager position at Community Action Partnership of Natrona County (CAPNC); a Director of Learning and Development position at the Wyoming Nonprofit Network (WNN); translation and interpretation services available to any Natrona County nonprofit; scholarships for people pursuing master’s degrees in public administration, social work, and professional counseling; event sponsorships that support community organizations throughout the year; and other investments that provide direct support to nonprofits serving Natrona County. This is the money the Trust controls. This is where our mission lives.

The third part, about 17%, is operations. Staff salaries and benefits. Office costs. Legal counsel. Investment management. Communications. For a permanent endowment managing $308 million, a grantmaking portfolio, and direct programming obligations that extend in perpetuity, this is what it costs to do the work well.

On staff compensation specifically: in 2024, the Trust engaged Croner, a firm that specializes in salary and compensation benchmarking for private foundations nationwide. Their analysis gave us a clear picture of what similar foundations in comparable locations pay people in comparable roles. We use that data to set salaries and update it every three years. Our compensation levels are set at the middle of the range. Not the highest. Not the lowest. We apply the same logic to our own operations that we apply to our grantees: underfunding the people doing complex, skilled work produces worse outcomes for everyone.

One more number worth knowing. As a private foundation, the Trust is required by the IRS to distribute at least 5% of its assets annually. The Banner distribution counts toward that requirement. In practice, the Trust has distributed beyond the 5% minimum in recent years, directing more resources into community investment while preserving the endowment’s long-term value.

The $17 million is not all the same kind of money. Knowing the difference is how you evaluate what the Trust actually does.

Want to learn more about our budget and spending? Check out our new FAQs and financial documents on our website.