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The Silseth Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Silseth Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$620k
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
15
States reached
$184k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Religion$492kInternational$147kHealth$86kHuman Services$77kHousing & Shelter$58kArts & Culture$45kPublic Benefit$45kFood & Nutrition$30kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k27 grants · $110k
  • $10k–50k22 grants · $326k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $184k
$7,500
Median grant
15
States reached
$6.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ELMBROOK CHURCH$184,000
ELMBROOK CHURCH$32,000
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL$25,000
BROOKLINK INC$20,000
CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY INTERNATIONAL INC$20,000
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN AND UPPER MI$19,000
ELMBROOK CHURCH$18,000
WISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY INC$17,500
WORLD RELIEF CORPORATION OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION O$15,000
THE SALVATION ARMY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE$15,000
MILWAUKEE RESCUE MISSION$15,000
SAMARITANS PURSE$13,500
SERENITY INNS INC$12,000
FAITH BIBLE CHURCH OF NAPLES INC$12,000
GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN INC$11,000
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 (FY22–25, $108k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $5k → 17%JAMES W FOLEY LEGACY FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 5%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $5k → 17%THE WOMENS CENTER INC: $5k → 5%UNITED LUTHERAN PROGRAM FOR THE AGING INC: $6k → 17%COLLIER COUNTY HUNGER AND HOMELESS COALITION INC: $2k → 10%UNITED LUTHERAN PROGRAM FOR THE AGING INC: $6k → 17%COLLIER COUNTY HUNGER AND HOMELESS COALITION INC: $2k → 10%COLLIER COUNTY HUNGER AND HOMELESS COALITION INC: $1k → 10%SERENITY INNS INC: $12k → 17%SERENITY INNS INC: $10k → 17%SERENITY INNS INC: $6k → 17%SERENITY INNS INC: $6k → 17%PATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $3k → 17%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN AND UPPER MI: $19k → 17%PATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $3k → 17%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN AND UPPER MI: $6k → 17%PATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $3k → 17%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN AND UPPER MI: $5k → 17%PATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $2k → 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

NH
MN
WI
NY
MA
OH
CA
MD
TN
NC
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 41 repeat orgs$45k to everyone else

41 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
4

Total granted

$1.7M
$13k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+31%

Still filing today

71%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $32k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesInternationalReligionPublic BenefitScience & TechArts & CultureOther
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

  • CS
    CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY INTERNATIONAL INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $80k · revenue +0%
  • BI
    BROOKLINK INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $60k · revenue +10%
  • SP
    SAMARITAN'S PURSE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $51k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • WR
    WORLD RELIEF CORP OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +62%
  • BS
    BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
    one grant, 2023 · $1k
  • SM
    ST MATTHEWS HOUSE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +31%
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
Wisconsin Lutheran Home Ministries Inc

To share christ's love as we serve the spiritual, physical, intellectual and emotional needs of people entrusted to our care and others whose lives we touch.

—
2
Wisconsin Policy Forum Inc

We conduct impartial public policy research and analysis to drive informed debate and effective decision-making in the state of wisconsin.

Public Benefit
3
Goodwill Industries of South Central Wisconsin Inc

Goodwill of south central wisconsin's mission is to help people in our community to live, work and thrive through housing, employment and supportive services. see schedule o for continuationsupported employment and job skills training are…

Employment
4
World Vision Inc

World vision, inc. is a christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. (continued on schedule…

International
5
International Center for Research On Women

The international center for research for women (icrw) is a global research institute, with a mission to advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and structurally excluded populations with actionable evidence and solutions.

International
6
Faith in Public Life Inc

Faith in public life's mission is to advance the moral imperative for a just, inclusive and equitable country that allows each of us to live into our full humanity. we do this by building power and cultures of belongings among diverse…

Religion
7
Goodwill Manufacturing Inc

Goodwill manufacturing, inc. ("goodwill manufacturing") is a nonstock, not-for-profit wisconsin corporation, whose sole member is goodwill industries of southeastern wisconsin, inc. ("goodwill"), a wisconsin nonstock, not-for-profit…

Employment
8
World Coffee Research

World coffee research unites the global coffee industry to drive science-based agricultural solutions to urgently secure a diverse and sustainable supply of quality coffee today and for generations to come. our mission is to grow, protect,…

International
9
Relief International Inc

Relief international (ri) partners with communities impacted by conflict, climate change, and disaster to save lives, build greater resilience, and promote long-term health and wellbeing of people in the communities that we serve. relief…

International
10
Lifewater Inc

Lifewater international is a non-profit christian water development organization dedicated to effectively serving vulnerable children and families by partnering with underserved communities to overcome water poverty.

Environment
11
Christel House International Inc

Chi prepares graduates of the christel house schools operated by its affiliated entities, which chi funds and oversees, to achieve upward economic mobility, demonstrate good citizenship, and become empowered to identify and realize their…

International
12
Corus International Inc

To manage an international development, health, and relief focused family of organizations helping people and communities lift themselves out of poverty, support well-being of individuals, families and communities, and provide…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lutheran World Relief Inc; the most unlike its peers is Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts 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

36 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. 36 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/36
Grantees still filing
24/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ELMBROOK CHURCH: $567,429 · OtherELMBROOK CHURCHMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: $100,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITALWORLD RELIEF CORPORATION OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION O: $65,000 · OtherWORLD RELIEF CORPORATION OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFAITH BIBLE CHURCH OF NAPLES INC: $61,000 · OtherBROOKLINK INC: $60,000 · OtherMILWAUKEE RESCUE MISSION: $50,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY OF GREATER MILWAUKEE: $45,000 · Other+24 more: $263,100 · Other+24 moreSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $51,000 · ReligionSAMARITAN…GLOBAL SERVE INTERNATIONAL INC: $40,000 · ReligionGLOBAL SE…TELLING THE TRUTH INC: $27,500 · ReligionTELLING T…WISCONSIN INMATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 · ReligionWISCONSIN…LOAM MEDIA INC: $5,000 · ReligionCHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $80,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $15,000 · InternationalWORLD RELIEF CORP OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS: $10,000 · InternationalLUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC: $4,000 · International+1 more: $1,500 · InternationalSERENITY INNS INC: $34,000 · Human ServicesLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN AND UPPER MICHIGAN INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesUNITED LUTHERAN PROGRAM FOR THE AGING INC: $12,000 · Human ServicesPATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $10,500 · Human ServicesHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesSOUTHWEST FLORIDA REGIONAL COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesTHE WOMEN'S CENTER INC: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesBADGER INSTITUTE INC: $27,500 · Public BenefitTHE JOHN K MACIVER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY INC: $20,000 · Public BenefitFOUNDATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY INC: $10,000 · Public BenefitSHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $40,000 · Arts & CultureWISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY: $32,500 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,211,529Religion$143,500International$110,500Human Services$107,500Public Benefit$57,500Arts & Culture$40,000Crime & Legal$32,500

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 budgetCHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY INTERNATIONAL INC: $80,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetBROOKLINK INC: $60,000 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $51,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL SERVE INTERNATIONAL INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSHARON LYNNE WILSON CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFOOD PANTRY OF WAUKESHA COUNTY INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetSERENITY INNS INC: $34,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetWISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY: $32,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN INC: $31,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF WISCONSIN AND UPPER MICHIGAN INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBADGER INSTITUTE INC: $27,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetTELLING THE TRUTH INC: $27,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetHope Center Inc: $25,100 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $24,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetALDO LEOPOLD FOUNDATION INC: $22,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetWISCONSIN INMATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetTHE JOHN K MACIVER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY INC: $20,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED LUTHERAN PROGRAM FOR THE AGING INC: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAWHIDE INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $10,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD RELIEF CORP OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $9,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOAM MEDIA INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHWEST FLORIDA REGIONAL COALITION TO END HOMELESSNESS INC: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAstronomers without Borders: $4,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetTHE BILL COOK FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST MATTHEWS HOUSE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJAMES W FOLEY LEGACY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 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.

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.

Greater Milwaukee Fou…United Way of Greater…Baird Foundation IncEvan & Marion Helfaer…Waukesha County Commu…The Lynde and Harry B…Bradley Impact Fund I…Green Bay Packers Fou…Siebert Lutheran Foun…Rite-Hite Foundation …Harley-Davidson Found…National Philanthropi…
Greater Milwaukee Foundation IncWI26.5× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Baird Foundation Inc · Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation · Waukesha County Community Foundation · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Siebert Lutheran Foundation Inc · Rite-Hite Foundation Inc · Harley-Davidson Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic 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 Silseth Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Silseth Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 47%
  • World Relief Corp of National Association of Evangelicals: 67% of income from government
  • Lutheran World Relief Inc: 47% of income from government
  • Southwest Florida Regional Coalition to End Homelessness Inc: 14% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.

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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Silseth’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