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Bame Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Bame Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
199
Grants FY2025still arriving
23
States reached
$279k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$1.9MHuman Services$837kYouth Development$739kReligion$480kFood & Nutrition$411kEnvironment$386kEducation$374kPhilanthropy$353kOther$0
02FY2025 · 199 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k179 grants · $370k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $314k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $425k
  • $250k+1 grant · $279k
$1,560
Median grant
23
States reached
$2.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND$278,949
CHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND$200,000
ENGAGE YOUR DESTINY$125,000
DUCKS UNLIMITED INC$50,000
CRESCENT COVE$50,000
BETTER TOMORROW FOUNDATION$44,026
SEMPER FI & AMERICA'S FUND$30,000
3M OPEN$28,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT TWIN CITIES$25,000
ST MARY'S CATHOLIC SCHOOLS$25,000
AUTISM SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA$24,700
PROVISION BRIDGE$22,024
ANGEL FOUNDATION$20,000
CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION MINNESOTA - DAKOTAS CHAPTER$20,000
VENTURE$15,000
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 (FY17–25, $940k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ACHIEVE SERVICES INC: $5k → 7%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $3k → 14%HOMETOWN HEROES: $5k → 6%MANSFIELD CARES INC: $6k → 12%ACHIEVE SERVICES INC: $3k → 7%HOMETOWN HEROES: $5k → 6%MANSFIELD CARES INC: $6k → 12%FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $66k → 11%HOMETOWN HEROES: $4k → 6%MANSFIELD CARES INC: $5k → 12%FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $20k → 11%MANSFIELD CARES INC: $5k → 12%FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $16k → 11%MANSFIELD CARES INC: $5k → 12%FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $15k → 11%MANSFIELD CARES INC: $4k → 12%FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $15k → 11%JOPPA INC: $5k → 10%FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $10k → 11%JOPPA INC: $3k → 10%SOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER: $5k → 17%SOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER: $3k → 17%SOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER: $3k → 17%HUNGER RELATED EVENTS: $4k → 11%SPARK-Y: $20k → 11%SPARK-Y: $7k → 11%PROJECT GOT YOUR BACK: $3k → 11%PROJECT GOT YOUR BACK: $3k → 11%PROJECT GOT YOUR BACK: $3k → 11%CORRIES HOUSE: $3k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $70k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $50k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $26k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $25k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: $5k → 11%WECAN: $10k → 11%WECAN: $4k → 11%WECAN: $4k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $150k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $150k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $35k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $25k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $25k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $25k → 11%CRESCENT COVE: $25k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $15k → 11%OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $3k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $8k → 11%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

WA
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
SD
IA
IN
OH
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
HI
OK
LA
AL
GA
TX
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.6M · 188 repeat orgs$828k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

188 repeat relationships: 63 still active in FY2025, 125 since wound down; 63 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

188
218

Total granted

$6.6M
$617k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+16%

Still filing today

61%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $211k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyAnimalsOther
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

  • CC
    CRESCENT COVE
    8× · 2017–2025 · $521k · revenue +102%
  • DU
    Ducks Unlimited Inc
    8× · 2017–2025 · $388k · revenue +99%
  • AS
    AUTISM SOCIETY OF MN
    9× · 2017–2025 · $190k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • SB
    STMA BREAKFAST CLUB
    one grant, 2021 · $70k · revenue -90%
  • CH
    CAMP HERTKO HOLLOW INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $42k · revenue +40%
  • OI
    ORONO ICE ARENA INC
    one grant, 2022 · $22k · revenue +9%
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
Children's Health Care

We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.

Health
2
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
3
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

—
4
Ronald Mcdonald House Southeastern Mn & Western Wi

Ronald mcdonald house southeastern mn and western wi mission is to provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare.

—
5
Lifeworks Services Inc

Lifeworks' mission is to partner with people with disabilities to drive change by increasing opportunity and access in the community.

Human Services
6
Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota

Mentoring partnership of minnesota (mpm) builds and elevates the capacity of programs, systems and policies to strengthen youth mentoring relationships. strategic priorities include: 1. support a statewide mentoring partner network2.…

Employment
7
Connectability of Mn Inc

Connectability of mn, inc. works to advance the independence, productivity, and full citizenship of people experiencing physical or invisible barriers.

—
8
American Brain Foundation

The american brain foundation accelerates breakthrough research across brain diseases and disorders by investing in innovative science, early-career investigators, and cross-disease discoveries that advance treatments, cures, and brain…

Health
9
St David's

St. david's is a regional leader in child development, reaching 8,000 young children with developmental delays and emerging mental health concerns annually. its mission is to build relationships that nurture the development of every child…

Youth Development
10
Homeward Bound Inc

Providing innovative and life-enriching services for children, adolescents, and adults with disabilities.

Human Services
11
Mn Community Measurement

Mn community measurement empowers stakeholders with meaningful information to drive improvement.

Health
12
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless

Since 1986, open your heart to the hungry and homeless has worked to ensureevery minnesotan is free from hunger and homelessness. by partnering with organizations serving those in need, we grow donor engagement and raise awareness to…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Health Care Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Scenic Montana Trails. 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

277 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. 277 of the 479 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
71
Early backer (in before they grew)
269/277
Grantees still filing
182/277
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $210,500 · OtherCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INCRIVERSIDE CHURCH: $181,250 · OtherRIVERSIDE CHURCHRIVERSIDE CHURCH: $180,000 · OtherRIVERSIDE CHURCHSOCIAL VENTURE PARTNERS OF MN: $133,253 · OtherNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $123,154 · OtherMATTER: $126,550 · Other+125 more: $2,243,777 · Other+125 moreCHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND: $1,207,637 · PhilanthropyCHILDREN'S CANCER RESEAR…NEMA FOUNDATION INC: $200,690 · PhilanthropyNEMA FOUNDATION INCFishing For Life: $116,325 · PhilanthropyFishing For Life+8 more: $127,667 · Philanthropy+8 moreBREAKAWAY INC: $282,580 · HealthBREAKAWAY INCAUTISM SOCIETY OF MN: $189,954 · HealthAUTISM SOCIETY…ANGEL FOUNDATION: $184,360 · HealthANGEL FOUNDATI…CHILDREN'S SURGERY INTERNATIONAL: $74,240 · HealthCHILDREN'S SUR…BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $74,085 · HealthBLOOD CANCER U…+15 more: $186,683 · Health+15 moreCRESCENT COVE: $520,520 · Human ServicesCRESCENT COVEFOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $141,300 · Human ServicesFOUNDATION FO…YOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $107,800 · Human ServicesYOUTH FRONTIE…Spark Youth: $33,370 · Human ServicesMANSFIELD CARES INC: $30,800 · Human Services+11 more: $89,057 · Human Services+11 moreDucks Unlimited Inc: $388,170 · EnvironmentWILDERNESS INQUIRY INC: $46,942 · Environment+1 more: $12,500 · EnvironmentENGAGE YOUR DESTINY: $197,574 · ReligionSTMA BREAKFAST CLUB: $70,100 · ReligionHUMOR TO FIGHT THE TUMOR FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Religion+3 more: $19,840 · ReligionMPMA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $29,902 · EducationKIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION: $29,025 · EducationINVER HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationHIGH SCHOOL FOR RECORDING ARTS: $15,130 · EducationPROJECT SUCCESS: $14,600 · EducationBETHEL UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationBreakthrough Twin Cities: $7,520 · EducationORONO FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION: $7,500 · Education+4 more: $18,500 · Education
Other$3,198,484Philanthropy$1,652,319Health$991,902Human Services$922,847Environment$447,612Religion$297,514Education$162,177

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND: $1,207,637 over 9y, 11% of budgetCRESCENT COVE: $520,520 over 8y, 10% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $388,170 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKAWAY INC: $282,580 over 9y, 13% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $210,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetNEMA FOUNDATION INC: $200,690 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetENGAGE YOUR DESTINY: $197,574 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetAUTISM SOCIETY OF MN: $189,954 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetANGEL FOUNDATION: $184,360 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS: $141,300 over 6y, 32% of budgetMATTER: $126,550 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFishing For Life: $116,325 over 5y, 10% of budgetYOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $107,800 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetMN-FISH SPORTFISHING FOUNDATION: $80,478 over 2y, 72% of budgetCHILDREN'S SURGERY INTERNATIONAL: $74,240 over 9y, 3.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $74,085 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSTMA BREAKFAST CLUB: $70,100 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetOPERATION GRATITUDE INC: $68,660 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WISCONSIN INC: $65,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES: $58,505 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetVENN FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPAUL'S PALS INC: $49,520 over 3y, 11% of budgetTRUE FRIENDS: $47,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetWILDERNESS INQUIRY INC: $46,942 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $44,702 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetThe Banyan Foundation: $44,579 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetRIDGEVIEW FOUNDATION: $43,727 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCOMO FRIENDS: $42,890 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCAMP HERTKO HOLLOW INC: $41,500 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetSpark Youth: $33,370 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetANNANDALE FOOD SHELF: $32,800 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetMANSFIELD CARES INC: $30,800 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetCRIME PREVENTION FUND: $30,400 over 4y, 44% of budgetSEMPER FI & AMERICA'S FUND: $30,100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMPMA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $29,902 over 3y, 35% of budgetKIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION: $29,025 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $29,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMOVEMBER FOUNDATION: $26,262 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetORONO ICE ARENA INC: $22,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetVENTURE: $21,009 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTREEHOUSE INC: $20,739 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSCENIC MONTANA TRAILS: $20,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetINVER HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetWESTERN COMMUNITIES ACTION NETWORK INC: $17,677 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $17,650 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE REEL HOPE PROJECT: $16,850 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetMinnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $15,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH SCHOOL FOR RECORDING ARTS: $15,130 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

  • Who funds CHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND ↗
  • Who funds CRESCENT COVE ↗
  • Who funds Ducks Unlimited Inc ↗
  • Who funds BREAKAWAY INC ↗
  • Who funds COLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NEMA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ENGAGE YOUR DESTINY ↗
  • Who funds AUTISM SOCIETY OF MN ↗
  • Who funds ANGEL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR ESSENTIAL NEEDS ↗
  • Who funds MATTER ↗
  • Who funds Fishing For Life ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH FRONTIERS INC ↗
  • Who funds MN-FISH SPORTFISHING FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S SURGERY INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds STMA BREAKFAST CLUB ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION GRATITUDE INC ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF WISCONSIN INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES ↗
  • Who funds VENN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PAUL'S PALS INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUE FRIENDS ↗
  • Who funds WILDERNESS INQUIRY INC ↗
  • Who funds FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds The Banyan Foundation ↗
  • Who funds RIDGEVIEW FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Xcel Energy FoundationSaint Paul & Minnesot…The Graco FoundationThe Minneapolis Found…Otto Bremer TrustPohlad Family Foundat…Ch Robinson Worldwide…The Richard M Schulze…Catholic Community Fo…The K FoundationTradition Family Foun…The Jamf Nation Globa…
Xcel Energy FoundationMN51.3× affinity52 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Xcel Energy Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Graco Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Pohlad Family Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota · The K Foundation · Tradition Family Foundation · The Jamf Nation Global 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 Bame Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bame Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
40report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 479 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 Bame’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