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David & Janis Larson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

David & Janis Larson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$8.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
45
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$1.3M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$14MHealth$8.7MArts & Culture$5.1MEnvironment$4.6MYouth Development$3.2MHuman Services$2.0MPhilanthropy$1.6MRecreation & Sports$710kOther$0
02FY2024 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $190k
  • $50k–250k23 grants · $2.7M
  • $250k+11 grants · $5.5M
$100,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$140M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SANNEH FOUNDATION$1,301,500
KANSAS UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATION$1,051,000
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ATHLETICS$600,000
REDWOOD AREA LIBRARY FOUNDATION$500,000
CENTRAL SQUARE CULTURAL AND CIVIC CENTER$350,000
KANSAS UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATION$350,000
YMCA OF THE NORTH$300,000
ST CROIX VALLEY FOUNDATION$300,000
POPE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$250,000
PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION$250,000
KANSAS UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATION$250,000
VOYAGEUR OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL$230,000
THE PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION KANSAS CITY$200,000
REDWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY$200,000
WASHBURN CENTER FOR CHILDREN$150,000
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 (FY20–24, $7.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $2.2M → 11%PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $2.1M → 11%PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 11%PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 11%PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $250k → 11%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 grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$36M · 30 repeat orgs$2.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 27 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
6

Total granted

$36M
$1.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+10%

Still filing today

60%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.8M went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). 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

  • TK
    The Kansas University Endowment Association
    5× · 2020–2024 · $8.5M · revenue +64%
  • VO
    VOYAGEUR OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL
    5× · 2020–2024 · $4.6M · revenue +37%
  • TS
    THE SANNEH FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • CO
    CITY OF REDWOOD FALLS LIBRARY
    one grant, 2023 · $500k
  • AT
    ALEXANDRIA TECHNOLOGICAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
    one grant, 2022 · $400k
  • MU
    MANKATO UNIVERSITY MINNESOTA
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
How this is measured

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

04Its 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
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
2
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
3
The Minnesota Camp Fire Foundation

Ensure camp fire minnesota's strong future. with nature as the catalyst, camp fire minnesota energizes youth to discover their spark so their futures glow brighter.

Youth Development
4
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The minnesota chamber of commerce proactively leads the business community statewide to: advance pro-business, responsible minnesota public policy that creates jobs and grows the econony; provde member services to address evolving business…

—
5
Northland Foundation

The northland foundation supports northeastern minnesota people and communities working toward a future where everyone feels they belong and can thrive.

Philanthropy
6
The Minneapolis Foundation

The foundation cultivates generosity by taking action on the greatest civic, social, and economic needs partnering with nonprofits, facilitating grantmaking, driving research and advocacy, and providing services to donors seeking to make a…

Philanthropy
7
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

Creating powerful advocacy to enhance economic vitality in the minneapolis-st. paul region.

—
8
University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors

To provide the highest level of stewardship for university donors through professional management and oversight of the university of minnesota foundation's assets by creating a focused investment environment with clarity of purpose,…

Education
9
Great Mn Schools

We believe that great schools are the cornerstone of a just and thriving community. ensuring that every child is able to attend a school that works is our moral and social imperative - our children deserve no less.

Education
10
Minnesota State Fair Foundation

The minnesota state fair foundation's mission is to preserve and improve the historic minnesota state fairgrounds and support state fair programs and projects in agriculture, arts & culture, education, the environment, and history.

Philanthropy
11
Mn Community Measurement

Mn community measurement empowers stakeholders with meaningful information to drive improvement.

Health
12
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Camp Fire Minnesota; the most unlike its peers is Pope County Historical Society. 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

26 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. 26 of the 52 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/26
Grantees still filing
18/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Kansas University Endowment Association: $8,485,250 · EducationThe Kansas University Endowme…UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $1,250,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUND…AAHS DECA FOUNDATION: $500,000 · Education+1 more: $280,000 · EducationCENTRAL SQUARE CULTURAL AND CIVIC CENTER: $1,750,000 · OtherCENTRAL SQUARE CULTURAL AND CIV…COLLEGE POSSIBLE TWIN CITIES: $1,323,750 · OtherCOLLEGE POSSIBLE TWIN CITIESREDWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,200,000 · OtherREDWOOD HISTORICAL SOCIETYBIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERS: $1,200,000 · OtherBIG BROTHERS AND BIG SISTERSUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ATHLETICS: $600,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $525,000 · OtherREDWOOD AREA LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $500,000 · OtherCITY OF REDWOOD FALLS LIBRARY: $500,000 · OtherALEXANDRIA TECHNOLOGICAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $400,000 · OtherTHE PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION KANSAS CITY: $400,000 · Other+26 more: $2,954,500 · Other+26 morePINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $7,580,000 · Human ServicesPINKY SWEAR FOUNDATIONYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $1,325,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASS…+1 more: $25,000 · Human ServicesVOYAGEUR OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $4,640,000 · EnvironmentVOYAGEUR OUT…POPE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,390,000 · Arts & CultureGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $425,000 · Arts & CultureTHE SANNEH FOUNDATION: $1,451,500 · Youth DevelopmentCAMP FIRE MINNESOTA: $290,000 · Youth DevelopmentST CROIX VALLEY FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 · PhilanthropyCHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND: $100,000 · PhilanthropyMINNESOTA MILITARY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $20,000 · Philanthropy
Education$10,515,250Other$11,353,250Human Services$8,930,000Environment$4,640,000Arts & Culture$1,815,000Youth Development$1,741,500Philanthropy$1,720,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Kansas University Endowment Association: $8,485,250 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetPINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: $7,580,000 over 5y, 42% of budgetVOYAGEUR OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $4,640,000 over 5y, 25% of budgetST CROIX VALLEY FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 over 5y, 4.4% of budgetTHE SANNEH FOUNDATION: $1,451,500 over 2y, 14% of budgetPOPE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,390,000 over 5y, 66% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $1,325,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $1,250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAAHS DECA FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 3y, 77% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $425,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWashburn Center for Children: $300,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCAMP FIRE MINNESOTA: $290,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetFOOD FOR HUNGRY MINDS: $280,000 over 5y, 37% of budgetThe Children's Mercy Hospital: $255,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA ASSISTANCE COUNCIL FOR VETERANS: $235,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE GRIEF CLUB OF MINNESOTA: $225,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetEVERY THIRD SATURDAY INC: $185,000 over 3y, 9.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMINNESOTA MILITARY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetCAPABLE PARTNERS INC: $95,000 over 3y, 53% of budgetAMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS MN MINNESOTANORTH DAKOTASOUTH DAKOTA: $50,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetKANSAS CITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION: $35,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNEXT STEP KANSAS CITY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetNATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds The Kansas University Endowment Association ↗
  • Who funds PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds VOYAGEUR OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds ST CROIX VALLEY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE SANNEH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds POPE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AAHS DECA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Washburn Center for Children ↗
  • Who funds CAMP FIRE MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds FOOD FOR HUNGRY MINDS ↗
  • Who funds The Children's Mercy Hospital ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ASSISTANCE COUNCIL FOR VETERANS ↗
  • Who funds THE GRIEF CLUB OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds EVERY THIRD SATURDAY INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA MILITARY FAMILY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAPABLE PARTNERS INC ↗

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.

Greater Kansas City C…Saint Paul & Minnesot…The Minneapolis Found…The Richard M Schulze…Constance M Cooper Ch…Lamb Weston Charitabl…Otto Bremer TrustXcel Energy FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …Mightycause Charitabl…Charities Aid Foundat…National Philanthropi…
Greater Kansas City Community FoundationMO19.8× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Constance M Cooper Charitable Foundation · Lamb Weston Charitable Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust

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 David & Janis Larson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from David & Janis Larson Foundation. 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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.

    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 52 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on David & Janis Larson’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