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· Private foundation

The Sears Swetland Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$318k
Granted FY2025still arriving
48
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Environment$1.1MArts & Culture$517kEducation$363kFood & Nutrition$139kHuman Services$128kHealth$125kRecreation & Sports$88kCommunity Improvement$70kOther$0
02FY2025 · 48 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k36 grants · $163k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $155k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$4.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTRAL LINCOLN YMCA$30,000
CWRU SWETLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH$20,000
CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART$15,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL$10,000
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART$10,000
VERMONT PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP$10,000
CLEVELAND NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRESS$10,000
WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY$10,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY OF VERMONT$10,000
SMOKEY HOUSE CENTER$10,000
BIRTHING BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITIES$10,000
BUILDING HOPE IN THE CITY$5,000
LAKE ERIE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER$5,000
UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INC$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 (FY17–25, $74k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, 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%REFUGEE RESPONSE: $2k → 17%REFUGEE RESPONSE: $2k → 17%HOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE: $5k → 17%HOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE: $5k → 17%HOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE: $5k → 17%UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $10k → 17%UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $10k → 17%UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $5k → 17%UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $5k → 17%UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT: $5k → 17%MONTESSORI DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP: $5k → 17%GLOBAL CLEVELAND: $5k → 17%GLOBAL CLEVELAND: $5k → 17%GLOBAL CLEVELAND: $5k → 17%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
VT
IL
MI
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
DC
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 88 repeat orgs$313k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against -5% for those funded once.

88 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2025, 51 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

88
43

Total granted

$2.3M
$240k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
-5%

Still filing today

63%
21%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $73k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesYouth 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

  • WR
    WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $290k · revenue +73%
  • CM
    CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $95k · revenue +31%
  • TC
    THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART
    7× · 2019–2025 · $77k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • Y
    YMCA
    one grant, 2024 · $30k
  • CW
    CASE WESTERN RESERVE
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
  • CS
    CASE SWETLAND CENTER
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
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
West Creek Conservancy

Our mission is to enrich the lives of all people in northeast ohio by conserving natural habitats, restoring the ecological value of our region's lands and waters, and expanding opportunities to connect people from all cultures to…

Environment
2
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
3
Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati museum center inspires people of all ages to learn more about our world through science, regional history, and educational, engaging and meaningful experiences.

Arts & Culture
4
Groundwork Ohio River Valley Inc

To support the long-term revitalization and care of neighborhoods through local partnerships that equip residents, businesses and organizations to improve economic opportunity and community well-being.

Community Improvement
5
Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The conservancy engages community involvement through 1) programs and services to enhance the park visitor experience; 2) co-management of the park's award-winning "volunteer in parks" (vip) program; 3) education programs for school age…

Environment
6
Ohio Business Roundtable

To harness the collective expertise of ohio's ceos to advocate for policies that improve ohio's economic competitiveness.

—
7
Greater Cleveland Volunteers

Greater cleveland volunteers enriches the community and indivuduals through volunteer service. volunteers age 18 and older are recruited and placed in the agency's programs or referred to local nonprofit or public organizations to help…

Philanthropy
8
Earth Conservancy

Earth conservancy is a nonprofit organization committed to the reclamation and return of over 16,000 acres of former coal company-owned land to the region. it collaborates with local communities, government agencies, education…

Environment
9
Michigan Enviromental Council

Informing and educating the public and decision makers about environmental issues.

Environment
10
Cardinal Land Conservancy

To benefit the general public by preserving natural lands and significant habitats, lands suitable for the production of food, timber, or other cultivated or natural products, lands creating scenic vistas for public enjoyment, lands with…

Environment
11
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
12
Cleveland Leadership Center

The mission of cleveland leadership center (the organization) is to build a continuum of civic leaders committed to our community's excellence by serving as a catalyst for civic engagement. the organization achieves its mission by…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Cleveland Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Great Lakes Biomimicry 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

70 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. 70 of the 142 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
68/70
Grantees still filing
50/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CASE WESTERN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $110,000 · OtherCASE WESTERN SCHOOL OF MEDICINENATURE CONSERVANCY OF VERMONT: $63,000 · OtherCLEVELAND METROPARKS: $60,000 · OtherHILDENE: $51,000 · OtherNATURE CENTER OF SHAKER LAKES: $49,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $48,000 · OtherSWETLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: $45,000 · Other+89 more: $893,303 · Other+89 moreWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY: $290,000 · EnvironmentWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONS…THE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $65,000 · EnvironmentTHE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL CO…Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $64,500 · EnvironmentCoastal Maine Botanical G…Midcoast Conservancy: $47,000 · EnvironmentMidcoast ConservancyTHE HOLDEN ARBORETUM: $25,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20,000 · Environment+10 more: $86,500 · Environment+10 moreCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $95,000 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND …CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: $55,700 · Arts & CultureCENTER FOR…LAKE ERIE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER: $32,500 · Arts & CultureLAKE ERIE …CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $22,500 · Arts & CultureCLEVELAND …BENNINGTON MUSEUM INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureBENNINGTON…WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $20,000 · Arts & CultureWESTERN RE…+2 more: $11,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $77,000 · EducationTHE CLEVEL…CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $58,000 · EducationCASE WESTE…COLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC: $40,000 · EducationCOLLEGE NO…BIRTHING BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITIES: $27,500 · EducationBIRTHING B…FRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: $19,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF…HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL: $11,500 · Education+1 more: $4,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED: $40,000 · Community ImprovementDOWNTOWN CLEVELAND ALLIANCE: $19,500 · Community ImprovementNEIGHBORHOOD PROGRESS INC: $15,000 · Community ImprovementGREAT LAKES BIOMIMICRY INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementNORTH UNION FARMERS MARKET: $5,000 · Community ImprovementVILLAGE OF HEALING: $5,000 · Community ImprovementFOOTPATH FOUNDATION: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentRID-ALL FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHEAST OHIO: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentIDEASTREAM: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentUNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT INC: $35,000 · Human ServicesGLOBAL CLEVELAND: $15,000 · Human ServicesHOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesMONTESSORI DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIPS: $5,000 · Human ServicesRESOURCE CLEVELAND: $4,000 · Human Services
Other$1,319,303Environment$598,000Arts & Culture$256,700Education$237,000Community Improvement$94,500Youth Development$80,000Human Services$74,000

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 budgetWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY: $290,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $95,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $77,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $65,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetCoastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc: $64,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $58,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: $55,700 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetMidcoast Conservancy: $47,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED: $40,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCOLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC: $40,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT INC: $35,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLAKE ERIE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER: $32,500 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetURBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $30,001 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetLAND STUDIO INC: $30,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetFOOTPATH FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 7y, 2.2% of budgetBIRTHING BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITIES: $27,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE HOLDEN ARBORETUM: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $22,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRID-ALL FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetBENNINGTON MUSEUM INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetVERMONT PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetSMOKEY HOUSE CENTER: $20,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetWESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDOWNTOWN CLEVELAND ALLIANCE: $19,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: $19,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHUNGER NETWORK OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGLOBAL CLEVELAND: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD PROGRESS INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHEAST OHIO: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetIDEASTREAM: $15,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCLEVELAND BOTANICAL GARDEN: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWEST: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDRINK LOCAL DRINK TAP INC: $15,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetHOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSPICE FIELD KITCHEN INC: $13,500 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $12,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRED OAK CAMP INC: $12,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetFAMICOS FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT LAKES BIOMIMICRY INC: $10,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetELEANOR B RAINEY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPHILANTHROPY OHIO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGOODPOWER EDUCATION FUND INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBUILDING HOPE IN THE CITY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% 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 WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART ↗
  • Who funds THE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Inc ↗
  • Who funds CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART ↗
  • Who funds Midcoast Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE ERIE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds LAND STUDIO INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOTPATH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BIRTHING BEAUTIFUL COMMUNITIES ↗
  • Who funds THE HOLDEN ARBORETUM ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds RID-ALL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BENNINGTON MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND ↗
  • Who funds VERMONT PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds SMOKEY HOUSE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗

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.

The Cleveland FoundationOH66.2× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Cleveland Foundation · The George Gund Foundation · The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation · Third Federal Foundation · The Reinberger Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Jewish Federation of Cleveland · Murphy Family Foundation · Emma R Fox Char Trust Mut Fds · Saint Lukes Foundation of Cleveland Ohio · The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Group Return · The Abington 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 Sears Swetland Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Sears Swetland Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 42%
  • Smokey House Center: 54% of income from government
  • Vermont Land Trust Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Family Promise Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
27report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Sears Swetland Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Sears Swetland 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 142 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

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