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Sjostrom & Sons Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sjostrom & Sons Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$46k
Granted FY2025still arriving
35
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$124kHuman Services$87kArts & Culture$61kEducation$52kReligion$31kPhilanthropy$27kEnvironment$18kFood & Nutrition$14kOther$0
02FY2025 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$726k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY$6,500
ROSECRANCE FOUNDATION$5,000
UNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY$3,000
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH$3,000
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN$2,500
BURPEE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM$2,500
MERCYHEALTH DEVELOPMENT FNDN$2,000
TRINITY DAYCARE$2,000
NATURAL LAND INSTITUTE$1,500
ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$1,250
LIFESCAPE COMMUNITY SERVICES$1,000
DISCOVERY CENTER$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE$1,000
KEN-ROCK COMMUNITY CENTER$1,000
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, $79k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MILESTON INC: $500 → 15%MILESTON INC: $500 → 15%MILESTON INC: $500 → 15%MILESTON INC: $500 → 15%MILESTON INC: $500 → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $1k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $7k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $7k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $6k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $1k → 15%CARPENTERS PLACE: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $500 → 15%CIRCLE OF CHANGE: $100 → 15%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$423k · 47 repeat orgs$14k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

47 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

47
9

Total granted

$423k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+15%

Still filing today

47%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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 ServicesEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyFood & NutritionEnvironmentOther
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

  • YO
    YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $54k · revenue +55%
  • RF
    ROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $45k · revenue +258%
  • RS
    ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $10k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $4k
  • CC
    CORNELL COLLEGE
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue 0%
  • AC
    AUGUSTANA COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $2k · revenue +27%
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
Northern Illinois Blood Bank Inc D/B/a Rock River Valley Blood Center

Rock river valley blood center, in partnership with our community, is dedicated to providing safe, high value blood products and services to people in need.

Health
2
Goodwill Industries of Northern Il and Wi Stateline Area Inc

The mission of goodwill is to create opportunities for individuals with barriers to enhance their lives. barriers include physical or mental disabilities, lack of education and job preparation, socio-economic disadvantages, and others.…

—
3
Rockford Area Economic Development Council Inc

The rockford area economic development council cultivates opportunities for primary job growth that increase the economic well-being of our region

—
4
The Rockford Institute

To provide analysis and commentary on cultural, economic, political, and educational issues through a published monthly opinion magazine and to operate continuing adult educational conferences in american and european literature and…

—
5
Illinois College

Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…

Education
6
Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation

The mission of rock island economic growth corporation is to renovate and build new single family or multi-family housing in the midwest region; to foster low-income housing that: enhances the overall image and economic vitality of the…

Housing & Shelter
7
Rimland Services Nfp

Provide community-based residential housing to adults with autism and/or severe developmental disabilities. also provide developmental training and other supports to this same population.

Human Services
8
Rochelle Enrichment Center Inc

To provide quality, affordable, accessible, child care in a developmentally appropriate learning environment. the program is committed to the holistic development of the individual child through a broad range of educational programs, which…

—
9
Reach for Your Potential Inc

Reach for your potential, inc is a provider of adult daycare services and rehabilitation/housing of disabled individuals serving approximately 135 individuals from iowa city and the surrounding communities.

Housing & Shelter
10
Rocky Mountain College

Rocky mountain college educates future leaders through liberal arts and professional programs that cultivate critical thinking, creative expression, ethical decision making, informed citizenship, and professional excellence.

Education
11
University of Rio Grande

The university of rio grande/ rio grande community college is america's unique private/public institution of higher education designed to provide learners the opportunity to attain a high-quality, high-value education. our personalized,…

Education
12
Riverview Healthcare Association

We deliver a healthcare experience that consistently exceeds patients' expectations through exceptional people - our people are our foundation. we employ trusted, dedicated professionals who serve with compassion, empathy and respect.…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rockford Rescue Mission Ministries; the most unlike its peers is Roy Gayle Pony Baseball Softball Inc. 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

29 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. 29 of the 58 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/29
Grantees still filing
21/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH: $31,300 · OtherTRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCHBURPEE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM: $22,000 · OtherBURPEE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMROCK VALLEY COLLEGE: $10,000 · OtherROCKFORD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $10,000 · OtherSWEDISH AMERICAN MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherTRINITY DAY CARE INC: $10,000 · OtherIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: $9,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $9,000 · OtherILLINOIS GROWTH ENTERPRISES: $9,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $9,000 · OtherDISCOVERY CENTER: $9,000 · OtherKEN-ROCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $9,000 · Other+22 more: $73,300 · Other+22 moreYMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $54,000 · Human ServicesYMCA OF ROCK RIVER V…BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $9,000 · Human ServicesBARBARA OLSON CENTER…ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $8,000 · Human ServicesROCKFORD DAY NURSERYROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $4,500 · Human ServicesROCK RIVER VALLEY PA…+3 more: $3,100 · Human ServicesROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 · PhilanthropyROSECRANCE FOUNDATI…UNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $27,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF ROCK …MERCYHEALTH DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · PhilanthropyMERCYHEALTH DEVELOP…ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL: $4,500 · Arts & CultureTINKER SWISS COTTAGE INC: $4,500 · Arts & CultureROCKFORD ART MUSEUM: $4,500 · Arts & CultureMIDWAY VILLAGE & MUSEUM CENTER: $2,000 · Arts & CultureNATURAL LAND INSTITUTE: $13,200 · EnvironmentCedarville University: $4,000 · EducationROCKFORD UNIVERSITY: $3,000 · EducationCORNELL COLLEGE: $2,000 · EducationAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $1,500 · EducationROCKFORD RESCUE MISSION MINISTRIES: $1,250 · EducationILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $500 · EducationLIFESCAPE COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $9,000 · Food & NutritionNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $500 · Food & Nutrition
Other$220,600Human Services$78,600Philanthropy$77,000Arts & Culture$25,500Environment$13,200Education$12,250Food & Nutrition$9,500

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 budgetYMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $54,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetUNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $27,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetNATURAL LAND INSTITUTE: $13,200 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $10,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetILLINOIS GROWTH ENTERPRISES: $9,000 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetLIFESCAPE COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE: $9,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetKEN-ROCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetROCKFORD DAY NURSERY: $8,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetVNA Health Care: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMERCYHEALTH DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL: $4,500 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetTINKER SWISS COTTAGE INC: $4,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHWEST COMMUNITY CENTER: $4,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetROCKFORD ART MUSEUM: $4,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCedarville University: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetROY GAYLE PONY BASEBALL SOFTBALL INC: $4,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetROCKFORD UNIVERSITY: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMILESTONE INC: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCORNELL COLLEGE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMIDWAY VILLAGE & MUSEUM CENTER: $2,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetROCKFORD RESCUE MISSION MINISTRIES: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARPENTER'S PLACE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCircle of Change: $100 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 YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds ROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL LAND INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC ↗
  • Who funds ILLINOIS GROWTH ENTERPRISES ↗
  • Who funds LIFESCAPE COMMUNITY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds BARBARA OLSON CENTER OF HOPE ↗
  • Who funds KEN-ROCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD DAY NURSERY ↗
  • Who funds VNA Health Care ↗
  • Who funds MERCYHEALTH DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds TINKER SWISS COTTAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST COMMUNITY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds Cedarville University ↗
  • Who funds ROY GAYLE PONY BASEBALL SOFTBALL INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD UNIVERSITY ↗

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.

Community Foundation …Bergstrom Inc Charita…Blazer FoundationThe Kjellstrom Family…Guy Reno Family Found…The Ben Harding Famil…United Way of Rock Ri…Kristin L Anderson Ch…Tracy E Anderson Char…The David & Colleen A…John & Linda Anderson…Jeffrey R Anderson Ch…
Community Foundation of Northern ILIL49.1× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Northern IL · Bergstrom Inc Charitable Foundation Xxxxx2008 · Blazer Foundation · The Kjellstrom Family Foundation · Guy Reno Family Foundation · The Ben Harding Family Foundation · United Way of Rock River Valley · Kristin L Anderson Charitable Foundation · Tracy E Anderson Charitable Foundation · The David & Colleen Anderson Charitable Foundation · John & Linda Anderson Charitable Foundation · Jeffrey R Anderson Charitable 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 Sjostrom & Sons Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sjostrom & Sons 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    11report 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 Sjostrom & Sons Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Sjostrom & Sons 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 58 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 Sjostrom & Sons’ 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