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Sommerhauser Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Sommerhauser Foundation Inc

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.

$93k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$14k
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 2025.

Health$283kPhilanthropy$194kEducation$86kRecreation & Sports$62kArts & Culture$10kPublic Safety & Disaster$8kHuman Services$4kYouth Development$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k13 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $74k
$2,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$253k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY INC$13,500
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION$10,000
AURORA HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC$10,000
THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC$10,000
MAYO CLINIC$10,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$10,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION (NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE)$10,000
NCH HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS INC$7,500
MILWAUKEE COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL INC$5,000
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY$2,000
UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC$1,000
WHITEFISH BAY PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC$1,000
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH (BRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION)$750
MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM INC$500
UNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND INC$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 (FY18–25, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, 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%STUDENT ORGAN DONATION ADVOCATES (LAYNA MILLER MEMORIAL FUND): $100 → 11%STUDENT ORGAN DONATION ADVOCATES (LAYNA MILLER MEMORIAL FUND): $100 → 11%HARRY & ROSE SAMSON FAMILY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $100 → 17%HARRY & ROSE SAMSON FAMILY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER (GILLER FAMILY FUND): $100 → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $1k → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $200 → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $100 → 17%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

WA
MN
IL
WI
NY
IA
OH
CA
NE
MO
VA
MD
KS
TN
NC
DC
HI
GA
TX
FL
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.
$506k · 29 repeat orgs$86k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 19 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
56

Total granted

$506k
$67k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+20%

Still filing today

66%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $18k 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
HealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CulturePhilanthropyPublic BenefitOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2025 · $61k · revenue +70%
  • Northwestern University
    9× · 2017–2025 · $60k · revenue +41%
  • AURORA HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2019–2025 · $38k · revenue +183%

Funded once

  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE COUNTY
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
  • NC
    NAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC
    one grant, 2024 · $8k · revenue +5%
  • GI
    GOLD IN SEPTEMBER CHARITABLE TRUST
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue -99%
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
University Family Physicians Inc

Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…

—
2
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
3
University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors

To provide the highest level of stewardship for university donors through professional management and oversight of the university of minnesota foundation's assets by creating a focused investment environment with clarity of purpose,…

Education
4
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
5
Wisconsin Medical Society Inc

To improve the health of the people of wisconsin by supporting and strengthening physicians' ability to practice high quality patient care in a changing environment.

—
6
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
7
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
8
University Hospital & Clinics Inc

The organization provides medical care to improve, maintain, and restore the health of the people in the communities we serve.

Health
9
Metropolitan Jewish Health System Inc

Mjhs health system is a charitable not-for-profit established to support the activities of affiliated organizations. mjhs is built on the core values of compassion, dignity and respect, first established by the four brooklyn ladies in…

Health
10
Wisconsin Policy Forum Inc

We conduct impartial public policy research and analysis to drive informed debate and effective decision-making in the state of wisconsin.

Public Benefit
11
My Choice Wisconsin Inc

We inspire people to experience life at its fullest by encouraging ownership of health, fostering independence, and serving the whole person; and do so with an unwavering commitment as stewards of medicaid funding.

Health
12
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is March of Dimes Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Lung Association. 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

60 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. 60 of the 97 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
58/60
Grantees still filing
42/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAYO CLINIC FOUNDATION: $75,000 · OtherMAYO CLINIC FOUNDATIONCHILDREN'S WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $63,552 · OtherCHILDREN'S WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INCUNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE COUNTY: $20,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE COU…NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION (NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE): $10,000 · Other+47 more: $36,750 · Other+47 moreUNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY INC: $96,500 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GREATER MIL…AURORA HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $38,200 · PhilanthropyAURORA HEALTH CARE FOUNDA…MILWAUKEE JEWISH FEDERATION INC: $5,400 · Philanthropy+5 more: $10,000 · Philanthropy+5 moreMAYO CLINIC: $55,000 · HealthMAYO CLINICPENFIELD CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $28,650 · HealthPENFIELD CHILDREN'S CEN…CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $25,950 · HealthCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF …NCH HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC: $16,000 · HealthNCH HEALTHCARE SYSTEM I…NAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC: $7,500 · HealthNAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPIT…+11 more: $3,850 · HealthUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $61,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF …THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC: $11,000 · EducationTHE MEDICAL CO…CAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationCAL RIPKEN SR …THE UWM FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 · Education+5 more: $2,850 · EducationNorthwestern University: $60,000 · Recreation & SportsNorthweste…MILWAUKEE COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureUNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND INC: $3,950 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM INC: $500 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $450 · Arts & CultureAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $7,500 · Human ServicesUNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $1,000 · Human Services+4 more: $800 · Human Services
Other$205,302Philanthropy$150,100Health$136,950Education$83,850Recreation & Sports$60,000Arts & Culture$9,900Human Services$9,300

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE & WAUKESHA COUNTY INC: $96,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $61,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $60,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAURORA HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION INC: $38,200 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPENFIELD CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $28,650 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $25,950 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNCH HEALTHCARE SYSTEM INC: $16,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNAPLES COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $7,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE JEWISH FEDERATION INC: $5,400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOLD IN SEPTEMBER CHARITABLE TRUST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAL RIPKEN SR FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UWM FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED PERFORMING ARTS FUND INC: $3,950 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER MILWAUKEE INC: $1,300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTARS AND STRIPES HONOR FLIGHT INC: $1,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION: $1,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJOSEPH P METTNER FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetGARY SINISE FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI UNITED WAY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE V FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FDN OF GREATER DES MOINES F/K/A GREATER DES MOINES COMMUNITY FDN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRISTO REY NETWORK: $700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF WISCONSIN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMCPREPARATORY SCHOOL OF WISCONSIN INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUNGER TASK FORCE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMarquette University: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST STAGE MILWAUKEE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMMAC COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEBRASKA STATE BAR FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE BAR ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION INC: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetABCD INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTUDENT ORGAN DONATION ADVOCATES: $200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HARRY AND ROSE SAMSON FAMILY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF MILWAUKEE: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOALITION FOR CHILDREN YOUTH & FAMILIES INC: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHORIZON HOME CARE & HOSPICE INC: $100 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.

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.

Greater Milwaukee Fou…United Way of Greater…Herbert H Kohl Charit…Evan & Marion Helfaer…Green Bay Packers Fou…Anon Charitable TrustRalph Evinrude Founda…Baird Foundation IncMilwaukee Jewish Fede…Cedar Street Charitab…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Nicholas Family Found…
Greater Milwaukee Foundation IncWI38.1× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Anon Charitable Trust · Ralph Evinrude Foundation Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · Milwaukee Jewish Federation Inc · Cedar Street Charitable Foundation Inc · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Nicholas Family Foundation Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Cal Ripken Sr Foundation Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Naples Community Hospital Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Sommerhauser Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Sommerhauser Foundation Inc 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 97 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 Sommerhauser’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