Skip to content
Sampson Family Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sampson Family Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$116k
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$12k
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 2025.

Education$189kArts & Culture$156kEnvironment$100kHealth$84kPhilanthropy$60kHousing & Shelter$52kHuman Services$38kFood & Nutrition$32kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k26 grants · $94k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $22k
$4,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$555k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREAT RIVER SCHOOL$12,365
THEATRE IN THE ROUND PLAYERS INC$10,000
THE FOOD GROUP (EMERGENCY FOOD SHELF NETWORK)$6,000
GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY$5,000
TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION$5,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$5,000
MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO$5,000
FRESH ENERGY$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY$5,000
AIRPORT FOUNDATION MSP$4,120
AGATE HOUSING & SERVICES$4,000
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION$4,000
MINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM$4,000
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, $24k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, 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%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $3k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $2k → 11%SHARING & CARING HANDS: $2k → 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.
$766k · 35 repeat orgs$56k to everyone else

35 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
8

Total granted

$766k
$37k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+21%

Still filing today

69%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHealthEnvironmentPhilanthropyFood & 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

  • CC
    CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $39k · revenue +12%
  • LA
    LYRIC ARTS COMPANY OF ANOKA INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $35k · revenue +74%
  • FG
    FOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $32k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • AM
    ACORN MONTESSORI (MN WILDFLOWER MONTESSORI SCHOOL)
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • BT
    BANADAD TRAIL ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
  • D
    DALEKOARTS
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -100%
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
The Great Northern Winter Festival

The great northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through ten days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. in an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action,…

Arts & Culture
2
Minnesota Orchestral Association

The minnesota orchestra mission is to enrich, inspire and serve our community as an enduring symphony orchestra internationally recognized for its artistic excellence.

Arts & Culture
3
Guthrie Theater Foundation

The guthrie theater engages exceptional theater artists in the exploration of both classic and contemporary plays, connecting the community we serve to one another and to the world. through its extraordinary artists, staff and facility,…

Arts & Culture
4
Theater Mu Incorporated

Theater mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the asian american experience.

Arts & Culture
5
Children's Theatre Company and School

Children's Theatre Company exists to create extraordinary theater experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire young people and their communities.

Arts & Culture
6
Park Square Theatre

To enrich the community by producing and presenting exceptional live theatre that touches the heart, engages the mind and delights the spirit.

—
7
Theater Latte Da

The mission of theater latte' da is to create new connections between story, music, artist and audience by exploring and expanding the art of musical theater.

Arts & Culture
8
Minnesota Fringe Festival

Minnesota fringe connects adventurous artists with adventurous audiences by creating open, supportive forums for free and diverse artistic expression.

Arts & Culture
9
Science Museum of Minnesota

The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."

Arts & Culture
10
Lyric Opera of the North

Present opera performances in duluth, minnesota and bring opera to schools in minnesota and wisconsin.

Arts & Culture
11
Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership

The mission of the greater msp partnership is to accelerate regional competitiveness and inclusive economic growth through job creation, capital investment and execution of strategic initiatives. the partnership works to strengthen our…

Community Improvement
12
Minnesota Women Lawyers

To advance the success of women attorneys and strive for a just society.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Twin Cities United Way; the most unlike its peers is The Aldeen Foundation. 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

33 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. 33 of the 47 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/33
Grantees still filing
19/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COSMOS MONTESSORI (MN WILDFLOWER MONTESSORI SCHOOL): $60,000 · OtherCOSMOS MONTESSORI (MN WILDFLOWER MONTESSORI SCHOOL)Bright Water Montessori School: $42,000 · OtherBright Water Montessori SchoolIndividual grant recipient: $30,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $27,500 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITYMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM: $27,000 · OtherMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUMMS SOCIETY: $21,500 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY: $20,500 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSS MINNESOTA: $20,000 · OtherCOURAGE CENTER: $17,000 · OtherSPECIAL OLYMPICS MINNESOTA INC: $14,500 · OtherSALVATION ARMY MINNEAPOLIS: $14,000 · OtherAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $24,500 · OtherAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INCSHARING AND CARING HANDS INC: $23,500 · OtherSHARING AND CARING HANDS INCTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $14,500 · Other+10 more: $61,000 · Other+10 moreLYRIC ARTS COMPANY OF ANOKA INC: $34,500 · Arts & CultureLYRIC ARTS COMPANY O…TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $29,500 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES PUBLIC T…MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $21,500 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA PUBLIC RAD…The Minnesota Opera: $19,000 · Arts & CultureThe Minnesota OperaMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $18,000 · Arts & CultureMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY …THEATRE IN THE ROUND PLAYERS INC: $14,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATRE IN THE ROUND…DALEKOARTS: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $8,000 · Arts & Culture+3 moreCLIMATE GENERATION: $45,000 · EducationCLIMATE GENER…UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $21,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF…LITERACY MINNESOTA: $21,000 · EducationLITERACY MINN…Great River School Charter School No 4105-07: $12,365 · EducationGreat River S…CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $39,000 · HealthRonald McDonald House Charities - Upper Midwest: $7,000 · HealthRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $2,000 · HealthGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $27,500 · PhilanthropyMINNESOTA STATE FAIR FOUNDATION: $18,500 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropyFOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE: $32,200 · Food & NutritionAIRPORT FOUNDATION MSP: $23,120 · EnvironmentFRESH ENERGY: $5,000 · Environment
Other$418,000Arts & Culture$149,500Education$99,865Health$48,000Philanthropy$46,500Food & Nutrition$32,200Environment$28,120

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 budgetCLIMATE GENERATION: $45,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetBright Water Montessori School: $42,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $39,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLYRIC ARTS COMPANY OF ANOKA INC: $34,500 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetFOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE: $32,200 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $29,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $27,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $24,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSHARING AND CARING HANDS INC: $23,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAIRPORT FOUNDATION MSP: $23,120 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $21,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $21,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY MINNESOTA: $21,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY: $20,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetThe Minnesota Opera: $19,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA STATE FAIR FOUNDATION: $18,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $18,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $14,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MINNESOTA INC: $14,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHEATRE IN THE ROUND PLAYERS INC: $14,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetGreat River School Charter School No 4105-07: $12,365 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities - Upper Midwest: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROSE ENSEMBLE: $6,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetDALEKOARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetFRESH ENERGY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWISCONSIN HUMANE SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALDEEN FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetJAZZMN INC: $4,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetCAMP MANITO-WISH YMCA INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIN THE HEART OF THE BEAST PUPPET AND MAS: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPasadena Community Foundation: $500 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 CLIMATE GENERATION ↗
  • Who funds Bright Water Montessori School ↗
  • Who funds CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds LYRIC ARTS COMPANY OF ANOKA INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds AGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds SHARING AND CARING HANDS INC ↗
  • Who funds AIRPORT FOUNDATION MSP ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds LITERACY MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds The Minnesota Opera ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA STATE FAIR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS MINNESOTA INC ↗
  • Who funds THEATRE IN THE ROUND PLAYERS INC ↗
  • Who funds Great River School Charter School No 4105-07 ↗
  • Who funds Ronald McDonald House Charities - Upper Midwest ↗
  • Who funds THE ROSE ENSEMBLE ↗
  • Who funds DALEKOARTS ↗
  • Who funds FRESH ENERGY ↗
  • Who funds WISCONSIN HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE ALDEEN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JAZZMN 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.

Saint Paul & Minnesot…Mightycause Charitabl…The K FoundationXcel Energy FoundationThe Minneapolis Found…Margaret a Cargill Fo…The McKnight Foundati…Ch Robinson Worldwide…Otto Bremer TrustThe Crosswols Foundat…Longview FoundationFred C and Katherine …
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN25.8× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The K Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · The Crosswols Foundation · Longview Foundation · Fred C and Katherine B Andersen 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 Sampson Family Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sampson Family 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
    9report 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 47 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 Sampson Family’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