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The Kjellstrom Family Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Kjellstrom Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$710k
Granted FY2025still arriving
47
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$82k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$830kEducation$636kHuman Services$612kPhilanthropy$476kYouth Development$315kHealth$237kEnvironment$122kHousing & Shelter$121kOther$0
02FY2025 · 47 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $72k
  • $10k–50k32 grants · $556k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $82k
$12,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$10M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHERN IL CENTER FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE$82,459
FARMERS RISING ROCKFORD$39,965
ROCKFORD PROMISE$35,000
SALVATION ARMY$26,792
SHELTER CARE$25,000
KEITH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL$25,000
ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$24,553
THE MUSIC ACADEMY$23,970
BURPEE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$23,550
ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY$20,000
RAMP DISABILITY RESOURCES & SERVICES$20,000
CHILDREN'S SAFE HARBOR$20,000
JACKSON CHARTER SCHOOL$20,000
SEVERSON DELLS NATURE CENTER$17,500
NIKOLAS RITSCHEL FOUNDATION$17,000
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 (FY21–25, $295k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%VILLAGE OF PROGRESS: $1k → 9%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $6k → 15%YOUTH SERVICES NETWORK: $33k → 15%YOUTH SERVICES NETWORK: $28k → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $20k → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $9k → 15%ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $6k → 15%STEPPING STONES OF ROCKFORD: $5k → 15%GOLDIE FLOBERG CENTER: $27k → 15%LAURENT HOUSE FOUNDATION: $6k → 15%WOMANSPACE: $4k → 15%MILESTONE: $12k → 15%MILESTONE: $12k → 15%MILESTONE: $8k → 15%MILESTONE: $8k → 15%MILESTONE: $5k → 15%CIRCLES OF LEARNING: $10k → 15%SAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN: $10k → 15%THE YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $15k → 15%TRINITY HOUSE: $8k → 15%CHILDREN'S HOME AID: $25k → 15%CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY: $13k → 15%BRIGHTPOINT: $13k → 15%BRIGHTPOINT: $12k → 15%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.
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.

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 43 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

43 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

43
47

Total granted

$2.3M
$1.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+17%

Still filing today

67%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $257k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationHealthPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • RA
    ROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL
    5× · 2021–2025 · $138k · revenue +98%
  • DC
    DISCOVERY CENTER MUSEUM OF ROCKFORD INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $93k · revenue +26%
  • RS
    ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $93k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY
    one grant, 2020 · $472k · revenue -23%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUB ASSOCIATION OF ROCKFORD
    one grant, 2021 · $40k · revenue +17%
  • ZD
    ZION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue -30%
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
Rockford Day Nursery

It is the mission of this corporation to provide quality care for children between the ages of six weeks and twelve years whose parents are employed or in training.

Human Services
2
Rockport Cultural Arts District

Bring recognition to the cultural arts and promote economic and cultural development in the downtown rockport area.

Arts & Culture
3
The Rockford Institute

To provide analysis and commentary on cultural, economic, political, and educational issues through a published monthly opinion magazine and to operate continuing adult educational conferences in american and european literature and…

—
4
Transform Rockford
Community Improvement
5
Riverside Arts Center

Through free exhibitions, arts education and life-long learning for all ages, rac is an advocate for the vital role the arts play in nurturing community, amplifying diverse experiences, ideas, and backgrounds.

Arts & Culture
6
Rockford Regional Health Council

Rockford regional health council is a not-for-profit social service corporation organized under the laws of the state of illinois for the purpose of improving community health through data gatering and analysis, education and advocacy.

—
7
Mosaic Illinois Housing of Rockford I

The organization provides low income affordable housing under illinois housing development authority guidelines.

Health
8
Rockford Christian Education Association

To challenge young people to know christ as lord, apply god's truth in all areas of life, love others sacrifically, and achieve the highest level of knowledge and skill in order to serve god and others

Education
9
Rockford Community Investment Fund

To support housing and community development ventures

Community Improvement
10
Rockford Area Strategic Initiatives

The primary role of the rockford area strategic initiative is to enhance education, commerce, trade and economic development in the rockford region

Community Improvement
11
Swedish Historical Society of Rockford

Preservation of swedish historical structure, culture and artifacts through the operations of a museum and cultural center.

Arts & Culture
12
Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity Inc

Provide affordable housing solutions for low-income families.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northwest Community Center; the most unlike its peers is The Fatherhood Encouragement Project. 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

66 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 66 of the 109 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
65/66
Grantees still filing
37/66
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHERN IL CENTER FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE: $338,039 · OtherNORTHERN IL CENTER FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCESEVERSON DELLS NATURE CENTER: $116,942 · OtherSEVERSON DELLS NATURE CENTERYMCA: $85,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $85,000 · OtherSHELTER CARE: $75,000 · OtherEASTER SEALS INC: $71,427 · OtherREGIONAL ACCESS & MOBILIZATION PROJECT INC: $67,420 · Other+64 more: $1,066,777 · Other+64 moreROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL: $137,700 · Arts & CultureROCKFORD AREA ARTS C…DISCOVERY CENTER MUSEUM OF ROCKFORD INC: $93,352 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY CENTER MUS…ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $92,578 · Arts & CultureROCKFORD SYMPHONY OR…FRIENDS OF THE CORONADO: $82,330 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE CORON…MIDWAY VILLAGE & MUSEUM CENTER: $65,605 · Arts & CultureMIDWAY VILLAGE & MUS…HARRY AND DELLA BURPEE MUSEUM ASSOCIATION: $49,550 · Arts & CultureHARRY AND DELLA BURP…ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM: $45,000 · Arts & CultureROCKFORD ART MUSEUMWest Side Show Room: $28,919 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $59,855 · Arts & Culture+4 moreUNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $472,300 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF R…Nikolas Ritschel Foundation: $27,000 · PhilanthropyNikolas Ritsche…+1 more: $3,500 · PhilanthropyCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $62,418 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'…YOUTH SERVICES NETWORK INC: $61,070 · Human ServicesYOUTH SER…MILESTONE INC: $45,400 · Human ServicesMILESTONE…ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $40,600 · Human ServicesROCK RIVE…GOLDIE B FLOBERG CENTER: $26,572 · Human ServicesGOLDIE B …YMCA OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $15,000 · Human ServicesSAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE: $10,000 · Human ServicesCircles of Learning Inc: $10,000 · Human Services+5 more: $24,276 · Human Services+5 moreROCKFORD PROMISE: $62,285 · EducationROCK VALLEY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $24,083 · EducationROCKFORD RESCUE MISSION MINISTRIES: $17,493 · EducationROCKFORD UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · EducationTHE SPECTRUM SCHOOL: $14,716 · EducationPATRIOTS' GATEWAY COMMUNITY CENTER: $37,455 · Recreation & SportsRockford Barbell: $36,055 · Recreation & SportsKFACT INC KEEPING FAMILIES & COMMUNITIES TOGETHER: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentROCK HOUSE KIDS: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIFE DECISIONS INC: $20,000 · Youth Development
Other$1,905,605Arts & Culture$654,889Philanthropy$502,800Human Services$295,336Education$133,577Recreation & Sports$73,510Youth Development$70,000

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY: $472,300 over 1y, 9.1% of budgetROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL: $137,700 over 5y, 24% of budgetDISCOVERY CENTER MUSEUM OF ROCKFORD INC: $93,352 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC: $92,578 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CORONADO: $82,330 over 5y, 20% of budgetEASTER SEALS INC: $71,427 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetREGIONAL ACCESS & MOBILIZATION PROJECT INC: $67,420 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetMIDWAY VILLAGE & MUSEUM CENTER: $65,605 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL: $62,418 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetROCKFORD PROMISE: $62,285 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetYOUTH SERVICES NETWORK INC: $61,070 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHARRY AND DELLA BURPEE MUSEUM ASSOCIATION: $49,550 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMILESTONE INC: $45,400 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetROCKFORD ART MUSEUM: $45,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY: $40,600 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB ASSOCIATION OF ROCKFORD: $40,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPATRIOTS' GATEWAY COMMUNITY CENTER: $37,455 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetRockford Barbell: $36,055 over 3y, 26% of budgetTHE ARC OF WINNEBAGO BOONE & OGLE: $32,500 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetZION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $30,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetWest Side Show Room: $28,919 over 3y, 12% of budgetKEN-ROCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $28,100 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetNikolas Ritschel Foundation: $27,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetGOLDIE B FLOBERG CENTER: $26,572 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetETHNIC HERITAGE MUSEUM: $25,500 over 3y, 20% of budgetNORTHWEST COMMUNITY CENTER: $25,163 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetKEITH COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetKLEHM ARBORETUM AND BOTANIC GARDEN INC: $25,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetROCK HOUSE KIDS: $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetRIVERFRONT MUSEUM PARK: $24,104 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetROCK VALLEY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $24,083 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetROCKFORD AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $23,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCENTER FOR SIGHT & HEARING: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetROCKFORD SEXUAL ASSAULT COUNSELING INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetROCKFORD DANCE COMPANY: $20,000 over 2y, 9.2% of budgetPEC PLAYHOUSE THEATRE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetROCKFORD RESCUE MISSION MINISTRIES: $17,493 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSTATELINE YOUTH FOR CHRIST: $15,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetROCKFORD UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SPECTRUM SCHOOL: $14,716 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF ILLINOIS: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN THEATER PROJECT: $12,355 over 1y, 20% of budgetNORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOD BANK: $11,190 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAMI NORTHERN ILLINOIS: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetCircles of Learning Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTRINITY HOUSE INC: $8,360 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetROCKFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 8.2% 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 UNITED WAY OF ROCK RIVER VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD AREA ARTS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVERY CENTER MUSEUM OF ROCKFORD INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE CORONADO ↗
  • Who funds EASTER SEALS INC ↗
  • Who funds REGIONAL ACCESS & MOBILIZATION PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds MIDWAY VILLAGE & MUSEUM CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HOME & AID SOCIETY OF ILL ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD PROMISE ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH SERVICES NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds HARRY AND DELLA BURPEE MUSEUM ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MILESTONE INC ↗
  • Who funds ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds ROCK RIVER VALLEY PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB ASSOCIATION OF ROCKFORD ↗
  • Who funds PATRIOTS' GATEWAY COMMUNITY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Rockford Barbell ↗
  • Who funds THE ARC OF WINNEBAGO BOONE & OGLE ↗
  • Who funds ZION DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds West Side Show Room ↗
  • Who funds KEN-ROCK COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Nikolas Ritschel Foundation ↗
  • Who funds GOLDIE B FLOBERG CENTER ↗
  • Who funds ETHNIC HERITAGE MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST COMMUNITY CENTER ↗

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.

Community Foundation …Blazer FoundationBergstrom Inc Charita…United Way of Rock Ri…The Ben Harding Famil…The David & Colleen A…The Mill FoundationTracy E Anderson Char…Smith Charitable Foun…Kristin L Anderson Ch…John & Linda Anderson…Woodward Governor Cha…
Community Foundation of Northern ILIL105.7× affinity49 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Northern IL · Blazer Foundation · Bergstrom Inc Charitable Foundation Xxxxx2008 · United Way of Rock River Valley · The Ben Harding Family Foundation · The David & Colleen Anderson Charitable Foundation · The Mill Foundation · Tracy E Anderson Charitable Foundation · Smith Charitable Foundation Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx · Kristin L Anderson Charitable Foundation · John & Linda Anderson Charitable Foundation · Woodward Governor Charitable 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 The Kjellstrom Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Kjellstrom Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%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
    29report 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 Kjellstrom Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Kjellstrom 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 109 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 Kjellstrom 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