Skip to content
Black Spring Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Black Spring Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$4.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$1.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$1.2MHealth$1.1MYouth Development$950kRecreation & Sports$500kFood & Nutrition$445kHuman Services$425kAnimals$395kEnvironment$220kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $45k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $555k
  • $250k+7 grants · $3.6M
$395,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Dementia Innovations$1,125,000
Bernies Book Bank$500,000
Sailing Education Assoc Of Sheboygan I$500,000
Boys & Girls Club of Sheboygan County$450,000
Sheboygan County Food Bank$400,000
Humane Society of Sheboygan County$395,000
SecureFutures Foundation Inc$250,000
Sheboygan County Warming Center & Comm$220,000
HER Alliance Inc$175,000
Weill Center Foundation Inc$100,000
Sheboygan Public Education Foundation$60,000
Meals on Wheels of Sheboygan County$45,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY25–25, $250k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SecureFutures Foundation Inc: $250k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce Inc

Promote sheboygan county business development.

—
2
Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation

The mission of the sheboygan county economic development corporation (scedc), a countywide private/public partnership, is to lead economic development efforts to improve the economic well-being and long-term prosperity of the businesses,…

—
3
Sheboygan County Chamber Foundation Inc

Provide educational development programs in sheboygan county

Arts & Culture
4
Sheboygan Area Credit Union

Our mission is to provide efficient, progressive financial services and products to our owner-members in agreement with credit union philosophy

—
5
Sheboygan Yacht Club

Promote yachting, boating and social activities of club members.

—
6
Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation Foundation

The mission of the sheboygan county economic development corporation foundation, a countywide private/public partnership, is to lead diversified economic & community development efforts in order to improve the long term prosperity of the…

Community Improvement
7
Family Service Association of Sheboygan Inc

Family service association of sheboygan, inc. is dedicated to helping individuals and families maintain and achieve financial stability and improve their quality of life. we accomplish this and enhance the community by providing education,…

Human Services
8
Sheboygan Youth Sailing Club Inc

Community youth boating education

—
9
Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization Inc

A spiritually based organization of faith communities to educate and advocate for social justice, dignity, and to improve quality of life for all people by being a bridge between community needs and partner resources. scio engages with the…

Religion
10
Environmental Park Trust of Sheboygan County

The promotion, development and maintenance of the ellwood h. may environmental park and its programs. the environmental park trust of sheboygan county was created to provide funding for the ellwood h. may environmental park developed to be…

—
11
The Sherburne Public Library

To provide for the operation, maintenance, and improvement of the sherburne public library.

Education
12
Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund Inc

To provide support to cancer victims. this support is primarily provided in two ways: 1) distribution of financial "gestures" to assist with the financial burden of a cancer diagnosis and 2) offering of healthy and active-living activities…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sheboygan Public Education Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Dementia Innovations Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

10 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 10 of the 13 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
5/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SHEBOYGAN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT: $762,128 · OtherSHEBOYGAN AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY INC: $450,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY INCSheboygan County Warming Center & Comm: $220,000 · OtherSheboygan County Warming Center & CommHER ALLIANCE: $175,000 · OtherHER ALLIANCESECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $250,000 · OtherSECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INCWEILL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Other+1 more: $45,000 · OtherDEMENTIA INNOVATIONS INC: $1,125,000 · HealthDEMENTIA INNOVATIONS IN…BERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $500,000 · Youth DevelopmentBERNIE'S B…SAILING EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF SHEBOYGAN INC: $500,000 · Recreation & SportsSAILING ED…SHEBOYGAN PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $410,000 · EducationSHEBOYGAN COUNTY FOOD BANK INC: $400,000 · Food & NutritionHUMANE SOCIETY OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY INC: $395,000 · Animals
Other$2,002,128Health$1,125,000Youth Development$500,000Recreation & Sports$500,000Education$410,000Food & Nutrition$400,000Animals$395,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%grantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDEMENTIA INNOVATIONS INC: $1,125,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetBERNIE'S BOOK BANK: $500,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetSAILING EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF SHEBOYGAN INC: $500,000 over 1y, 52% of budgetSHEBOYGAN PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $410,000 over 2y, 91% of budgetSECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $250,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetWEILL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Frank G & Frieda K Br…Lakeshore Community F…Alliant Energy Founda…Baird Foundation IncCatharine B Stayer Fa…Hayssen Family Founda…United Way of Sheboyg…The Sartori Family Fo…Kohler Foundation IncGreen Bay Packers Fou…Raymond James Charita…American Endowment Fo…
Frank G & Frieda K Brotz Family Foundation IncWI22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Frank G & Frieda K Brotz Family Foundation Inc · Lakeshore Community Foundation Inc · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · Catharine B Stayer Family Foundation Inc · Hayssen Family Foundation Inc · United Way of Sheboygan County Inc · The Sartori Family Foundation Inc · Kohler Foundation Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · American Endowment Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Black Spring Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Black Spring Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Black Spring Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Black Spring Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 13 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Black Spring’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home