SBK Stearns Family Foundation
SBK Stearns Family Foundation is a private foundation based in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Its 2025 filing reports grants to charitable organizations working in areas including conservation, food access, homelessness and poverty, reproductive health, education, and the arts.
SBK Stearns Family Foundation at a glance
In short: SBK Stearns Family Foundation gave $307K across 13 grants in 2025 (avg $24K), mostly in Wisconsin. 31% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $306,500
- -1.0% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 13
- -27.8% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $23,577
- +37.1% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $10,000
- Total assets
- $3,834,630
- -4.1% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 31% first-time grantees (4 of 13, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Wisconsin (62% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to SBK Stearns Family Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.
- Contact
Mailing address: 695 Cedar Point Dr, Williams Bay, WI 53191
Phone: (520) 904-5241
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who SBK Stearns Family Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Holiday Home C ($125K). Together the top 10 received $300K.
Grant Size Distribution
65 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 53 grants of 65 (82%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The foundation is based in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. In 2025, 62% of grant dollars went to recipients in Wisconsin, 16% to recipients in Washington, DC, 8% each to recipients in Illinois and Tennessee, and 3% to recipients in Vermont. Listed 2025 recipients also included organizations in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 13 itemized grants.
Cities
Is SBK Stearns Family Foundation open to new grantees?
31%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 4 of 13 grantees (31%) were first-time recipients. With only 13 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 8 points. First grants averaged $45K; repeat grants $14K. How we count
Medians: $25K first-time, $5K repeat.
- 69% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+17%). Method
- In 2025 it paid out 95% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $255K (2023) to $338K (2021). In 2025 it made 13 grants totaling $307K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday Home C Williams Bay, WI | General Purpose | $125,000 |
| Geneva Lake Conservancy Fontanaongeneva Lake, WI | General Purpose | $50,000 |
| Feeding America Chicago, IL | General Purpose | $25,000 |
| Ocean Conservancy Washington, DC | General Purpose | $25,000 |
| The Contributor Nashville, TN | General Purpose | $25,000 |
| Planned Parenthood of Fed of a Washington, DC | General Purpose | $25,000 |
| Shelburne Farms Shelburne, VT | General Purpose | $10,000 |
| Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Inc Milwaukee, WI | General Purpose | $5,000 |
| Tucson Girls Chorus Association Tucson, AZ | General Purpose | $5,000 |
| The Bridge Food Diaper Ba Elkhorn, WI | General Purpose | $5,000 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $3,834,630 | $172,812 | $336,853 | $306,500 | 13 | $306,500 | $142,459 | $322,684 |
| 2024 | $3,998,487 | $158,812 | $338,362 | $309,500 | 18 | $309,500 | $129,950 | $310,688 |
| 2023 | $4,182,839 | $141,268 | $278,543 | $255,100 | 17 | $255,100 | $117,825 | $266,001 |
| 2022 | $4,311,479 | $136,405 | $285,241 | $262,250 | 7 | $262,250 | $113,414 | $269,485 |
| 2021 | $4,477,161 | $115,803 | $367,847 | $338,000 | 10 | $338,866 | $105,826 | $307,658 |
| 2020 | $4,723,043 | $177,391 | $326,854 | $301,750 | 17 | — | $153,074 | $261,144 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, SBK Stearns Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $323K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. Its 2025 grantees describe a range of work: Geneva Lake Conservancy says it preserves and advocates for Walworth County waterways, natural areas, and working lands; Ocean Conservancy says it works to protect the ocean through science, people, and policy; and The Contributor says it publishes a weekly newspaper about homelessness and poverty, sold by homeless and formerly homeless individuals.
Other 2025 grantees include Feeding America, whose stated mission is to advance equitable access to nutritious food; Shelburne Farms, which says it inspires and cultivates learning for a sustainable future; Tucson Girls Chorus Association, which prepares young women for leadership through music and education; and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, which says it empowers people to manage their sexual and reproductive health through services, education, and advocacy.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the foundation reported 13 grants totaling $306,500. Grants ranged from $1,000 to $125,000, with a median grant of $10,000.
Among the largest reported grants were $125,000 to Holiday Home C; $50,000 to Geneva Lake Conservancy; $25,000 each to Feeding America, Ocean Conservancy, The Contributor, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and $10,000 to Shelburne Farms. Other listed grants included $5,000 each to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Tucson Girls Chorus Association, and The Bridge Food Diaper Bank, and $3,000 to Water Safety Patrol. The filing lists the grants’ purposes as “general purpose.”
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Brian C Stearns and Sandra I Stearns as trustees.
SBK Stearns Family Foundation's 2025 filing lists 2 officers; none of the 2 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Brian C. Stearns
Trustee
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sandra I. Stearns
Trustee
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (1)
- Former: Sandy Stearns (2020) — Trustee
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about SBK Stearns Family Foundation
How much does SBK Stearns Family Foundation give each year?
SBK Stearns Family Foundation gave $307K across 13 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $310K across 18 grants.
What is SBK Stearns Family Foundation's typical grant size?
SBK Stearns Family Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $10,000, and its average grant was $23,577, across 13 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from SBK Stearns Family Foundation that year got $45K on average.
Where does SBK Stearns Family Foundation give grants?
SBK Stearns Family Foundation gives mostly in Wisconsin: 62% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were District of Columbia (16%) and Illinois (8%). The most frequent recipient cities were Williams Bay, WI (2 grants) and Washington, DC (2 grants).
Does SBK Stearns Family Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 100% of SBK Stearns Family Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (13 of 13) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are SBK Stearns Family Foundation's largest grantees?
SBK Stearns Family Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Holiday Home C ($125,000), Geneva Lake Conservancy ($50,000) and Feeding America ($25,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 65% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is SBK Stearns Family Foundation?
SBK Stearns Family Foundation reported $3.8M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $307K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $323K (roughly 5% of its investment assets). Falling short in one year is not a violation: foundations have until the end of the next year to meet the minimum.
What does SBK Stearns Family Foundation fund?
No mission statement for the foundation is provided. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from SBK Stearns Family Foundation?
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is SBK Stearns Family Foundation's EIN?
SBK Stearns Family Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 83-2907051. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Does SBK Stearns Family Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(6)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 27, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS August 1, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 12, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 14, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 12, 2025)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 6, 2026)
Live grants for the work SBK Stearns Family Foundation funds
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). SBK Stearns Family Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/sbk-stearns-family-foundation-morg_8b6b6f0318a74a029d205f495551ecae
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_832907051_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{SBK Stearns Family Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/sbk-stearns-family-foundation-morg_8b6b6f0318a74a029d205f495551ecae},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-21. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from SBK Stearns Family Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
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