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The Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert and Rita 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.

$4.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
57
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$960k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0182% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$2.4MRecreation & Sports$2.0MScience & Tech$1.6MHealth$1.4MAnimals$836kHuman Services$804kPhilanthropy$498kFood & Nutrition$405kOther$0
02FY2024 · 57 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $6k
  • $10k–50k37 grants · $675k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.4M
$25,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$86M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SD PARKS AND WILDLIFE FDN$960,000
GREAT PLAINS ZOO$750,000
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE$721,707
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RES FDN$150,000
BRAIN & BEHAVIOR RESERACH COUNCIL$150,000
Individual grant recipient$150,000
Individual grant recipient$101,000
FALL AREA SINGLE TRACK$100,000
ABBOTT HOUSE$100,000
LEVITT FOUNDATION$100,000
FEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA$90,000
SD PARKS AND WILDLIFE FDN$75,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA$50,000
SF YMCA LEIF ERICSON CAMP$50,000
RED CROSS$50,000
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 (FY17–24, $406k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 25% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ABBOTT HOUSE: $100k → 14%EMILYS HOPE: $10k → 5%EMILYS HOPE: $10k → 5%EMILYS HOPE: $10k → 5%EMILY'S HOPE: $5k → 5%EMILYS HOPE: $5k → 5%EMILYS HOPE: $5k → 5%ACTIVE GENERATIONS: $35k → 9%SHIFT GARAGE: $45k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $40k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $35k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $25k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $10k → 9%CHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY: $25k → 9%CHILDRENS HOME SOCIETY: $25k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $10k → 9%CALL TO FREEDOM: $10k → 9%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE: $500 → 9%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE: $500 → 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
MI
NY
MA
SD
IA
CA
CO
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.7M · 73 repeat orgs$2.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +55% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

73 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2024, 43 since wound down; 25 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

73
13

Total granted

$9.7M
$2.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+55%
+31%

Still filing today

45%
23%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $670k 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
Human ServicesHealthEducationArts & CultureFood & NutritionAnimalsOther
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 · $2.1M · revenue +79%
  • SD
    SOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.8M · revenue +89% · 38% of their budget
  • SF
    SIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM
    8× · 2017–2024 · $835k · revenue +192%

Funded once

  • SA
    SF AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $1.6M
  • WA
    Wegner Arboretum Society
    one grant, 2023 · $300k · revenue -64% · 35% of their budget
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $250k
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
Sioux Falls Environmental Access Inc
—
2
Sd Association of Healthcare Organizations

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

—
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
Regional West Health Services

Health care services for the people of western nebraska and eastern wyoming.

Health
5
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
6
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.

—
7
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.

—
8
Dakotabilities Inc

Together, we create a warm and welcoming community enriching the lives of those we support.

Human Services
9
Great Plains Food Bank

End hunger together.

Food & Nutrition
10
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
11
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.

—
12
Southeastern North Dakota Community Action Agency

Southeastern north dakota community action agency (sendcaa) was formed in 1965 to provide a range of services and activities in a six county area designed to alleviate poverty and give low-income people the opportunity to improve their…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota; the most unlike its peers is Falls Area Singletrack Inc. 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

47 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. 47 of the 113 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/47
Grantees still filing
35/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: $1,821,000 · OtherSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATIONSF AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,625,000 · OtherSF AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONBRAIN & BEHAVIOR RESERACH COUNCIL: $650,000 · OtherBRAIN & BEHAVIOR RESERACH COUNCILIndividual grant recipient: $430,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $305,100 · Other+79 more: $2,997,690 · Other+79 moreAUGUSTANA UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION: $2,122,707 · EducationAUGUSTANA UNIVERSIT…+4 more: $87,600 · EducationSIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM: $835,000 · Animals+1 more: $700 · AnimalsALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $410,000 · HealthTHE ZACHARY & ELIZABETH M FISHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $120,000 · HealthFACE IT TOGETHER INC: $70,000 · HealthMIDWEST STREET MEDICINE: $30,000 · Health+3 more: $4,300 · HealthCALL TO FREEDOM: $130,000 · Human ServicesABBOTT HOUSE INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $50,000 · Human ServicesSHIFT GARAGE: $45,000 · Human ServicesEmilys Hope: $45,000 · Human ServicesSENIOR CITIZEN SERVICES INC DBA ACTIVE GENERATIONS: $35,000 · Human Services+2 more: $1,350 · Human ServicesFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $223,000 · Food & NutritionTHE BANQUET: $112,100 · Food & NutritionLunch is Served Inc: $70,000 · Food & NutritionWegner Arboretum Society: $300,000 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $10,520 · Arts & Culture
Other$7,828,790Education$2,210,307Animals$835,700Health$634,300Human Services$406,350Food & Nutrition$405,100Arts & Culture$335,520

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: $2,122,707 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: $1,821,000 over 8y, 38% of budgetSIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM: $835,000 over 8y, 6.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $410,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetWegner Arboretum Society: $300,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $223,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetCALL TO FREEDOM: $130,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetMDRC: $120,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ZACHARY & ELIZABETH M FISHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $120,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE BANQUET: $112,100 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $100,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetABBOTT HOUSE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFALLS AREA SINGLETRACK INC: $100,000 over 1y, 52% of budgetST FRANCIS HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS: $90,250 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetSIOUX FALLS CARES INC: $83,000 over 8y, 7.7% of budgetTHE GLORY HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS: $75,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetFACE IT TOGETHER INC: $70,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetLunch is Served Inc: $70,000 over 6y, 23% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE INC: $55,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTRIDER EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetSHIFT GARAGE: $45,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetEmilys Hope: $45,000 over 6y, 6.6% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SIOUX FALLS: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSENIOR CITIZEN SERVICES INC DBA ACTIVE GENERATIONS: $35,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $31,350 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMIDWEST STREET MEDICINE: $30,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetSIOUX FALLS AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $25,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIOUX COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetWASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAPRO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $16,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF VERMILLION: $10,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetSCULPTUREWALK INC: $8,520 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetIN HIS STEPS PATHWAYS OF PEACE: $5,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA HALL OF FAME: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHANDI RIDERS INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCaringBridge: $1,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIFESCAPE: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIOUX FALLS AREA HUMANE SOCIETY: $700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRBC MINISTRIES: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetABOUT-FACE MEDIA LITERACY INC: $350 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $250 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 SOUTH DAKOTA PARKS AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Wegner Arboretum Society ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA ↗
  • Who funds CALL TO FREEDOM ↗
  • Who funds MDRC ↗
  • Who funds THE ZACHARY & ELIZABETH M FISHER CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE BANQUET ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF SOUTH DAKOTA ↗
  • Who funds ABBOTT HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds FALLS AREA SINGLETRACK INC ↗
  • Who funds ST FRANCIS HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS ↗
  • Who funds SIOUX FALLS CARES INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GLORY HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS ↗
  • Who funds FACE IT TOGETHER INC ↗
  • Who funds Lunch is Served Inc ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF SOUTH DAKOTA ↗

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…South Dakota Communit…Midcontinent Foundati…Sanford Group ReturnAvera HealthFirst Interstate Banc…The Mike Cindy and Ky…Tenfold Foundation IncSheldon F Reese Found…The James and Eloise …Levo Cares FoundationSioux Empire United W…
Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation IncSD59.6× affinity27 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 · South Dakota Community Foundation · Midcontinent Foundation · Sanford Group Return · Avera Health · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · The Mike Cindy and Kylie Huether Family Foundation · Tenfold Foundation Inc · Sheldon F Reese Foundation · The James and Eloise Elmen Foundation · Levo Cares Foundation · Sioux Empire United Way Inc

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 Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 47%
  • Lutheran World Relief Inc: 47% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Robert and Rita 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 113 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 Robert and Rita 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