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The James and Eloise Elmen Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The James and Eloise Elmen 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.

$844k
Granted FY2024still arriving
21
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$350k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$1.1MAnimals$1.0MEducation$867kHealth$708kEnvironment$446kHuman Services$317kPublic Safety & Disaster$128kPhilanthropy$102kOther$0
02FY2024 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $155k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $312k
  • $250k+1 grant · $350k
$15,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AVERA$350,000
SOUTH DAKOATA PARKS WILDLIFE FDN$90,000
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SIOUX FALLS$90,000
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE$66,000
SOUTH DAKOTA PARKS WILDLIFE FDN$66,000
Individual grant recipient$30,000
SIOUX FALLS CARES$20,000
MIDWEST HONOR FLIGHT$20,000
CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY$20,000
AMERICAN LEGION CHARITIES$20,000
BANQUET$15,000
MAKE A WISH OF SD$10,000
TUNNEL TO TOWERS FDN$10,000
FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION$10,000
APRO CHARITABLE FDN$5,000
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 (FY18–23, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%DOW RUMMEL VILLAGE: $20k → 9%EMILY'S HOPE: $3k → 9%DOW RUMMEL VILLAGE: $1k → 9%DOW RUMMEL VILLAGE: $1k → 9%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
NY
WY
SD
IA
IN
VA
MD
AZ
NC
TX
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 36 repeat orgs$509k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +79% since the first grant, against +54% for those funded once.

36 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
12

Total granted

$4.7M
$99k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+79%
+54%

Still filing today

53%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 51% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $410k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyFood & NutritionArts & CultureAnimalsOther
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

  • AU
    AUGUSTANA UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $818k · revenue +79%
  • SH
    SANFORD HEALTH FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2023 · $700k · revenue +262%
  • SF
    SIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM
    8× · 2017–2024 · $475k · revenue +192%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $40k
  • OS
    ONE SIOUX FALLS FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
  • FS
    FEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue -11%
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
Sd Association of Healthcare Organizations

Advancing healthy communities through a unified voice across the health care continuum.

—
2
South Dakota Voices for Peace

Sd voices for peace provides five programming areas to assist vulnerable communities access services throughout the state: legal services, multilingual outreach, training and education, advocacy and civic engagement and rapid response.

—
3
University of Sioux Falls

The university of sioux falls, a christian university in the liberal arts tradition, educates students in the humanities, sciences and professions. the traditional motto of the university is culture for service, that is, we seek to foster…

Education
4
Sioux Falls Environmental Access Inc
—
5
Midwest Dairy Association

Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.

—
6
Realtor Association of the Sioux Empire Inc

To offer leadership, involvement and support; encouraging the membership to professionally achieve their goals and serve all in the spirit of the golden rule.

—
7
State University of Iowa Alumni Association

Our mission is to strengthen the university of iowa through alumni engagement. we do this through our communications, alumni programs, and events.

—
8
Great Plains Food Bank

End hunger together.

Food & Nutrition
9
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
10
American Foreign Service Association

American foreign service association (afsa) is both the principal advocate for the long-term institutional wellbeing of the professional career foreign service and responsible for safeguarding the interest of afsa members. (continued on…

—
11
Downtown Sioux Falls

Downtown Sioux Falls boldly leads the downtown community by championing diverse experiences, economic growth, and a healthy environment.

—
12
University of Iowa Facilities Corporation

The university of iowa facilities corporation acquires and holds property for the benefit and use of the university of iowa.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Volunteers of America Northern Rockies; the most unlike its peers is National Ataxia Foundation Incorporated. 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

28 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. 28 of the 54 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)
25/28
Grantees still filing
20/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTH DAKOTA PARKS & WILDLIFE: $709,000 · OtherSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS & WILDLIFEAVERA: $350,000 · OtherAVERASOUTH DAKOTA PARKS WILDLIFE FD: $308,000 · OtherSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS WILDLIFE FDSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: $272,000 · OtherSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATIONSOUTH DAKOATA PARKS WILDLIFE FDN: $270,000 · OtherSOUTH DAKOATA PARKS WILDLIFE FDNSOTHD DAKOTA PARKS WILDLIFE FDN: $217,000 · OtherSOTHD DAKOTA PARKS WILDLIFE FDNGOOD EARTH STATE PARK: $161,000 · OtherGOOD EARTH STATE PARKVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA: $100,000 · Other+31 more: $529,253 · Other+31 moreAUGUSTANA UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION: $818,100 · EducationAUGUSTANA UNIVERSIT…STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Education+2 more: $28,405 · EducationSANFORD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $700,000 · PhilanthropySANFORD HEALTH F…SIOUX FALLS CARES INC: $64,000 · PhilanthropySIOUX FALLS CARE…+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropySIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM: $474,900 · AnimalsSIOUX FALL…CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $83,000 · Human ServicesDOW RUMMEL VILLAGE: $22,000 · Human Services+1 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesTHE BANQUET: $30,250 · Food & NutritionFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $15,000 · Food & NutritionMIDWEST HONOR FLIGHT - IA & SD: $34,700 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT INC: $6,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$2,916,253Education$886,505Philanthropy$774,000Animals$474,900Human Services$108,000Food & Nutrition$45,250Arts & Culture$40,700

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 budgetAUGUSTANA UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION: $818,100 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSANFORD HEALTH FOUNDATION: $700,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM: $474,900 over 8y, 1.6% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: $272,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $83,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBUTTERFLY HOUSE & AQUARIUM INC: $75,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetSIOUX FALLS CARES INC: $64,000 over 8y, 6.2% of budgetFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GLORY HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS: $40,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMIDWEST HONOR FLIGHT - IA & SD: $34,700 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHE BANQUET: $30,250 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetFAMILY VISITATION CENTER: $27,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetHANDI RIDERS INC: $25,000 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetDOW RUMMEL VILLAGE: $22,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF LEVITT SHELL SIOUX FALLS: $19,905 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $11,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSIOUX FALLS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA NORTHERN ROCKIES: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAPRO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $8,500 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetWASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT INC: $6,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION MSA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEmilys Hope: $3,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCHRISTIAN WORSHIP HOUR: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT VERITAS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNational Ataxia Foundation Incorporated: $103 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.

  • Who funds AUGUSTANA UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SANFORD HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA ↗
  • Who funds BUTTERFLY HOUSE & AQUARIUM INC ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX FALLS CARES INC ↗
  • Who funds FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE GLORY HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS ↗
  • Who funds MIDWEST HONOR FLIGHT - IA & SD ↗
  • Who funds THE BANQUET ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY VISITATION CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HANDI RIDERS INC ↗
  • Who funds DOW RUMMEL VILLAGE ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF LEVITT SHELL SIOUX FALLS ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA ↗
  • Who funds Young America's Foundation ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX FALLS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA NORTHERN ROCKIES ↗
  • Who funds APRO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT INC ↗

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.

Sioux Falls Area Comm…Sanford Group ReturnMidcontinent Foundati…The Robert and Rita E…Avera HealthSouth Dakota Communit…First Interstate Banc…Greg and Pam Sands Fo…Sheldon F Reese Found…The Mike Cindy and Ky…Larson FoundationSfs Foundation
Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation IncSD36.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation Inc · Sanford Group Return · Midcontinent Foundation · The Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation · Avera Health · South Dakota Community Foundation · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Greg and Pam Sands Foundation · Sheldon F Reese Foundation · The Mike Cindy and Kylie Huether Family Foundation · Larson Foundation · Sfs 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 The James and Eloise Elmen Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The James and Eloise Elmen Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%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
    7report 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 The James and Eloise Elmen Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The James and Eloise Elmen 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 54 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 James and Eloise Elmen’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