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Swanson Cares at a glance

· Private foundation

Swanson Cares

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.

$37k
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Health$31kRecreation & Sports$28kHuman Services$13kEducation$9kYouth Development$8kHousing & Shelter$5kFood & Nutrition$5kPublic Safety & Disaster$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,500
Median grant
10
States reached
$22k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Sanford$3,500
TNT Kids Fitness$3,000
Hospice of the Red River Valley$2,500
Metro Sports Foundation$2,000
Learn 'n Move Childcare$2,000
Jasmin Childcare & Pre-School$2,000
Friends of the Children FM$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
HERO$1,500
Harbor Light Worship Center$1,500
Veteran's Honor Flight$1,500
ND Shrine Bowl Games$1,500
Fraser LTD$1,500
Ronald McDonald House Charities$1,500
Community Partnership Resource Center$1,500
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 (FY22–24, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 66% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Christian Medical Ministries: $500 → 11%Removing the Barriers Initiative: $500 → 16%Teller Senior Coalition: $1k → 8%Strengthen Our Sisters: $1k → 12%Hospice of the Red River Valley: $3k → 10%Hope Blooms: $500 → 12%Hospice of the Red River Valley: $3k → 12%Fraser LTD: $2k → 12%YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties: $342 → 12%YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties: $50 → 12%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

ND
MN
NY
MA
IA
NJ
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
SC
DC
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.

59%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$66k · 14 repeat orgs$45k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
30

Total granted

$66k
$28k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+19%

Still filing today

71%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $17k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsFood & NutritionPublic BenefitPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BG
    BIO Girls Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $6k · revenue +36%
  • MS
    Metro Sports Foundation Inc
    3× · 2022–2024 · $5k · revenue +87%
  • HH
    HERO HEALTHCARE EQUIPMENT RECYCLING ORGANIZATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $5k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +16%
  • AA
    AJC ACADEMY
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • N
    NDSU
    one grant, 2021 · $3k
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
Living Well Disability Services

Living Well Disability Services transforms the lives of people impacted by disabilities through the delivery of exceptional services.

—
2
MRIGlobal

To improve the lives of people through innovative scientific and engineering research.

Science & Tech
3
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
4
Minnesota Medical Association

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

—
5
Catholic Charities North Dakota

Guided by our values, Catholic Charities North Dakota serves people in need and advocates for the common good of all.

—
6
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
7
North Olympic Healthcare Network

To provide patient-centered, quality-driven, whole-person healthcare services, accessible to everyone in our community.

Health
8
Hospice of Michigan Inc

Hospice of Michigan, Inc. meets our patients and families where they are with urgency, purpose and compassionate accountability surrounding them with decades of dedicated hospice expertise.

Human Services
9
Feeding South Dakota

To eliminate hunger in south dakota.

Food & Nutrition
10
The Foundation for Health Care Continuums

The mission of the foundation for health care continuums is to strengthen each community we serve by providing a wide spectrum of housing and health care services that honor the evolving, aging population.

Health
11
Trinity Health & Affiliates

Trinity health is committed to preserving and improving the quality of health of the people we serve. our mission is to excel at meeting the needs of the whole person through the provision of quality health care and health related services.

Health
12
University of Florida Health Corporation

UF Health's mission is to promote health through outstanding and high-quality patient care, innovative and rigorous education in the health professions and biomedical sciences, and high-impact research across the spectrum of basic,…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Service Organizations Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hope Blooms. 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

32 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. 32 of the 61 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)
32/32
Grantees still filing
22/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Sanford: $4,500 · OtherSanfordND Shrine Bowl Games: $4,000 · OtherND Shrine Bowl GamesAJC ACADEMY: $2,743 · OtherAJC ACADEMYNDSU: $2,727 · OtherNDSURonald McDonald House Charities: $2,500 · OtherRonald McDonald House CharitiesDOWN HOME: $2,500 · OtherDOWN HOMEFamily HealthCare: $2,500 · OtherFamily HealthCareThe Village: $2,000 · OtherLearn 'n Move Childcare: $2,000 · Other+29 more: $21,312 · Other+29 moreTNT Kid's Fitness: $18,593 · Recreation & SportsTNT Kid's FitnessMetro Sports Foundation Inc: $5,072 · Recreation & SportsMetro Sports Foundation …+1 more: $70 · Recreation & SportsHospice of the Red River Valley: $5,000 · Human ServicesHospice of the…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $4,099 · Human ServicesAmerican Natio…FRASER LTD: $1,500 · Human ServicesFRASER LTDSTRENGTHEN OUR SISTERS INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesSTRENGTHEN OUR…Teller Senior Coalition Inc: $1,000 · Human ServicesTeller Senior …REMOVING THE BARRIERS INITIATIVE INC: $500 · Human ServicesHope Blooms: $500 · Human ServicesCHRISTIAN MEDICAL MINISTRIES INC: $500 · Human Services+1 more: $392 · Human ServicesHERO HEALTHCARE EQUIPMENT RECYCLING ORGANIZATION: $5,000 · HealthHERO HEALTHC…American Heart Association Inc: $5,000 · HealthAmerican Hea…ALS THERAPY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · HealthALS THERAPY …AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $500 · Health+3 more: $619 · HealthBIO Girls Inc: $5,500 · Youth DevelopmentVITAMIN ANGEL ALLIANCE INC: $2,509 · Food & NutritionGreat Plains Food Bank: $1,500 · Food & NutritionJASMIN SERVICES: $4,000 · Education
Other$46,782Recreation & Sports$23,735Human Services$14,491Health$12,119Youth Development$5,500Food & Nutrition$4,009Education$4,000

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 budgetTNT Kid's Fitness: $18,593 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetBIO Girls Inc: $5,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMetro Sports Foundation Inc: $5,072 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHERO HEALTHCARE EQUIPMENT RECYCLING ORGANIZATION: $5,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHospice of the Red River Valley: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $4,099 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJASMIN SERVICES: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetVITAMIN ANGEL ALLIANCE INC: $2,509 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDOWN HOME: $2,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFRASER LTD: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGreat Plains Food Bank: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTHRIGHT 360: $1,489 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTRENGTHEN OUR SISTERS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMARINE TOYS FOR TOTS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT NORTH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTeller Senior Coalition Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALS THERAPY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION ADOPT A SOLDIER INC: $782 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFM Rotary Foundation: $580 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREMOVING THE BARRIERS INITIATIVE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHope Blooms: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN MEDICAL MINISTRIES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $479 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYMCA of the Northern Sky: $392 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL OVARIAN CANCER COALITION INC: $279 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDAKOTA ESTATES INC: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetShare House Foundation: $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHEARTSPRINGS: $90 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPray for Gray: $80 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Gold Gymnastics: $70 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.

Blue Cross Blue Shiel…Alex Stern Family Fou…Fargo-Moorhead Area F…Dakota Medical Founda…Midcontinent Foundati…Otto Bremer TrustOffutt Family Foundat…The Barry FoundationFred M Hector Jr Char…United Way of Cass-Cl…Sanford Group ReturnNorth Dakota Communit…
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring FoundationND30.1× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring Foundation · Alex Stern Family Foundation · Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation Corporation · Dakota Medical Foundation · Midcontinent Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Offutt Family Foundation · The Barry Foundation · Fred M Hector Jr Charitable Trust · United Way of Cass-Clay · Sanford Group Return · North Dakota Community 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 Swanson Cares funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Swanson Cares. 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Als Therapy Development Foundation Inc: 8% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Swanson Cares?

Find your warmest path to Swanson Cares 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 61 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 Swanson Cares’ 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