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The Sidney a Swensrud Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Sidney a Swensrud 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.

$2.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
23
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2024.

Education$4.7MHealth$3.9MCivil Rights$1.9MEnvironment$1.7MScience & Tech$275kPublic Benefit$235kYouth Development$200kArts & Culture$195kOther$0
02FY2024 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $200k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$75,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$31M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UPSTREAM USA$500,000
NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN$150,000
FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM$150,000
CURE ALZHEIMER'S FUND$125,000
PIONEER INSTITUTE$125,000
THE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA$100,000
EPIPHANY SCHOOL$100,000
DANA FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE$100,000
IMMIGRATION REFORM LAW INSTITUTE$75,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA - JACKSONVILLE AND CENTRAL FL$75,000
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY$75,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA - MASSACHUSETTS$75,000
AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN$75,000
AUDOBONS CORKSCREW SWAMP SANCTUARY$50,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF BOSTON$45,000
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 (FY21–24, $110k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%AVOW HOSPICE: $35k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $25k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $25k → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $25k → 10%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
OR
CT
CA
VA
MD
AZ
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 47 repeat orgs$353k to everyone else

47 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2024, 26 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

47
6

Total granted

$14M
$335k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+72%

Still filing today

77%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $18k 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
EducationHealthArts & CulturePublic BenefitInternationalEnvironmentOther
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

  • THE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
    8× · 2017–2024 · $785k · revenue +561%
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc
    6× · 2019–2024 · $675k · revenue +97%
  • PI
    PIONEER INSTITUTE INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $650k · revenue +117%

Funded once

  • AD
    ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA - SCHOLARSHIP
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • CS
    COTTING SCHOOL INC
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue +21%
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
3
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
4
National Association of Independent Schools Inc

As the largest association of independent schools, nais co-creates the future of education by uniting and empowering our community. we do this through thought leadership, research, creation and curation of resources, and direct…

—
5
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
6
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
7
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
8
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
9
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
10
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
11
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
12
Aacsb International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

Aacsb international provides quality assurance of business school programs, the latest in business education intelligence, thought leadership, and learning and development services.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 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

43 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. 43 of the 56 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/43
Grantees still filing
32/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $650,000 · EducationPIONEER INSTITUTE INCNATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY INC: $575,000 · EducationNATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUA…THE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $400,000 · EducationTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INCBES INC: $375,000 · EducationBES INCAMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC: $335,000 · EducationAMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDRE…Teach for America Inc: $275,000 · EducationTeach for America IncBOSTON SCHOOLS FUND: $235,000 · EducationBOSTON SCHOOLS FUNDCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $185,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $145,000 · EducationNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS: $145,000 · Education+10 more: $648,000 · Education+10 moreUpstream USA Inc: $1,950,000 · HealthUpstream USA IncDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $675,000 · HealthDana-Farber Cancer Institute…Children's Hospital Corporation: $527,754 · HealthChildren's Hospital Corporat…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $500,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH…UPSTREAM: $950,000 · OtherUPSTREAMTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: $785,000 · OtherTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLO…IMMIGRATION REFORM LAW INSTITUTE INC: $280,000 · OtherIMMIGRATION REFORM LAW INSTITUTE…TEACH FOR AMERICA - MASSACHUSETTS: $200,000 · OtherTEACH FOR AMERICA - JACKSONVILLE AND CENTRAL FL: $200,000 · OtherTHE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES: $192,450 · OtherAUDOBONS CORKSCREW SWAMP SANCTUARY: $150,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $180,000 · OtherTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $155,000 · Other+15 more: $990,000 · Other+15 moreFEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: $1,500,000 · InternationalFEDERATION …NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $630,000 · EnvironmentMUSEUM OF SCIENCE: $185,000 · Arts & CultureMASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $85,000 · Arts & CultureCATTLE TRACK ARTS AND PRESERVATION: $25,000 · Arts & CultureJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $105,000 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Public BenefitMANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH INC: $60,000 · Public Benefit
Education$3,968,000Health$3,652,754Other$4,082,450International$1,500,000Environment$630,000Arts & Culture$295,000Public Benefit$265,000

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 budgetUpstream USA Inc: $1,950,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetFEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: $1,500,000 over 8y, 3.7% of budgetTHE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA: $785,000 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $675,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $650,000 over 8y, 2.6% of budgetNAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $630,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY INC: $575,000 over 8y, 4.2% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $527,754 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetTHE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC: $400,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetBES INC: $375,000 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC: $335,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetIMMIGRATION REFORM LAW INSTITUTE INC: $280,000 over 7y, 2.7% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $275,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBOSTON SCHOOLS FUND: $235,000 over 7y, 3.1% of budgetTHE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES: $192,450 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $185,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetMUSEUM OF SCIENCE: $185,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC: $180,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $155,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $145,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS: $145,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetUP EDUCATION NETWORK: $115,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetAVOW Hospice Inc: $110,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $105,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $90,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $85,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSTEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC: $80,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetEDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC: $80,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WORLD WAR II INC: $75,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $70,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCenter for Immigration Studies Inc: $60,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetCOTTING SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL ASSOCIATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetFISCAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetCATTLE TRACK ARTS AND PRESERVATION: $25,000 over 1y, 33% of budgetLANDON SCHOOL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVERITAS SCHOOL: $8,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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 Upstream USA Inc ↗
  • Who funds FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM ↗
  • Who funds THE CONSERVANCY OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ↗
  • Who funds Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds PIONEER INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY INC ↗
  • Who funds Children's Hospital Corporation ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE EPIPHANY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds BES INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds IMMIGRATION REFORM LAW INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON SCHOOLS FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES ↗
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF BOSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds UP EDUCATION NETWORK ↗
  • Who funds AVOW Hospice Inc ↗
  • Who funds JUDICIAL WATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds STEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds EDUCATORS FOR EXCELLENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WORLD WAR II 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.

Boston Foundation IncThe Lynch FoundationBarr FoundationDonors Trust IncWalton Family Foundat…Longfield Family Foun…George H & Jane a Mif…City FundThe Eli and Edythe Br…Combined Jewish Phila…Eastern Bank Foundati…Fidelity Foundation
Boston Foundation IncMA19.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · The Lynch Foundation · Barr Foundation · Donors Trust Inc · Walton Family Foundation Inc · Longfield Family Foundation Inc · George H & Jane a Mifflin Memorial Fund · City Fund · The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Fidelity 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 Sidney a Swensrud Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Sidney a Swensrud Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Historical Society: 22% of income from government
  • Up Education Network: 22% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Charter Public School Association Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Upstream Usa Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Naples Botanical Garden Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Museum of Science: 0% of income from government
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
  • The Epiphany School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Steppingstone Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Cotting School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Achievement First Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Avow Hospice Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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.

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 56 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 Sidney a Swensrud’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