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· Private foundation

Buck and Lois Scheele Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$862k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20232025.

Health$805kYouth Development$361kArts & Culture$250kCivil Rights$250kEducation$241kReligion$175kCommunity Improvement$100kHuman Services$40kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k12 grants · $162k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $200k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$11,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$25M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BETHEL LUTHERAN HOME$500,000
FAMILY CRISIS SHELTER$100,000
ECKERT FOUNDATION$50,000
HARMONIC CREATIVE WORLD$50,000
WPRD FOUNDATION$40,000
CHRISTMAS FOR KIDS$20,000
ST JOSEPH'S SCHOOL$11,000
NORTHERN PLAIN-YOUTH FOR CHRIST$11,000
FIRE & IRON$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
IMPACT FOUNDATION-TECH4KIDS$10,000
WPRD FOUNDATION$10,000
UPPER MISSOURI MINISTRIES-SPRING BR$10,000
THE STONE FOUNDATION$10,000
WESTERN STAR LITERACY CENTER$10,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY23–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%BETHEL LUTHERAN HOME: $500k → 8%ST VINCENT DEPAL: $20k → 10%MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF ND: $50k → 12%WILLISTON STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $150k → 8%IMPACT FOUNDATION-TECH4KIDS: $20k → 12%BETHEL LUTHERAN HOME: $100k → 8%IMPACT FOUNDATION-TECH4KIDS: $20k → 12%BETHEL LUTHERAN HOME: $100k → 8%IMPACT FOUNDATION-TECH4KIDS: $10k → 12%WILLISTON COMMUNITY BUILDERS: $100k → 8%FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH: $50k → 8%WILLISTON STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $50k → 8%WESTERN STAR LITERACY CENTER: $20k → 8%CHRISTMAS FOR KIDS: $20k → 8%COYOTE CLAY TARGET LEAGUE INC: $20k → 8%MILITARY AFFAIRS COMM-WILLISTON BAS: $20k → 8%CHRISTMAS FOR KIDS: $20k → 8%NORTHERN PLAIN-YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $11k → 8%ST JOSEPH'S SCHOOL: $11k → 8%FIRE & IRON: $10k → 8%THE STONE FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%OLIVE MOTHERHOOD FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%CHI-ST ALEXIUS: $10k → 8%CHI-ST ALEXIUS: $10k → 8%WESTERN STAR LITERACY CENTER: $10k → 8%CHI-ST ALEXIUS: $10k → 8%FIRE & IRON: $10k → 8%FREEDOM CHURCH INC: $5k → 8%UPPER MISSOURI MINISTRIES-SPRING BR: $60k → 8%UPPER MISSOURI MINISTRIES: $50k → 8%UPPER MISSOURI MINISTRIES-SPRING BR: $10k → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.9M · 11 repeat orgs$432k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +162% since the first grant, against +23% for the ones you funded once.

11 repeat relationships — 10 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
11

Total granted

$1.9M
$340k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+162%
+23%

Still filing today

36%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $92k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’23’24’25
Recreation & SportsEducationCivil RightsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • FC
    FAMILY CRISIS SHELTER INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $250k · revenue +37%
  • HC
    HARMONIC CREATIVE WORLD
    3× · 2023–2025 · $200k · revenue +162% · 94% of their budget
  • WS
    WILLISTON STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $200k · revenue +433%

Funded once

  • WC
    WILLISTON COMMUNITY BUILDERS
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue -65%
  • MF
    MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF NORTH DAKOTA
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +23%
  • UM
    UPPER MISSOURI MINISTRIES
    one grant, 2023 · $50k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Williston Coyote Foundation

To advance, promote, and improve all aspects of the williston public school system, its students, former students, teachers, employees, and to provide for a forum for the reflection of the sentiments of the alumni and friends of the…

2
Williston Area Chamber of Commerce

The williston area of commerce is dedicated to advancing the exceptional economic growth of the greater williston area, fostering a community where people want to live and thrive, not just work.our vision is to advance the economic,…

3
Williston Central Christian Academy Inc

Helping equip students to embrace truth, strive for academic excellence and model Christian behavior in their home,community and culture for Christ. The ultimate goal is to guide students to embrace a Biblical world view,embracing…

Education
4
Williston Sea Lions Inc

Provide every memeber an opportunity to improve swimming skills and achieve success at his or her level of ability, from novice to international competitor.

Recreation & Sports
5
Williston Parks & Recreation Foundation Inc

None

Community Improvement
6
Wahpeton Breckenridge Area Chamber

To promote the Wahpeton Breckenridge area through the enhancement of community growth and business development.

7
Teton Booster Club Inc

Provide support for all athletic programs and for scholarships for the general student body at williston state college.

Education
8
Willmar Community Theatre Inc

The theatre's mission is to provide affordable, quality performing arts to west central minnesota.

Arts & Culture
9
Winona Area Chamber of Commerce

To promote business development and tourism in winona minnesota and the surrounding area

10
Sioux Falls Washington High School Chorus Boosters Club

Support the chorus at washington high school

Education
11
Willington Public Library

The willington public library mission statement: we welcome and support all people in their enjoyment of reading and lifelong learning. we are dedicated to enriching the community by providing access to a variety of resources, services,…

Education
12
Wissahickon Skating Club

Wissahickon skating club, a nonprofit corporation that operates an ice skating rink in the chestnut hill section of philadelphia, pennsylvania, was formed for charitable and educational activities for its members and the surrounding…

Recreation & Sports

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Williston State College Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Harmonic Creative World. 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

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 9 of the 27 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
6/9
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

BETHEL LUTHERAN HOME — $700,000 · OtherBETHEL LUTHERAN HOMEECKERT FOUNDATION — $300,000 · OtherECKERT FOUNDATIONUPPER MISSOURI MINISTRIES-SPRING BR — $70,000 · Other+18 more — $472,000 · Other+18 moreHARMONIC CREATIVE WORLD — $200,000 · EducationHARMONIC CREATIVE W…WILLISTON STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $200,000 · EducationWILLISTON STATE COL…FAMILY CRISIS SHELTER INC — $250,000 · Civil RightsFAMILY CRISI…WILLISTON COMMUNITY BUILDERS — $100,000 · Recreation & SportsCOYOTE CLAY TARGET LEAGUE INC — $20,000 · Recreation & SportsWilliston Basin Skating Club Inc — $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$1,542,000Education$400,000Civil Rights$250,000Recreation & Sports$130,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetFAMILY CRISIS SHELTER INC — $250,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetHARMONIC CREATIVE WORLD — $200,000 over 3y, 94% of budgetWILLISTON STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $200,000 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetWILLISTON COMMUNITY BUILDERS — $100,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF NORTH DAKOTA — $50,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetWESTERN STAR LITERACY CENTER — $30,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetCOYOTE CLAY TARGET LEAGUE INC — $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetWilliston Basin Skating Club Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

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

  • Who funds FAMILY CRISIS SHELTER INC
  • Who funds HARMONIC CREATIVE WORLD
  • Who funds WILLISTON STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION
  • Who funds WILLISTON COMMUNITY BUILDERS
  • Who funds MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF NORTH DAKOTA
  • Who funds WESTERN STAR LITERACY CENTER
  • Who funds COYOTE CLAY TARGET LEAGUE INC
  • Who funds Williston Basin Skating Club Inc
  • Who funds Williston Band Boosters

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Ardean & Colleen Aafedt FoundationCO15.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ardean & Colleen Aafedt Foundation · Williston Convention and Visitors Bureau · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Buck and Lois Scheele Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%your 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
    1report 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, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Buck and Lois Scheele Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Buck and Lois Scheele Foundation 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 27 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

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

    Source object · view filing

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