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Swantz Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Swantz Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$74k
Granted FY2025still arriving
25
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$5k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Environment$108kYouth Development$97kRecreation & Sports$23kEducation$22kHuman Services$22kArts & Culture$16kCommunity Improvement$15kFood & Nutrition$13kOther$0
02FY2025 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$748k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OCETI SAKOWIN COMMUNITY ACADEMY$5,000
PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION AGRICULTURE$5,000
CHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK$5,000
YOUNG MASTERMINDS INITIATIVE$5,000
CORPSTHAT$5,000
YES NATURE TO NEIGHBORHOODS$4,000
Individual grant recipient$4,000
CAMP ENCOURAGE$4,000
NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEARNING ALLIANCE$4,000
WILDERNESS LOUISVILLE$3,500
Individual grant recipient$3,000
PASSIONIST EARTH & SPIRIT CENTER$3,000
ELEVATEHER$3,000
WILD EARTH$3,000
WOMEN'S WILDERNESS INSTITUTE$3,000
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 (FY24–25, $13k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 38% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WOMEN'S WILDERNESS INSTITUTE: $5k → 5%CORPSTHAT: $5k → 19%WOMEN'S WILDERNESS INSTITUTE: $3k → 5%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

ME
WA
ID
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
WY
SD
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
NC
SC
AL
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.

62%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$218k · 26 repeat orgs$137k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
24

Total granted

$218k
$84k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+15%

Still filing today

73%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 29% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $53k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentYouth DevelopmentEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureEmploymentOther
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

  • WE
    WILD EARTH WILDERNESS SCHOOL
    5× · 2019–2025 · $22k · revenue +21%
  • E
    elevateHER
    5× · 2019–2025 · $15k · revenue +201%
  • AC
    ASHOKAN CENTER INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $11k · revenue +103%

Funded once

  • BB
    Backyard Basecamp Inc
    one grant, 2021 · $9k · revenue -97%
  • CS
    Camp Solomon Schechter
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue +15%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMAKERS ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue 0%
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
Wild Whatcom

Wild Whatcom's mission is to foster lifelong connections with nature and community through outdoor exploration and service.

Education
2
Outdoor Equity Alliance

To create equitable access to nature in all communities and inspire a diverse new generation of environmental leaders.

Food & Nutrition
3
White Pine Programs

White Pine Programs' mission is to host shared outdoor experiences that awaken curiosity, build personal resilience, and cultivate caring relationships with self, community, and the natural world.

Education
4
Discovery Pathways

Our mission is to uplift the well-being of the community through experiential nature-based programs. By providing hands-on environmental education to urban youth and adults, we empower leaders and cultivate a connection to the natural…

Environment
5
Rochester Ecology Partners Inc

Rochester Ecology Partners helps all people find nature where they live, work, and play.

Environment
6
Whole Earth Nature School

Mentoring students in the outdoors to foster confidence, resilience and kinship with nature. our programs center wilderness skills and empower students to be at the center of their own learning.

Environment
7
Outdoor Journeys Inc

Inspiring individuals to connect with the natural world

Youth Development
8
The Catamount Institute

Catamount Institute is dedicated to connecting kids to the outdoors through environmental education and outdoor adventures.

Human Services
9
Outdoor Education Laboratory Inc

To provide children with an experience in the outdoors that will instill in them a sense of responsibility and respect for the environment throughout their lifetime.

Environment
10
Everwild

Everwild is committed to engaging and mentoring children and families to develop a meaningful attachment to the earth.

—
11
Yampatika

Yampatika's mission is to inspire environmental stewardship through education. They fulfil that mission by developing environmental learning opportunities that serve the children and adults of Northwest Colorado.

Environment
12
Post

We strive to encourage environmental awareness, leadership, diversity, self-confidence, and knowledge of the outdoors. We help to build a sense of community, which may not otherwise be found in an urban environment.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ecology Education Inc; the most unlike its peers is Camp for All Kids. 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

52 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. 52 of the 66 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)
52/52
Grantees still filing
32/52
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WILD EARTH WILDERNESS SCHOOL: $21,500 · Youth DevelopmentWILD EARTH WILDERNESS SCH…elevateHER: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentelevateHERVAMOS OUTDOORS PROJECT: $6,500 · Youth DevelopmentVAMOS OUTDOORS PROJECTDavis Forest School: $6,000 · Youth DevelopmentDavis Forest SchoolWilderness Youth Project Inc: $6,000 · Youth DevelopmentWilderness Youth Project …YOUNG MASTERMINDS INITIATIVE INC: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOUNG MASTERMINDS INITIAT…TRAILBLAZER CAMPS INC: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentTRAILBLAZER CAMPS INCYES Nature to Neighborhoods: $4,000 · Youth DevelopmentCamp for All Kids: $3,500 · Youth DevelopmentTFK Chicago Voyagers: $3,500 · Youth Development+2 more: $3,500 · Youth DevelopmentAUSTIN EXPLORE INC(DBA EXPLORE AUS: $13,000 · OtherAUSTIN EXPLORE INC(DBA EXPLORE …BAY AREA WILDERNESS TRAINING (FISCA: $9,500 · OtherBAY AREA WILDERNESS TRAINING (F…WILD CANYON DISCOVERY: $9,000 · OtherWILD CANYON DISCOVERYALLISON WOODS OUTDOOR LEARNING CENTER: $6,203 · OtherALLISON WOODS OUTDOOR LEARNING …REVISION EDUCATION(FISCAL SPONSOR: $6,000 · OtherREVISION EDUCATION(FISCAL SPONS…FRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS(DBA CI: $6,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS(DB…MACARTHUR BEACH STATE PARK: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $4,000 · OtherROSE FOUNDATION FOR COMMUNITIES: $3,500 · OtherHAWTHORNE VALLEY ASSOCIATION INC: $7,000 · OtherHAWTHORNE VALLEY ASSOCIATION IN…GREEN GUERILLAS INC: $4,000 · OtherSouth Carolina Aquarium: $5,000 · OtherGROW PORTLAND: $6,000 · OtherGROW PORTLAND+9 more: $15,000 · Other+9 moreASHOKAN CENTER INC: $10,500 · EnvironmentASHOKAN CENTER INCRARITAN HEADWATERS ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · EnvironmentRARITAN HEADWATERS AS…FAMILIES IN NATURE: $5,500 · EnvironmentFAMILIES IN NATUREENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMAKERS ASSOCIATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMA…San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory: $5,000 · EnvironmentSan Francisco Bay Bir…PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY: $5,000 · EnvironmentPARTNERS FOR EDUCATIO…CITYSPROUTS INC: $4,000 · EnvironmentCITYSPROUTS INCEcology Education Inc: $4,000 · EnvironmentEcology Education IncFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS: $4,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WIL…Upstream Alliance Inc: $3,500 · EnvironmentWILDERNESS LOUISVILLE INC: $3,500 · EnvironmentNorth Cascades Institute: $2,500 · Environment+3 more: $4,000 · Environment+3 moreCHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK: $25,000 · EducationCHILDREN & NATURE…Backyard Basecamp Inc: $9,000 · EducationBackyard Basecamp…Oceti Sakowin Community Academy: $5,000 · EducationOceti Sakowin Com…BIOCITIZEN INC: $4,000 · EducationBIOCITIZEN INCPrinceton-Blairstown Center Inc: $4,000 · EducationPrinceton-Blairst…NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEARNING ALLIANCE: $4,000 · EducationNATIONAL OUTDOOR …Green Works In Kansas City: $2,500 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationWOMEN'S WILDERNESS INSTITUTE: $8,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN'S W…FRESH AIR FAMILY INC: $6,500 · Human ServicesFRESH AIR…CORPSTHAT INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesCORPSTHAT…FRIENDS OF CAMP NATOMA INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS O…Camp Encourage: $4,000 · Human ServicesCamp Enco…HUDSON HIGHLANDS NATURE CENTER: $8,985 · Arts & CultureCREATIVE NOMADS LTD: $5,000 · Arts & CultureRAMAPO FOR CHILDREN INC: $7,500 · Recreation & SportsCamp Solomon Schechter: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports
Youth Development$79,500Other$99,203Environment$66,500Education$54,500Human Services$28,500Arts & Culture$13,985Recreation & Sports$12,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK: $25,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWILD EARTH WILDERNESS SCHOOL: $21,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetelevateHER: $15,000 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetASHOKAN CENTER INC: $10,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetRARITAN HEADWATERS ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBackyard Basecamp Inc: $9,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHUDSON HIGHLANDS NATURE CENTER: $8,985 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetWOMEN'S WILDERNESS INSTITUTE: $8,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetRAMAPO FOR CHILDREN INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAWTHORNE VALLEY ASSOCIATION INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRESH AIR FAMILY INC: $6,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetVAMOS OUTDOORS PROJECT: $6,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetDavis Forest School: $6,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetGROW PORTLAND: $6,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetWilderness Youth Project Inc: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILIES IN NATURE: $5,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCamp Solomon Schechter: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL GRANTMAKERS ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG MASTERMINDS INITIATIVE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTRAILBLAZER CAMPS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSan Francisco Bay Bird Observatory: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF CAMP NATOMA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPARTNERS FOR EDUCATION AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSouth Carolina Aquarium: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOceti Sakowin Community Academy: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCREATIVE NOMADS LTD: $5,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetBIOCITIZEN INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGREEN GUERILLAS INC: $4,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetCITYSPROUTS INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPrinceton-Blairstown Center Inc: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEcology Education Inc: $4,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetYES Nature to Neighborhoods: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CIBOLO WILDERNESS: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUpstream Alliance Inc: $3,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCamp for All Kids: $3,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTFK Chicago Voyagers: $3,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPASSIONIST EARTH & SPIRIT CENTER IN: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGreen Works In Kansas City: $2,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNorth Cascades Institute: $2,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYELLOWSTONE FOREVER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTotal Health Care Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOLAR YOUTH INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetOlympic Nature Experience: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

National Recreation F…Clif Family FoundationPatagoniaorgThe Outdoor FoundationRei Cooperative Actio…The Keith Campbell Fo…ImpactassetsincSeattle FoundationNational Park Foundat…Novo FoundationThe Hyde and Watson F…National Fish and Wil…
National Recreation Foundation IncorporatedIL27.8× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Recreation Foundation Incorporated · Clif Family Foundation · Patagoniaorg · The Outdoor Foundation · Rei Cooperative Action Fund · The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment Inc · Impactassetsinc · Seattle Foundation · National Park Foundation · Novo Foundation · The Hyde and Watson Foundation · National Fish and Wildlife 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 Swantz Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Swantz Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 27%
  • Raritan Headwaters Association: 94% of income from government
  • Grow Portland: 36% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Solar Youth Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Total Health Care Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Citysprouts Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Swantz Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Swantz 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 66 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 Swantz 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