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Sundance Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sundance Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$940k
Granted FY2023
49
Grants FY2023
7
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2023.

Employment$672kEducation$566kYouth Development$556kArts & Culture$265kHuman Services$244kCommunity Improvement$151kHousing & Shelter$147kCrime & Legal$99kOther$0
02FY2023 · 49 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k15 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k32 grants · $811k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
$20,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$127k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$50,000
RAMSEY COUNTY$50,000
SOFTEC EDUCATION$47,500
BRIDGEMAKERS FA PROPEL NONPROFITS$40,000
DUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY$35,000
MENTORING PARTNERSHIP OF MN$35,000
MN INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE$30,000
URBAN STRATEGIES$30,000
SPARK-Y$30,000
TGTHR$25,000
SUMMIT ACADEMY$25,000
EMILY GRIFFITH TECHNICAL COLLEGE$25,000
SAINT PAUL COLLEGE$25,000
NAMI MINNESOTA$25,000
ALL SQUARE$25,000
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 (FY19–23, $562k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CANVAS HEALTH: $3k → 6%URBAN STRATEGIES: $40k → 21%URBAN STRATEGIES: $30k → 21%ATTENTION HOMES: $25k → 12%ELPIS ENTERPRISES: $25k → 14%URBAN STRATEGIES: $30k → 21%ATTENTION HOMES: $15k → 12%ELPIS ENTERPRISES: $25k → 14%URBAN STRATEGIES: $23k → 21%TGTHR: $25k → 12%ELPIS ENTERPRISES: $25k → 14%URBAN STRATEGIES: $16k → 21%ELPIS ENTERPRISES: $20k → 14%ELPIS ENTERPRISES: $20k → 14%ELPIS ENTERPRISES: $10k → 14%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $25k → 11%SPARK-Y: $20k → 11%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10k → 14%THE LINK: $20k → 11%CENTRO TYRONE GUZMAN: $9k → 11%FACE TO FACE HEALTH AND COUNSELING: $20k → 14%FACE TO FACE: $20k → 14%SABATHANI COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 11%INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MN: $3k → 14%AIN DAH YUNG CENTER: $25k → 14%SPARK-Y: $30k → 11%CHANGE INC: $20k → 11%NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $3k → 14%YOUTHLINKMN: $15k → 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

MN
IL
WI
MI
OR
NV
CA
CO
MO
DC
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.

41%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 38 repeat orgs$3.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.

38 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2023, 8 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
56

Total granted

$2.2M
$2.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+34%

Still filing today

76%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $289k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentEmploymentAnimalsHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • URBAN STRATEGIES INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $139k · revenue +170%
  • EE
    Elpis Enterprises
    5× · 2019–2023 · $125k · revenue +95%
  • WE
    WALLIN EDUCATION PARTNERS
    4× · 2020–2023 · $115k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $2.2M
  • RC
    RAMSEY COUNTY PUBLIC SECTOR LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
    one grant, 2020 · $30k
  • AF
    AVENUES FOR YOUTHgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $30k · revenue +107%
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
Youthprise

Youthprise is a nonprofit intermediary that invests in the future of Minnesota by investing in youth. Youthprise's mission is to increase equity with and for Minnesota's indigenous, low-income, and racially diverse youth.

Education
2
Minnesota Voice

Minnesota Voice is a collaboration of organizations working toward permanent change in social, racial, and economic justice by increasing civic engagement and voter participation across the state.

Public Benefit
3
Women's Foundation of Minnesota

Women's Foundation of Minnesota is a statewide community foundation investing in ending systemic inequities and driving innovation for gender and racial justice. WFM applies an Intersectional Equity Framework inclusive of gender, race,…

Philanthropy
4
African Development Center

Grow businesses, build wealth and increase reinvestement in the african communities of minnesota

Human Services
5
World Youth Connect

World Youth Connect builds communities across cultures and beyond borders. By creating and encouraging civic engagement opportunities we help young people gain the skills and experience they need to be successful. World Youth Connect…

Youth Development
6
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

—
7
Minnesota Alliance With Youth

Through service, Minnesota Alliance With Youth develops leaders who foster young people's individual assets, honor their voices, and prepare them to reach their goals.

Youth Development
8
United Way of Ne Minnesota

United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.

—
9
Veap Inc

VEAP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, multi-service, human service organization with the mission of "Together, we create pathways to stronger, more hopeful, communities through access to healthy food, housing stability and supportive services."

—
10
Breakthrough Twin Cities

Breakthrough Twin Cities supports students on their journey to college by fostering a community of mutual learning with the next generation of educators so they both can collaborate, grow, and thrive.

Education
11
Nexus Community Partners

Nexus' mission is to build more engaged and powerful communities by supporting community building initiatives that expand community wealth and foster social and human capital.

Philanthropy
12
St Paul Transportation Management Organization

Move minnesota leads the movement for an equitable and sustainable transportation system that puts people first. we are passionate about connecting communities, ending the climate crisis, expanding access to jobs and resources, and…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hired; the most unlike its peers is Parker Task Force for Human Services. 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

74 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. 74 of the 114 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
25
Early backer (in before they grew)
72/74
Grantees still filing
54/74
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $2,200,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUJAMAA: $141,000 · Other+67 more: $1,448,124 · Other+67 moreSOFTEC EDUCATION INC: $180,600 · EducationSOFTEC EDUCAT…WALLIN EDUCATION PARTNERS: $114,500 · EducationWALLIN EDUCAT…DUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY: $85,000 · EducationDUNWOODY COLL…SUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $85,000 · EducationSUMMIT ACADEM…NEWGATE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER INC: $70,000 · EducationNEWGATE EDUCA…University of St Thomas: $27,000 · EducationUPTURNSHIPS INC: $25,000 · Education+6 more: $37,000 · Education+6 moreURBAN STRATEGIES INC: $138,500 · Human ServicesURBAN STRAT…Elpis Enterprises: $125,000 · Human ServicesElpis Enter…ATTENTION INC: $65,000 · Human ServicesATTENTION I…Spark Youth: $50,000 · Human ServicesSpark YouthFace to Face Health and Counseling Service Inc: $40,000 · Human ServicesFace to Fac…AIN DAH YUNG (OUR HOME) CENTER: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $25,000 · Human ServicesCHANGE INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesTHE LINK: $20,000 · Human Services+7 more: $53,150 · Human Services+7 moreWildflyer Coffee: $65,000 · EmploymentHMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP: $45,000 · EmploymentHIRED: $35,000 · Employment+1 more: $1,000 · EmploymentURBAN BOATBUILDERS INC: $40,000 · Youth Development30000 Feet: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentAVENUES FOR YOUTH: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentThe Cookie Cart: $21,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE BRANDLAB: $10,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $4,500 · Youth DevelopmentNew Vision Foundation: $50,000 · InternationalKIVA MICROFUNDS: $17,500 · InternationalPENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES CATALYST MUSIC INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureFILMNORTH: $3,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$3,789,124Education$624,100Human Services$561,650Employment$146,000Youth Development$140,500International$67,500Arts & Culture$43,000

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 budgetSOFTEC EDUCATION INC: $180,600 over 4y, 47% of budgetURBAN STRATEGIES INC: $138,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetElpis Enterprises: $125,000 over 5y, 5.2% of budgetWALLIN EDUCATION PARTNERS: $114,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetURBAN ROOTS MN: $100,000 over 5y, 3.6% of budgetALL SQUARE: $99,200 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetDUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY: $85,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $85,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGoodwill Industries Inc: $80,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNEWGATE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetWildflyer Coffee: $65,000 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetATTENTION INC: $65,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetOASIS FOR YOUTH: $64,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetNew Vision Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetSpark Youth: $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetHMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP: $45,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFace to Face Health and Counseling Service Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetURBAN BOATBUILDERS INC: $40,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budget30000 Feet: $35,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetHIRED: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetST PAUL URBAN TENNIS PROGRAM: $30,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetAVENUES FOR YOUTH: $30,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $27,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAIN DAH YUNG (OUR HOME) CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetLAKES CENTER FOR YOUTH & FAMILIES: $25,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetTHE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNAMI MINNESOTA: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCHANGE STARTS WITH COMMUNITY: $25,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetUPTURNSHIPS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetThe Cookie Cart: $21,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCHANGE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE LINK: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMIGIZI Communications Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetKIVA MICROFUNDS: $17,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUTHLINK: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTWIN CITIES CATALYST MUSIC INC: $15,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWE WIN INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetNATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY CLINIC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKeystone Community Services: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSABATHANI COMMUNITY CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFrogtown Neighborhood Association: $10,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetCAMP CAVELL CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTHE BRANDLAB: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetSAINT PAUL & MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRebuilding Together - Twin Cities: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% 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 SOFTEC EDUCATION INC ↗
  • Who funds URBAN STRATEGIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Elpis Enterprises ↗
  • Who funds WALLIN EDUCATION PARTNERS ↗
  • Who funds URBAN ROOTS MN ↗
  • Who funds ALL SQUARE ↗
  • Who funds DUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds SUMMIT ACADEMY OIC ↗
  • Who funds Goodwill Industries Inc ↗
  • Who funds NEWGATE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Wildflyer Coffee ↗
  • Who funds ATTENTION INC ↗
  • Who funds OASIS FOR YOUTH ↗
  • Who funds New Vision Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Spark Youth ↗
  • Who funds HMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds Face to Face Health and Counseling Service Inc ↗
  • Who funds URBAN BOATBUILDERS INC ↗
  • Who funds 30000 Feet ↗
  • Who funds HIRED ↗
  • Who funds ST PAUL URBAN TENNIS PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds AVENUES FOR YOUTH ↗
  • Who funds University of St Thomas ↗
  • Who funds Dream of Wild Health ↗
  • Who funds PENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds AIN DAH YUNG (OUR HOME) CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LAKES CENTER FOR YOUTH & FAMILIES ↗
  • Who funds THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH ↗

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 Minneapolis Found…Otto Bremer TrustFr Bigelow FoundationYouthpriseThe McKnight Foundati…Mortenson Family Foun…Target FoundationPohlad Family Foundat…Hardenbergh FoundationGreater Twin Cities U…Xcel Energy Foundation
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN75.8× affinity46 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Youthprise · The McKnight Foundation · Mortenson Family Foundation · Target Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · Hardenbergh Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · Xcel Energy 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 Sundance Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sundance Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%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
    1get no government money at all
    36report 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 Sundance Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Sundance 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 114 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Sundance 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