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Border States Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Border States Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$635k
Granted FY2026still arriving
30
Grants FY2026still arriving
6
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01FY2026 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k20 grants · $86k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $85k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $465k
$6,535
Median grant
6
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corporation$200,000
UND Center for Innovation Foundation$114,736
Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity$100,000
Down Home$50,000
United Way of Cass-Clay$25,000
YWCA Cass Clay$15,000
TNT Kid's Fitness$12,500
United Way of Cass-Clay$12,000
The Justin Wren Foundation$10,000
BIO Girls Inc$10,000
Schmidt Healing Hearts Foundation$8,402
Heart-N-Soul Community Cafe Inc$8,000
Homeward Animal Shelter Inc$7,656
Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley$7,095
BIO Girls Inc$6,535
02The need
02

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 (FY25–26, $43k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%The Justin Wren Foundation: $10k → 10%Depelchin Childrens Center: $10k → 17%Wounded Warrior Project: $6k → 14%The Great North Pole: $3k → 12%Great North Pole: $2k → 12%Furniture Mission of the Red River Valley: $2k → 12%Furniture Mission of the Red River Valley: $934 → 12%Heart-N-Soul Community Cafe Inc: $8k → 12%Community of Care: $1k → 12%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

ND
MN
NY
SD
TN
SC
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.

40%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$412k · 10 repeat orgs$623k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +88% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2026, 0 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
21

Total granted

$412k
$220k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+88%
0%

Still filing today

100%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 36% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $404k went to new ones.

50%100%’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’25’26
Human ServicesHealthCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • DH
    DOWN HOME
    2× · 2025–2026 · $104k · revenue +597%
  • YC
    YWCA CASS CLAY
    2× · 2025–2026 · $30k · revenue +95%
  • BG
    BIO Girls Inc
    2× · 2025–2026 · $27k · revenue ×13

Funded once

  • HF
    Habitat for Humanity Lake Agassiz
    one grant, 2025 · $100k
  • UW
    United Way Cass Clay
    one grant, 2025 · $42k
  • AR
    American Red Cross
    one grant, 2025 · $15k
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
Great Plains Food Bank

End hunger together.

Food & Nutrition
2
Catholic Charities North Dakota

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

—
3
North Dakota State University Foundation

Building enduring relationships that maximize advocacy and philanthropy to support North Dakota State University.

Education
4
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
5
Feeding South Dakota

To eliminate hunger in south dakota.

Food & Nutrition
6
Easter Seals Goodwill Nd Inc

Easter Seals Goodwill ND, Inc. is a leading organization in supporting children, adults, and families to have equal opportunities to live, learn, work, and play in their communities.

Health
7
United Way of North Central Iowa

Seeking to build a stronger, more caring community by forming partnerships with businesses, community experts, education & health & human service agencies to achieve targeted outcomes & sustained changes in community conditions which will…

Philanthropy
8
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…

—
9
Mankato Area Foundation

The Mankato Area Foundation is a trusted resource that connects donors with causes they care about, provides funding to enhance our region and serves as a collaborative community partner.

—
10
United Way of Ne Minnesota

United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.

—
11
Keystone Community Services

To strengthen the capacity of individuals and families to improve their quality of life.

—
12
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits informs, promotes, connects and strengthens individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is Hope Blooms. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

33 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. 33 of the 47 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
19/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DOWN HOME: $103,800 · OtherDOWN HOMELake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity: $100,000 · OtherLake Agassiz Habitat for HumanityHabitat for Humanity Lake Agassiz: $100,000 · OtherHabitat for Humanity Lake AgassizUnited Way Cass Clay: $42,000 · OtherUnited Way Cass ClayUnited Way of Cass-Clay: $37,000 · OtherUnited Way of Cass-Clay+22 more: $98,972 · Other+22 moreGREATER FARGO MOORHEAD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $200,000 · Community ImprovementGREATER FARGO MOORHEAD ECONOMIC DEVELOPME…UND Center for Innovation Foundation: $178,395 · Community ImprovementUND Center for Innovation Foundation+2 more: $3,000 · Community ImprovementTHE JUSTIN WREN FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesDEPELCHIN CHILDREN'S CENTER: $10,000 · Human ServicesHEART-N-SOUL COMMUNITY CAFE INC: $8,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $6,000 · Human ServicesThe Great North Pole: $5,267 · Human ServicesHope Blooms: $4,681 · Human ServicesFURNITURE MISSION OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY: $2,934 · Human ServicesOpportunity Foundation Inc: $2,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesYWCA CASS CLAY: $30,000 · Housing & ShelterJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $11,855 · Housing & ShelterTNT Kid's Fitness: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsTri-City United Soccer Club: $8,000 · Recreation & SportsBIO Girls Inc: $26,835 · Youth DevelopmentNORTH DAKOTA FFA FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentHOMEWARD ANIMAL SHELTER INC: $18,156 · Animals
Other$481,772Community Improvement$381,395Human Services$49,882Housing & Shelter$41,855Recreation & Sports$33,000Youth Development$31,835Animals$18,156

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHOMEWARD ANIMAL SHELTER INC: $18,156 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $11,855 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTri-City United Soccer Club: $8,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHERRY'S HOPE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetRed River Human Services Foundation: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFARGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNSEEN: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOpportunity Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BURRELL FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCASA OF WEST TEXAS: $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.

Blue Cross Blue Shiel…The Barry FoundationDakota Medical Founda…Midcontinent Foundati…Alex Stern Family Fou…Fargo-Moorhead Area F…Cass County Electric …Dakota Medical Charit…Sanford Group ReturnOtto Bremer TrustXcel Energy FoundationSwanson Cares
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring FoundationND34.4× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring Foundation · The Barry Foundation · Dakota Medical Foundation · Midcontinent Foundation · Alex Stern Family Foundation · Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation Corporation · Cass County Electric Cooperative Foundation · Dakota Medical Charities · Sanford Group Return · Otto Bremer Trust · Xcel Energy Foundation · Swanson Cares

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 Border States Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Border States 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 →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
5report 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 Border States Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Border States 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 47 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Border States’ 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