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Max and Betty Swanson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Max and Betty Swanson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$140k
Granted FY2024still arriving
60
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$16k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$199kHealth$147kRecreation & Sports$129kHuman Services$115kReligion$114kYouth Development$91kArts & Culture$84kEnvironment$67kOther$0
02FY2024 · 60 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k55 grants · $76k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $64k
$1,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$3.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA$16,000
UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA$14,000
LOVING LOIC FOUNDATION$14,000
MONTANA METH PROJECT$10,000
GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA$10,000
CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTER$6,500
Individual grant recipient$4,000
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS$4,000
MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER$3,000
HUMANE SOCIETY$3,000
MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA$3,000
MISSOULA AGING SERVICES$3,000
RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER$2,500
STROMSBURG LIBRARY FOUNDATION$2,500
CASA$2,000
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 (FY17–24, $155k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LOVING LOIC FOUNDATION: $21k → 10%LOVING LOIC FOUNDATION: $14k → 10%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $5k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $4k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $3k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $3k → 9%WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER: $3k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $2k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $2k → 9%WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER: $2k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $2k → 9%WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER: $2k → 9%UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $4k → 9%UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $3k → 9%HOPE RESCUE MISSION: $3k → 9%HOPE RESCUE MISSION: $3k → 9%UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $3k → 9%UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $2k → 9%UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $2k → 9%HOPE RESCUE MISSION: $2k → 9%MISSOULA YOUTH HOMES: $5k → 9%MISSOULA YOUTH HOMES: $2k → 9%EMPOWER MT: $1k → 9%PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $1k → 9%GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $19k → 9%GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $11k → 9%GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $10k → 9%GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $10k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $3k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $3k → 9%GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $2k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $2k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $2k → 9%GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $2k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $1k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $1k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $1k → 9%RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER: $1k → 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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 82 repeat orgs$62k to everyone else

82 repeat relationships: 53 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

82
23

Total granted

$1.1M
$48k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+128%

Still filing today

44%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k 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
Human ServicesCommunity ImprovementEducationEnvironmentHealthArts & CultureOther
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

  • GM
    GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA
    6× · 2019–2024 · $53k · revenue +83%
  • NM
    NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FOREST SERVICE HISTORY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $27k · revenue ×20
  • MH
    MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $20k · revenue +578%

Funded once

  • SH
    SHARON HAYDEN KOLB FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $13k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • MD
    MISSOULA DOWNTOWN FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +26%
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
Missoula Community Foundation

To enhance community vitality by inspiring community giving and strengthening nonprofits

Community Improvement
2
Scenic Montana Trails
—
3
Montana Healthcare Foundation
Philanthropy
4
The Montana Land Reliance

The mission of the montana land reliance (mlr) is to partner with landowners to provide permanent protection for private lands that are significant for agricultural production, fish and wildlife habitat, and open space.

Environment
5
Montana Chamber of Commerce

To create and sustain an optimal business climate, business prosperity and a strong montana economy through advocacy, education and collaboration, working to provide an empowered and educated workforce, reduce business growth obstacles,…

—
6
Montana Hospital Association

Montana hospital association is the principal advocate for the interests of members in their efforts to improve the health status of the communities they serve.

—
7
Montanas Outdoor Legacy Foundation

To collectively serve as a catalyst for engagement and bonding of people to our wildlife and public lands in montana through a sense of place, education, access, research and stewardship.

Environment
8
Missoula Electric Cooperative Inc

Missoula Electric Cooperative, Inc. strives to uphold a commitment to service excellence, while delivering safe, affordable and reliable electricty to its members.

—
9
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Montana

Keeping families with a sick child/children close to the care and resources they need, when it matters the most.

Health
10
Missoula Mountain Bike Coalition

Missoula mountain bike coalition's mission is to promote and create mountain biking opportunities in missoula and surrounding areas through trail building, stewardship, advocacy and outreach.

Recreation & Sports
11
Montana State Parks Foundation

The montana state parks foundation raises private support to enhance the visitors experience and build advocates for montanas state parks and recreation heritage.

Recreation & Sports
12
Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce

An association providing community leadership and business advocacy sustaining economic vitality.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Montana Inc; the most unlike its peers is Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre. 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

47 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. 47 of the 110 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)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
45/47
Grantees still filing
36/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA: $122,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MONTANACHRISTIAN LIFE CENTER: $64,500 · OtherCHRISTIAN LIFE CENTERHUMANE SOCIETY: $42,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $38,250 · Other+79 more: $552,626 · Other+79 moreGREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $52,500 · Human ServicesGREATER MISSOU…LOVING LOIC FOUNDATION: $35,000 · Human ServicesLOVING LOIC FO…MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesMOUNTAIN HOME …UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $20,000 · Human ServicesUNION GOSPEL M…RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER INC: $12,350 · Human ServicesRED WILLOW LEA…YOUTH HOMES: $8,000 · Human ServicesWATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC: $6,000 · Human Services+2 more: $2,000 · Human ServicesTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: $89,000 · EducationTHE UNIVE…+3 more: $5,000 · EducationMONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER: $14,500 · EnvironmentHOME RESOURCE INC: $13,000 · EnvironmentFIVE VALLEYS LAND TRUST: $8,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF MISSOULA PARKS INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentST PATRICK HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $19,000 · HealthMONTANA METH PROJECT: $10,000 · HealthPARTNERS HOPE FOUNDATION: $2,000 · HealthMISSOULA COMMUNITY CHORUS INC: $16,000 · Arts & CultureROCKY MOUNTAIN BALLET THEATRE: $8,000 · Arts & CultureMISSOULA CULTURAL COUNCIL dba ARTS MISSOULA: $1,000 · Arts & CultureNORTH-MISSOULA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $7,000 · Community ImprovementMISSOULA DOWNTOWN FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 · Community ImprovementHealthy Acres Healthy Communities Foundation Inc: $4,500 · Community ImprovementMONTANA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $4,000 · Community Improvement
Other$819,876Human Services$155,850Education$94,000Environment$37,500Health$31,000Arts & Culture$25,000Community Improvement$20,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: $89,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA: $52,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetLOVING LOIC FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF FOREST SERVICE HISTORY: $26,500 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetOpportunity Resources Inc: $21,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC: $20,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA: $20,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetST PATRICK HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $19,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MONTANA INC: $18,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERSHIP HEALTH CENTER INC: $17,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMISSOULA COMMUNITY CHORUS INC: $16,000 over 5y, 21% of budgetGREATER MISSOULA YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $16,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetSIXTH JUDICIAL COURT CASAGAL PROGRAM INC: $15,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetTHE ROXY THEATER: $14,750 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetMONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER: $14,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetHOME RESOURCE INC: $13,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetRED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER INC: $12,350 over 8y, 2.5% of budgetMONTANA METH PROJECT: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetMISSOULA FOOD BANK & COMMUNITY CENTER: $9,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMCT INC: $8,108 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH HOMES: $8,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFIVE VALLEYS LAND TRUST: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN BALLET THEATRE: $8,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetMISSOULA INTERFAITH COLLABORATIVE: $7,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetNORTH-MISSOULA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $7,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetVALLEY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $6,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMISSOULA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetMISSOULA DOWNTOWN FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGARDEN CITY HARVEST INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMONTANA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAPTORS OF THE ROCKIES: $3,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetLOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE FAMILY CENTER NO 558: $3,250 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetGrizzly Rodeo Association: $2,500 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF MISSOULA PARKS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetMONTANA FOOD BANK NETWORK INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS HOPE FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMONTANA SERVANT LEADERSHIP INC: $1,750 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY HEALTH ALLIANCE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMISSOULA CULTURAL COUNCIL dba ARTS MISSOULA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEMPOWER MT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCLAY STUDIO OF MISSOULA: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GREATER MISSOULA FAMILY YMCA ↗
  • Who funds LOVING LOIC FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MUSEUM OF FOREST SERVICE HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds Opportunity Resources Inc ↗
  • Who funds MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC ↗
  • Who funds UNION GOSPEL MISSION OF MISSOULA ↗
  • Who funds ST PATRICK HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS MONTANA INC ↗
  • Who funds PARTNERSHIP HEALTH CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MISSOULA COMMUNITY CHORUS INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER MISSOULA YOUTH FOR CHRIST ↗
  • Who funds SIXTH JUDICIAL COURT CASAGAL PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ROXY THEATER ↗
  • Who funds MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HOME RESOURCE INC ↗
  • Who funds RED WILLOW LEARNING CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTANA METH PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds MISSOULA FOOD BANK & COMMUNITY CENTER ↗

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.

Dennis & Phyllis Wash…First Interstate Banc…The Bill & Rosemary G…Town Pump Charitable …Headwaters Health Fou…Montana Community Fou…The Llewellyn Foundat…Missoula Community Fo…Gianforte Family Char…Treacy FoundationSample Foundation IncThe William H & Marga…
Dennis & Phyllis Washington FoundationMT57.9× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · The Bill & Rosemary Gallagher Foundation · Town Pump Charitable Foundation · Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana · Montana Community Foundation Inc · The Llewellyn Foundation · Missoula Community Foundation · Gianforte Family Charitable Trust · Treacy Foundation · Sample Foundation Inc · The William H & Margaret M Wallace 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 Max and Betty Swanson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Max and Betty Swanson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%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
    0get no government money at all
    17report 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.

    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 110 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 Max and Betty Swanson’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