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Van Buskirk Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Van Buskirk Family 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.

$146k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$27k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2024 to 2025.

Health$46kPhilanthropy$42kHuman Services$30kArts & Culture$27kHousing & Shelter$24kYouth Development$24kFood & Nutrition$20kPublic Safety & Disaster$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k13 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $117k
$3,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LIFESCAPE FOUNDATION$26,667
FRIENDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA PUBLIC BROADCASTING$25,542
SDSU FOUNDATION$17,850
ABBOT HOUSE$15,000
FEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA$11,500
MCCROSSAN BOYS RANCH$10,000
SALVATION ARMY$10,000
ST FRANCIS HOUSE$5,000
FORWARD SIOUX FALLS$5,000
BREAD BREAK$3,000
LIFELINE CHILDRENS SERVICES$2,500
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SD$2,000
KIWANIS CLUB OF SF$2,000
SIOUX FALLS AREA CASA PROGRAM$2,000
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA$2,000
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 (FY24–25, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, 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%EAST RIVER FOSTER PARENT NETWORK: $2k → 9%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SD: $2k → 9%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SD: $2k → 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.
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$201k · 14 repeat orgs$38k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
6

Total granted

$201k
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
0%

Still filing today

64%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $27k went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
HealthArts & CultureFood & NutritionAnimalsHuman ServicesEducationOther
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

  • LF
    LIFESCAPE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $43k · revenue -21%
  • SD
    SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $36k · revenue 0%
  • FO
    Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting
    2× · 2024–2025 · $27k · revenue +22%

Funded once

  • SF
    SIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUMgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue +26%
  • ER
    EAST RIVER FOSTER PARENT NETWORK THE FOSTER NETWORK
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue -20%
  • SF
    SIOUX FALLS AREA HUMANE SOCIETY
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue 0%
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
Sioux Falls Cares Inc

To provide food, clothing, toys and other miscellaneous items to families in need.

Philanthropy
3
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.

—
4
Great Plains Food Bank

End hunger together.

Food & Nutrition
5
Family Promise of Greater Des Moines

To provide shelter and services to families experiencing homelessness

—
6
Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation Inc

In partnership with donors, sioux falls area community foundation (sfacf) provides philanthropic leadership that assures the quality of life in our area, for good, for ever.the community foundation cultivates philanthropy by inspiring new…

Philanthropy
7
Sioux Falls Development Foundation Inc

To collaboratively create quality economic growth and workforce development in sioux falls.

—
8
Catholic Charities North Dakota

Guided by our values, Catholic Charities North Dakota serves people in need and advocates for the common good of all.

—
9
Realtor Association of the Sioux Empire Inc

To offer leadership, involvement and support; encouraging the membership to professionally achieve their goals and serve all in the spirit of the golden rule.

—
10
Lifescape

Empowering people to live their best life.vision statement:lifescape will be an innovative organization, providing exceptional services and creative solutions for people with varied needs and complex care across their life span. this is…

Health
11
Food Bank of Iowa

The organization receives, warehouses, and distributes salvageable food items to non-profit tax exempt member agencies to feed the ill, needy, and infants.

Food & Nutrition
12
Face It Together Sioux Falls Inc

The mission of face it together sioux falls is to get drug and alcohol addiction sufferers well.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Feeding South Dakota; the most unlike its peers is Bread Break. 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

16 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. 16 of the 25 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
6/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LIFESCAPE FOUNDATION: $43,334 · HealthLIFESCAPE FOUNDATIONMCCROSSAN BOYS RANCH: $22,000 · HealthMCCROSSAN BOYS RANCHFACE IT TOGETHER INC: $3,000 · HealthSALVATION ARMY: $17,500 · OtherSALVATION ARMYABBOT HOUSE: $15,000 · OtherABBOT HOUSEVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA: $10,000 · OtherVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICAST FRANCIS HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS: $8,000 · OtherST FRANCIS HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLSFORWARD SIOUX FALLS: $5,000 · OtherFORWARD SIOUX FALLSUNION GOSPEL MISSION: $4,000 · OtherKIWANIS CLUB OF SF: $4,000 · OtherSIOUX FALLS AREA CASA PROGRAM: $4,000 · Other+5 more: $8,000 · Other+5 moreSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $35,700 · EducationSOUTH DAKOTA STA…Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting: $26,500 · Arts & CultureFriends of S…+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $16,500 · Food & NutritionFEEDING S…BREAD BREAK: $3,000 · Food & NutritionBREAD BRE…SIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM: $5,000 · AnimalsSIOUX FALLS AREA HUMANE SOCIETY: $1,500 · AnimalsRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA INC: $4,000 · Human ServicesEAST RIVER FOSTER PARENT NETWORK THE FOSTER NETWORK: $2,000 · Human Services
Health$68,334Other$75,500Education$35,700Arts & Culture$27,000Food & Nutrition$19,500Animals$6,500Human Services$6,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLIFESCAPE FOUNDATION: $43,334 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $35,700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting: $26,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMCCROSSAN BOYS RANCH: $22,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFEEDING SOUTH DAKOTA: $16,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST FRANCIS HOUSE OF SIOUX FALLS: $8,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSIOUX FALLS ZOO & AQUARIUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTH DAKOTA INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIOUX FALLS AREA CASA PROGRAM: $4,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFACE IT TOGETHER INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEAST RIVER FOSTER PARENT NETWORK THE FOSTER NETWORK: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSIOUX FALLS AREA HUMANE SOCIETY: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY CONNECTION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWASHINGTON PAVILION MANAGEMENT INC: $500 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.

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…First Interstate Banc…South Dakota Communit…Avera HealthSanford Group ReturnMidcontinent Foundati…The Robert and Rita E…The Mike Cindy and Ky…Levo Cares FoundationSheldon F Reese Found…The Graco FoundationGreg and Pam Sands Fo…
Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation IncSD34.3× affinity14 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 · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · South Dakota Community Foundation · Avera Health · Sanford Group Return · Midcontinent Foundation · The Robert and Rita Elmen Foundation · The Mike Cindy and Kylie Huether Family Foundation · Levo Cares Foundation · Sheldon F Reese Foundation · The Graco Foundation · Greg and Pam Sands 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 Van Buskirk Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Van Buskirk Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 Van Buskirk Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Van Buskirk 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 25 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 Van Buskirk 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