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Larry and Sharon Larson Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Larry and Sharon Larson Charitable 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.

$147k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$146k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$244kHousing & Shelter$40kArts & Culture$12kReligion$3kAnimals$2kEducation$1kHuman Services$1kPublic Safety & Disaster$300Other$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $660
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $146k
$146,492
Median grant
1
States reached
$35M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAYO CLINIC DONOR ADVISED FUND$146,492
Individual grant recipient$660
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%ANGLE FOUNDATION: $300 → 6%MAYO CLINIC DONOR ADVISED FUND: $146k → 9%NOKOMIS HEALTHY SENIORS: $1k → 11%LAKEWOOD REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FUND: $10k → 11%GENEVA CEMETARY: $132k → 12%INDUS SCHOOL DISTRICT: $1k → 12%STORY BOOK LODGE CHRISTIAN CAMP: $1k → 15%NORTHWEST MN FOUNDATION: $150 → 17%CFACT: $100 → 14%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $900 → 13%NATURE CONSERVANCY: $15 → 7%FAMILY MISSIONS COMPANY: $1k → 21%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $600 → 6%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $38k → 9%LAKE OF THE WOODS VETERANS MEMORIAL: $10k → 11%GENEVA CEMETERY: $66k → 12%SALVATION ARMY - GREATER MN: $300 → 12%STORY BOOK LODGE CHRISTIAN CAMP: $1k → 15%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $300 → 13%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $25k → 9%LOW COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2k → 11%GENEVA CEMETERY: $35k → 12%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $15k → 9%SCHILTZ FAMILY: $500 → 11%GENEVA CEMETERY: $26k → 12%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%LOW HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 → 11%GENEVA CEMETERY: $14k → 12%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%LOW HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 → 11%GENEVA CEMETARY: $660 → 12%MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $2k → 9%LAKE OF THE WOODS VETERANS MEMORIAL: $250 → 11%LOW HUMANE SOCIETY: $100 → 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.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$375k · 8 repeat orgs$164k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +49% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
12

Total granted

$375k
$17k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+49%

Still filing today

38%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $146k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthAnimalsPublic Safety & DisasterReligionOther
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

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    4× · 2017–2020 · $141k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    2× · 2023–2024 · $133k
  • MC
    MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2022 · $85k

Funded once

  • LR
    LAKEWOOD REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · revenue +13%
  • LC
    LOW COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    one grant, 2020 · $2k
  • IS
    INDUS SCHOOL DISTRICT
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Children's Health Care

We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.

Health
3
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
4
Children's Cancer Research Fund

Children's cancer research fund fuels transformational research to bring better treatments and cures to children with cancer.

Philanthropy
5
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
6
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
7
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives

To advance the business and policy interests of america's cooperatives and other farmer-owned enterprises.

—
8
American Society of Clinical Oncology Inc

See schedule o:asco is a professional oncology society committed to conquering cancer through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality patient care.

Health
9
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
10
The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Fdn Group

Susan g. komen 's mission is to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities & investing in breakthrough research to prevent & cure breast cancer.

—
11
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
12
Asco Association

Asco association promotes the common business interests of its members by: (1) advocating for policies that improve the quality of cancer care; (2) maintaining the highest standards of oncology medical care through programs supporting…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Minnesota Zoo Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Story Book Lodge Christian Camp. 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 23 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAYO CLINIC DONOR ADVISED FUND: $146,492 · OtherMAYO CLINIC DONOR ADVISED FUNDIndividual grant recipient: $141,270 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $133,021 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $85,470 · OtherMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION+11 more: $18,465 · OtherLAKEWOOD REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,200 · Health+1 more: $300 · HealthFAMILY MISSIONS COMPANY: $1,000 · ReligionMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $600 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $200 · AnimalsNATIONAL CHILD SAFETY COUNCIL: $300 · Public Safety & DisasterNORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $150 · Public Benefit
Other$524,718Health$11,500Religion$1,000Animals$800Public Safety & Disaster$300Public Benefit$150

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLAKEWOOD REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY MISSIONS COMPANY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CHILD SAFETY COUNCIL: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANGEL FOUNDATION: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $15 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 LAKEWOOD REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds STORY BOOK LODGE CHRISTIAN CAMP ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY MISSIONS COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL CHILD SAFETY COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds ANGEL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Larry and Sharon Larson Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Larry and Sharon Larson Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%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 · 0–25%
    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 23 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 Larry and Sharon 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