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Larson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Larson Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$260k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$15MHuman Services$3.6MYouth Development$2.9MHousing & Shelter$2.0MCrime & Legal$1.2MPhilanthropy$1.1MArts & Culture$844kFood & Nutrition$381kOther$0
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $470k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $693k
  • $250k+1 grant · $260k
$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$23M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BROOKINGS AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$260,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS$180,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA - SOUTH DAKOTA$100,000
SOUTH DAKOTA NETWORK AGAINST FAMILY VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT$90,000
ONE SPIRIT$78,000
ONEHEART$75,000
WORKING AGAINST VIOLENCE INC$60,000
DAKOTABILITIES$60,000
SOUTH DAKOTA HUMANITIES COUNCIL$50,000
NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD$40,000
CALL TO FREEDOM$40,000
YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC$40,000
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF SOUTH DAKOTA$35,000
CHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT$35,000
RAPID CITY CLUB FOR BOYS$30,000
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 (FY17–25, $2.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 39% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SIMPLY SMILES: $25k → 9%DAKOTA ABILITIES: $100k → 9%THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NETWORK: $10k → 10%ABBOTT HOUSE: $250k → 14%NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD: $42k → 22%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%EMILY'S HOPE: $20k → 5%THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NETWORK: $10k → 10%Abbot House: $100k → 14%NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD: $42k → 22%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $10k → 14%DAKOTABILITIES: $60k → 9%ABBOT HOUSE: $100k → 14%NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD: $40k → 22%DakotaAbilities: $55k → 9%MITCHELL AREA SAFEHOUSE: $75k → 14%DakotaAbilities: $40k → 9%MITCHELL AREA SAFEHOUSE: $40k → 14%NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD: $14k → 22%SOTERA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES COLLABORATIVE: $25k → 10%Abbot House: $20k → 14%Mitchell Area Safehouse: $896 → 14%Native American Community Board: $14k → 22%ONE SPIRIT: $78k → 14%Native American Community Board: $14k → 22%RAPID CITY YMCA: $75k → 14%CHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY: $500k → 9%CHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY: $500k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $40k → 9%ONE SPIRIT: $12k → 14%Community Outreach: $15k → 9%FURNITURE MISSION: $21k → 9%THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $15k → 9%Ronald McDonald House: $5k → 9%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.

46%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 62 repeat orgs$15M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

62 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

62
76

Total granted

$13M
$15M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+25%

Still filing today

63%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentHealthFood & NutritionOther
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

  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA
    3× · 2018–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +71%
  • BA
    Brookings Area Habitat for Humanity Inc
    7× · 2017–2025 · $1.4M · revenue +60% · 27% of their budget
  • SD
    SOUTH DAKOTA NETWORK AGAINST FAMILY VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT INC
    6× · 2017–2025 · $515k · revenue +112%

Funded once

  • SD
    SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $13M
  • BG
    Boys & Girls Club Capitol Area
    one grant, 2019 · $200k
  • BG
    Boys & Gilrs Club Moody Cnty
    one grant, 2017 · $120k
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
South Dakota Voices for Peace

Sd voices for peace provides five programming areas to assist vulnerable communities access services throughout the state: legal services, multilingual outreach, training and education, advocacy and civic engagement and rapid response.

—
2
Southeastern North Dakota Community Action Agency

Southeastern north dakota community action agency (sendcaa) was formed in 1965 to provide a range of services and activities in a six county area designed to alleviate poverty and give low-income people the opportunity to improve their…

Human Services
3
South Dakota Coalition Ending Domestic and Sexual Violence

To provide training and assistance to shelters for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

—
4
North Dakota Natural Resources Trust
—
5
Protecting South Dakota Kids Foundation
Education
6
Victims of Violence Intervention

Providing services to those affected by domestic violence and sexual assault and offering education, advocacy, and awareness to those in lawrence, harding, and butte counties in south dakota.

Human Services
7
Oahe Child Development Center Inc

Empowering individuals, strengthening families, and building communities for school and life success.

Education
8
Dakota Children's Advocacy Center

To provide a safe, family friendly environment that promotes hope, health, and healing to traumatized children and their families.

Human Services
9
Western Resources for Independ

To assist disabled individuals

Human Services
10
Ywca of Fort Dodge Ia

We are a state licensed substance abuse facility which functions to provide a clinically managed residence treatment center for women and women with children.

—
11
Scott Carver Dakota Cap Agency Inc

Cap agency assists and empowers people to achieve social and economic well-being in partnership with our community.

Human Services
12
Dakota Counseling Institute Inc

Dakota counseling institute's mission is to provide a wide array of services to individuals and families with mental illness, behavioral disabilities, and substance abuse. we are committed to assisting individuals in reaching their full…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota; the most unlike its peers is Front Porch Coalition. 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

76 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. 76 of the 144 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)
21
Early backer (in before they grew)
72/76
Grantees still filing
51/76
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY: $12,780,020 · OtherSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITYBrookings Area Habitat for Humanity Inc: $1,445,000 · OtherBrookings Area Habitat for Humanity IncRED CLOUD INDIAN SCHOOL: $1,171,591 · Other+98 more: $7,085,300 · Other+98 moreCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $1,500,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S …ABBOTT HOUSE INC: $470,000 · Human ServicesABBOTT HOUS…DAKOTABILITIES INC: $254,800 · Human ServicesDAKOTABILIT…NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD: $165,525 · Human ServicesNATIVE AMER…ONE SPIRIT: $140,000 · Human ServicesMITCHELL AREA SAFEHOUSE INC: $115,896 · Human Services+12 more: $345,590 · Human Services+12 moreBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS INC: $440,000 · Youth DevelopmentCHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC: $190,000 · Youth DevelopmentRAPID CITY CLUB FOR BOYS INC: $155,000 · Youth DevelopmentBoys and Girls Club of Watertown: $100,000 · Youth Development+1 more: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $450,000 · EducationTeach for America Inc: $300,000 · Education+4 more: $55,000 · EducationSOUTH DAKOTA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $315,000 · PhilanthropyBROOKINGS AREA UNITED WAY: $232,014 · PhilanthropySIOUX FALLS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $90,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $11,000 · PhilanthropySOUTH DAKOTA HUMANITIES COUNCIL: $155,000 · Arts & CultureFIRST PEOPLES FUND: $70,000 · Arts & CultureHARMONY SOUTH DAKOTA INC: $52,500 · Arts & CultureTHE BLACK HILLS PLAYHOUSE INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $35,000 · Arts & CultureEARLY CHILDHOOD CONNECTIONS: $20,000 · Arts & CultureFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $125,000 · Food & NutritionTHE BANQUET: $100,000 · Food & NutritionBROOKINGS BACK PACK PROJECT: $85,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$22,481,911Human Services$2,991,811Youth Development$905,000Education$805,000Philanthropy$648,014Arts & Culture$382,500Food & Nutrition$310,000

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 budgetCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $1,500,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetBrookings Area Habitat for Humanity Inc: $1,445,000 over 7y, 27% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA NETWORK AGAINST FAMILY VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT INC: $515,000 over 6y, 6.5% of budgetABBOTT HOUSE INC: $470,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $450,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ROSEBUD: $450,000 over 6y, 12% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS INC: $440,000 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetYOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $316,000 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $315,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetONEHEART: $300,000 over 3y, 9.6% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $300,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWORKING AGAINST VIOLENCE INC: $260,000 over 4y, 3.8% of budgetDAKOTABILITIES INC: $254,800 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetEAST-CENTRAL COURT APPOINTED SPECIA: $240,959 over 9y, 20% of budgetBROOKINGS AREA UNITED WAY: $232,014 over 2y, 12% of budgetWOLAKOTA WALDORF SOCIETY: $220,000 over 3y, 36% of budgetCHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC: $190,000 over 7y, 2.2% of budgetNATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD: $165,525 over 6y, 4.1% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA HUMANITIES COUNCIL: $155,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetRAPID CITY CLUB FOR BOYS INC: $155,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetONE SPIRIT: $140,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $125,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRURAL AMERICA INITIATIVES: $125,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetMITCHELL AREA SAFEHOUSE INC: $115,896 over 3y, 9.6% of budgetSafe Harbor: $100,000 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetTHE BANQUET: $100,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetBoys and Girls Club of Watertown: $100,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetVOLUNTEER SERVICE BANK: $95,000 over 5y, 44% of budgetWholeness Center: $94,000 over 9y, 9.3% of budgetSIOUX FALLS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $90,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBROOKINGS BACK PACK PROJECT: $85,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $85,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFAMILY VISITATION CENTER: $83,000 over 3y, 4.0% of budgetAvera McKennan: $75,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAPID CITY Y M C A: $75,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFIRST PEOPLES FUND: $70,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHANDI RIDERS INC: $60,000 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetHARMONY SOUTH DAKOTA INC: $52,500 over 5y, 9.3% of budgetTHE BLACK HILLS PLAYHOUSE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetAberdeen Family YMCA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCENTER FOR DISASTER PHILANTHROPY INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBROOKINGS DOMESTIC ABUSE SHELTER: $45,000 over 2y, 6.8% of budgetSicangu Community Development Corporation: $40,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetPASSAGES WOMEN'S TRANSITIONAL LIVING INC: $40,000 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetCRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRED CLOUD RENEWABLE: $33,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY OUTREACH: $30,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetTEDDY BEAR DEN: $27,000 over 2y, 7.0% 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 CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA ↗
  • Who funds Brookings Area Habitat for Humanity Inc ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH DAKOTA NETWORK AGAINST FAMILY VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT INC ↗
  • Who funds ABBOTT HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ROSEBUD ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH DAKOTA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ONEHEART ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds WORKING AGAINST VIOLENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds DAKOTABILITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST-CENTRAL COURT APPOINTED SPECIA ↗
  • Who funds BROOKINGS AREA UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds WOLAKOTA WALDORF SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds CHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY BOARD ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH DAKOTA HUMANITIES COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds RAPID CITY CLUB FOR BOYS INC ↗
  • Who funds ONE SPIRIT ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA ↗
  • Who funds RURAL AMERICA INITIATIVES ↗
  • Who funds MITCHELL AREA SAFEHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds Safe Harbor ↗
  • Who funds THE BANQUET ↗
  • Who funds Boys and Girls Club of Watertown ↗

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.

South Dakota Communit…Midcontinent Foundati…Sioux Falls Area Comm…First Interstate Banc…Sheldon F Reese Found…Avera HealthSanford Group ReturnBlack Hills Area Comm…The Mike Cindy and Ky…United Way of the Bla…Sioux Empire United W…Gwendolyn L Stearns F…
South Dakota Community FoundationSD99.7× affinity51 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: South Dakota Community Foundation · Midcontinent Foundation · Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation Inc · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Sheldon F Reese Foundation · Avera Health · Sanford Group Return · Black Hills Area Community Foundation · The Mike Cindy and Kylie Huether Family Foundation · United Way of the Black Hills · Sioux Empire United Way Inc · Gwendolyn L Stearns Foundation Inc

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 Larson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Larson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    25report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Larson Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Larson 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 144 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 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