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Sewell Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sewell Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$164k
Granted FY2024still arriving
25
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$51k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$728kEducation$155kCivil Rights$128kAnimals$104kFood & Nutrition$44kCommunity Improvement$36kReligion$36kEnvironment$32kOther$0
02FY2024 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $63k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $51k
$3,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$2.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BALLET WORKS INC$51,000
INTERNATIONAL CELLO INSTITUTE$16,000
NATIONAL GHOST RANCH FOUNDATION$13,000
ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIETY$11,000
WALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY$10,000
COMUSICATION$7,500
WOMENS CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS$7,500
CREATIVE ENTERPRISE ZONE$5,000
TWIN CITIES CATALYST MUSIC$5,000
ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC$5,000
HELPING HANDS FOR RELIEF & DEVELOPM$5,000
THE WILDCAT SACTUARY$4,000
BETH GRACZYK PRODUCTIONS INC$3,000
SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS$3,000
RUFF START RESCUE$2,500
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 (FY17–23, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 49% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%OPERATION BOOTSTRAP: $5k → 10%MINNESOTA RECOVERY CONNECTION: $1k → 14%NEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $1k → 11%NEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $750 → 11%NEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $500 → 11%NEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $500 → 11%NEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $500 → 11%NEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $500 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
WA
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
CT
CA
CO
NM
DC
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 40 repeat orgs$193k to everyone else

40 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 27 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
51

Total granted

$1.1M
$142k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+30%

Still filing today

78%
49%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $51k 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
Arts & CultureEducationAnimalsEnvironmentHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • IC
    International Cello Institute
    8× · 2017–2024 · $93k · revenue +55%
  • AH
    Animal Humane Society
    8× · 2017–2024 · $85k · revenue +28%
  • SH
    SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND
    4× · 2020–2023 · $43k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • IS
    ICON SAM TEMPLE DANCES
    one grant, 2018 · $15k
  • HH
    HOPKINS HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $14k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
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 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
2
Theater Mu Incorporated

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

Arts & Culture
3
Artaria

Artaria centers on string quartet performance and education in minnesota. it is committed to presenting inspiring performances, to mentoring string players of all ages, and to illuminate the world's great repertoire of chamber music to a…

Arts & Culture
4
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
5
Minnesota Public Radio American Public Media

The mission of minnesota public radio is creating the future of public media by amplifying voices to inform, include, and inspire.

Arts & Culture
6
Circus of the Star

A performing arts circus school dedicated to inspiring artistry and confidence.

Youth Development
7
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society

To enrich the Twin Cities community by sharing distinctive and engaging chamber orchestra performances. We are committed to inclusivity and strive to provide all people in our community with opportunities to connect with our music.

Arts & Culture
8
Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Mcad provides a transformative education within a community of support for creative students of all backgrounds to work, collaborate, and lead with confidence in a dynamic, interconnected world.

Education
9
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth

Mity's mission is to inspire and challenge intellectually curious students to pursue their passions within a diverse, inclusive community and empower them by building skills and relationships for lifelong success.

—
10
Minnesota Youth Symphonies

Minnesota youth symphonies (mys) enriches and inspires talented k-12 orchestral musicians by providing professional, comprehensive educational experiences, and thrills audiences with outstanding performances of orchestral repertoire.

—
11
Arts Midwest Incorporated

Arts Midwest works collaboratively with private and public arts supporters to support, inform, and celebrate arts organizations and creative communities across the Midwest. Our mission is to build unprecedented opportunity across the…

Arts & Culture
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Springboard for the Arts; the most unlike its peers is Spring Farm Sanctuary. 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

67 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 67 of the 104 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
66/67
Grantees still filing
45/67
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BALLET WORKS INC: $445,500 · Arts & CultureBALLET WORKS INCCOMMUSICATION: $27,500 · Arts & CultureThe Arts Partnership: $21,750 · Arts & Culture+16 more: $97,250 · Arts & Culture+16 moreAUGUSBURG COLLEGE: $43,450 · OtherAUGUSBURG COLLEGEICON SAM TEMPLE DANCES: $15,000 · OtherHOPKINS HIGH SCHOOL: $13,500 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MN SD: $11,750 · OtherEARTHJUSTICE: $22,500 · OtherEARTHJUSTICENATIONAL GHOST RANCH FOUNDATION: $13,000 · OtherALIGHT: $10,500 · Other+57 more: $177,100 · Other+57 moreInternational Cello Institute: $93,000 · EducationInternation…MOUNDS PARK ACADEMY: $14,500 · EducationMOUNDS PARK…NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: $7,500 · EducationNORTH HOUSE…Great River School Charter School No 4105-07: $5,500 · EducationACADEMIAS LA PAZ: $4,825 · EducationBreakthrough Twin Cities: $4,700 · Education+5 more: $9,000 · Education+5 moreGLOBAL GRASSROOTS: $122,500 · Civil RightsGLOBAL GRA…+1 more: $500 · Civil RightsAnimal Humane Society: $84,500 · AnimalsSPRING FARM SANCTUARY: $10,000 · AnimalsTHE WILDCAT SANCTUARY: $4,500 · Animals+1 more: $2,500 · AnimalsSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $42,500 · Food & NutritionTHE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS: $30,000 · Community ImprovementCREATIVE ENTERPRISE ZONE: $5,000 · Community ImprovementBEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE: $1,500 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$592,000Other$306,800Education$139,025Civil Rights$123,000Animals$101,500Food & Nutrition$42,500Community Improvement$36,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBALLET WORKS INC: $445,500 over 8y, 12% of budgetGLOBAL GRASSROOTS: $122,500 over 7y, 6.0% of budgetInternational Cello Institute: $93,000 over 8y, 21% of budgetAnimal Humane Society: $84,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $42,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS: $30,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetCOMMUSICATION: $27,500 over 5y, 3.3% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $22,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Arts Partnership: $21,750 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetSCHUBERT CLUB THE: $16,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS: $15,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMOUNDS PARK ACADEMY: $14,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL GHOST RANCH FOUNDATION: $13,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREIF ARTS COUNCIL: $11,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetALIGHT: $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSPRING FARM SANCTUARY: $10,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetGIVING VOICE INITIATIVE: $10,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetWALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRecycling Association of Minnesota: $8,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetNORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $6,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GRETTA FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetGreat River School Charter School No 4105-07: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTWIN CITIES CATALYST MUSIC INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetTHE JUNGLE THEATER: $5,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOPERATION BOOTSTRAP: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCREATIVE ENTERPRISE ZONE: $5,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetTHE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetACADEMIAS LA PAZ: $4,825 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBreakthrough Twin Cities: $4,700 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOPENCOLLECTIVE FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WILDCAT SANCTUARY: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEXUS DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY SERVICE: $3,750 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA FRINGE FESTIVAL: $3,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR SHIPBOARD EDUCATION: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRUFF START RESCUE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF BIG SKY EDUCATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPEACEMAKER MINNESOTA: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMIYAMOTO GLOBAL DISASTER RELIEF: $2,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetAmericans for the Arts Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHAZELDEN BETTY FORD FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIND INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILL AND LAKE PRESS: $1,000 over 1y, 2.1% 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 BALLET WORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL GRASSROOTS ↗
  • Who funds International Cello Institute ↗
  • Who funds Animal Humane Society ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND ↗
  • Who funds THE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS ↗
  • Who funds COMMUSICATION ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds The Arts Partnership ↗
  • Who funds SCHUBERT CLUB THE ↗
  • Who funds LUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds MOUNDS PARK ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL GHOST RANCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REIF ARTS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds ALIGHT ↗
  • Who funds SPRING FARM SANCTUARY ↗
  • Who funds GIVING VOICE INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds WALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds Recycling Association of Minnesota ↗
  • Who funds NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE GRETTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Great River School Charter School No 4105-07 ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES CATALYST MUSIC INC ↗
  • Who funds THE JUNGLE THEATER ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION BOOTSTRAP ↗

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…The McKnight Foundati…The Minneapolis Found…Mightycause Charitabl…Hrk FoundationHardenbergh FoundationFr Bigelow FoundationAnna M Heilmaier Char…Xcel Energy FoundationMargaret a Cargill Fo…William Boss Foundati…The Jamf Nation Globa…
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN39.8× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Hrk Foundation · Hardenbergh Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Anna M Heilmaier Charitable Fdn · Xcel Energy Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · William Boss Foundation · The Jamf Nation Global 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 Sewell Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sewell Family 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 →median 35%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
20report 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 Sewell Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sewell Family 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 104 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 Sewell 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