Sewell Family Foundation
Edina, MN · EIN 41-1861892. Reported 102 grants totalling $642,000 to 61 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Sewell Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $3,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $7,500; the smallest was $250 and the largest $57,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballet Works Inc | Minneapolis, MN | $193,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Augusburg College | Minneapolis, MN | $43,450 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| International Cello Institute | Northfield, MN | $43,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Animal Humane Society | Golden Valley, MN | $34,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Global Grassroots | Portsmouth, NH | $32,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Second Harvest Heartland | Brooklyn Park, MN | $32,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Womens Club of Minneapolis | Minneapolis, MN | $30,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Comusication | St Paul, MN | $22,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Ghost Ranch Foundation | Abiquiu, NM | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Schubert Club | St Paul, MN | $13,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Alight | Minneapolis, MN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Evangelical Lutheran Church in Amer | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Giving Voice Initiative | Edina, MN | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church | Minneapolis, MN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Walker West Music Academy | St Paul, MN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Recycling Association of Minnesota | St Paul, MN | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Mounds Park Academy | St Paul, MN | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| North House Folk School | Grand Marais, MN | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphony | St Paul, MN | $7,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Beth Graczyk Productions Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Springboard for the Arts | St Paul, MN | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Creative Enterprise Zone | St Paul, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Helping Hands for Relief & Developm | Southfield, MI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lundstrum Center for Performing Art | Minneapolis, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Operation Bootstrap | Stevens Point, WI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Spring Farm Sanctuary | Long Lake, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Paul Conservatory of Music | St Paul, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Twin Cities Catalyst Music | Burnsville, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Open Collective Foundation | Walnut, CA | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Red Eye Theatre | Minneapolis, MN | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Wildcat Sactuary | Sandstone, MN | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Young Dance Company | St Paul, MN | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Gretta Foundation | Danville, CA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rochester Chamber Music | Rochester, MN | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Big Sky Education | Gallatin Gateway, MT | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Minnesota Fringe Festival | Minneapolis, MN | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ruff Start Rescue | Princeton, MN | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Don't You Feel It Too | St Paul, MN | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Isles Ensemble | Minneapolis, MN | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Peacemaker Minnesota | Roseville, MN | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Breakthrough Twin Cities | St Paul, MN | $1,700 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Great River School | St Paul, MN | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Massachusetts Inst of Technology | Cambridge, MA | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rabbit Island Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Smile Train | New York, NY | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Arts Partnership | St Paul, MN | $1,350 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nexus Diversified Community Service | Plymouth, MN | $1,250 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| A Mother's Love Initiative | Minneapolis, MN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Beacon Interfaith Housing | St Paul, MN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Flotsam River Circus | Everett, WA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jungle Theater | Minneapolis, MN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Merril Arts Center | Woodbury, MN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood of Mnsd | Richfield, MN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Rabbit Island Foundation | Calumet, MI | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Springboard for the Arts Danceco | St Paul, MN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Artaria String Quartet | St Paul, MN | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chamber Music America | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Golden Valley Historical Society | Golden Valley, MN | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Nexus Diversified Comm Services | Minneapolis, MN | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Paul String Quartet Competition | St Paul, MN | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Vocalessence | Minneapolis, MN | $250 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
24 of 61 (39%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 46%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Ballet Works Inc
ARTS EDUCATION & APPRECIATION - Walker West Music Academy
ARTS EDUCATION & APPRECIAITON - Schubert Club
ARTS EDUCAITON & APPECIATION - Twin Cities Catalyst Music
ARTS EDUCTION & APPRECIAITON - Minnesota Fringe Festival
ARTS EDUCATION AND APPRECIATION - Rabbit Island Foundation Inc
ARTS EDUCAITON & APPRECIATION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 56 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | $145,000 | $1,500 |
| 2022 | 25 | $172,000 | $3,000 |
| 2023 | 24 | $161,500 | $3,000 |
| 2024 | 25 | $163,500 | $3,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 86% of this one's giving went to organizations in Minnesota. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Minnesota.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Sewell Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 3300 Edinborough Way 420, Edina, MN, 55435. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 41-1861892 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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