Minnesota · Nonprofit
PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION
PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 110 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,543,854 to it, the largest being DAVID & JANIS LARSON FOUNDATION ($7,580,000). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.2M
- Funders on record
- 110
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $15M
What Pinky Swear Foundation does
Mission
To provide financial support to families with children battling cancer.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Family support-at Pinky Swear Foundation, we understand that the financial burdens of childhood cancer can be overwhelming for families. That's why we provide direct financial aid for basic needs such as housing, food, and transportation. We also provide convenient, stocked food pantries in four hospitals to reduce expenses for parents and family members who want to stay with their sick child.in 2025, Pinky Swear Foundation provided vital financial support to families facing childhood cancer:1,937 orange envelopes delivered, each containing a gas and grocery gift card and a letter of encouragement for recently-diagnosed kids and their families. 732 all-star fund grants awarded, assisting with housing payments, transportation expenses, and groceries so parents can focus on what matters most their child. 3,291 pounds of food distributed through our pantry program, providing kids and families with snacks and grab-and-go meals in the hospital to further ease the burden of food costs.
$1,916,005 spentof which $1,227,430 as grants80% of program spendingEducation/awareness-we are committed to increasing the awareness and understanding of childhood cancer and its impact on families. By sharing stories, photos, and videos featuring pinky swear all-stars (kids with cancer), the financial hardships that these families face become tangible and relatable. We utilize a mix of communication channels, including social media, website, email, advertising, public speaking engagements, and public relations, to demonstrate the impact Pinky Swear Foundation has on our all-star families and how others can help.
$431,249 spent18% of program spendingStudent engagement-Pinky Swear Foundation encourages personal development of young leaders through goal setting and entrepreneurship while helping kids with cancer. The pinky swear pack program empowers students to participate in childhood cancer awareness and support initiatives throughout the school year. Through these youth engagement activities, we aim to inspire the servant-leadership mentality inspired by the original pinky swear promise. In 2025, Pinky Swear Foundation provided scholarships to three pack award recipients who demonstrated this servant-leadership mentality.
$38,060 spentof which $9,000 as grants2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,385,314.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $5.7M to $9.2M (+61%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 3% · 2021 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Karla Vehrs
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 48 funders, grant income rose $523k → $1.8M.
23 of 110 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 110 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 48% · 2019 40% · 2020 81% · 2021 81% · 2022 80% · 2023 57% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
40% of PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
79% of PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 7,349 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,349 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
67%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 34 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION?
- PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 110 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,543,854 to it, the largest being DAVID & JANIS LARSON FOUNDATION ($7,580,000). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 110 organizations giving $12,543,854 in grants to PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION, 62 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION?
- DAVID & JANIS LARSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $7,580,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PINKY SWEAR FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Pinky Swear →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 110 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing