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Brown Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Brown Family Foundation Inc

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$146k
Granted FY2022
33
Grants FY2022
12
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

98% of Brown Family Foundation Inc’s FY2023 grant dollars went to Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2023 names 2 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year Brown Family Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 29 organizations, $146k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

34
’20
27
’21
29
’22
2
’23

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2023.

Philanthropy$4.3MFood & Nutrition$126kCivil Rights$90kHealth$89kEnvironment$44kInternational$41kHuman Services$28kPublic Benefit$23kOther$0
02FY2022 · 33 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k28 grants · $81k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $66k
$3,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PLANNED PARENTHOOD MINNESOTA ETC$15,000
FEED MY PEOPLE FOOD BANK$15,000
CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS$13,000
SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND$12,500
WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA$10,000
LUCY BURNS INSTITUTE$5,000
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION$5,000
PARTNERSHIP FOR A HEALTHIER AMERICA INC$5,000
LAWYERS COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW$5,000
CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS$5,000
WOODWELL CLIMATE RESEARCH CENTER$5,000
VOTEORG$5,000
ED ALLIES$5,000
NAMI MINNESOTA$5,000
CENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS$5,000
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 (FY20–22, $26k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NATIONAL INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $3k → 18%BARRON AREA COMMUNITY CENTER: $2k → 13%THE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTS: $6k → 14%CHARITY NAVIGATOR: $200 → 7%BARRON AREA COMMUNITY CENTER: $2k → 13%CHARITY NAVIGATOR: $200 → 7%BARRON AREA COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 13%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $3k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $3k → 11%APPETITE FOR CHANGE: $4k → 11%CASA DE ESPERANZA: $1k → 14%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

MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
SD
IA
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
DC
OK
AL
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$390k · 27 repeat orgs$87k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2022, 12 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call). Read against FY2022, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
14

Total granted

$390k
$35k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+20%

Still filing today

93%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23
Human ServicesHealthCivil RightsEnvironmentEducationInternationalOther
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

  • SH
    SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND
    3× · 2020–2022 · $38k · revenue +17%
  • THE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $37k · revenue +69%
  • TC
    THE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE
    2× · 2020–2021 · $22k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • GC
    GREEN CITIES ACCORD
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -26%
  • THE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTSgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $6k · revenue +177%
  • MC
    MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue +8%
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
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The minnesota chamber of commerce proactively leads the business community statewide to: advance pro-business, responsible minnesota public policy that creates jobs and grows the econony; provde member services to address evolving business…

—
2
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

Creating powerful advocacy to enhance economic vitality in the minneapolis-st. paul region.

—
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
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
5
Minnesota Medical Association

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

—
6
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
7
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
8
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
9
Women Winning

To encourage, promote, support, and elect pro-choice women of all political parties to all levels of public office in minnesota.

Public Benefit
10
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
11
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Iowa

The foundation works to defend and promote the constitution of the united states, focusing especially on the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and 14th amendments. the foundation also works to defend and promote the constitution of the…

Civil Rights
12
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Human Rights Campaign Foundation; the most unlike its peers is JY6 Foundation. 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

54 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 54 of the 61 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/54
Grantees still filing
39/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $4,265,580 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUNDFEED MY PEOPLE INC: $56,650 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD MINNESOTA ETC: $43,000 · OtherNAMI MINNESOTA: $10,600 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WISCONSIN INC: $17,200 · OtherCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities: $10,400 · OtherSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,400 · Other+37 more: $112,545 · OtherTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $37,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $20,700 · Civil RightsHUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION: $11,400 · Civil RightsVOTEORG: $5,000 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $5,000 · Civil RightsSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $37,950 · Food & NutritionGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $19,400 · Food & NutritionTHE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $22,000 · InternationalCOMMON HOPE: $15,000 · InternationalAMIGOS OF COSTA RICA INC: $4,000 · InternationalTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $11,400 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $11,400 · EnvironmentGREEN CITIES ACCORD: $10,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $1,500 · EnvironmentWomen's Foundation of Minnesota: $30,000 · PhilanthropyEvanston Community Foundation: $2,000 · Philanthropy
Community Improvement$4,265,580Other$260,795Civil Rights$79,100Food & Nutrition$57,350International$41,000Environment$39,300Philanthropy$32,000

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 budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $4,265,580 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFEED MY PEOPLE INC: $56,650 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $37,950 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $37,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWomen's Foundation of Minnesota: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR VICTIMS OF TORTURE: $22,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $20,700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $19,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF WISCONSIN INC: $17,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON HOPE: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $11,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $11,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION: $11,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNAMI MINNESOTA: $10,600 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities: $10,400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREEN CITIES ACCORD: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetRICE LAKE COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATI: $8,100 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $6,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTS: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEd Allies: $6,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHENNEPIN THEATRE TRUST: $5,700 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBARRON AREA COMMUNITY CENTER: $5,400 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetVOTEORG: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWoodwell Climate Research Center Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLUCY BURNS INSTITUTE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPartnership for a Healthier America Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWARREN W CHERRY PRESCHOOL: $4,250 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAPPETITE FOR CHANGE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMIGOS OF COSTA RICA INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $3,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL INDIGENOUS WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL INDIAN WOMENS HEALTH RESOURCE CENTER: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEvanston Community Foundation: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPREVENT CHILD ABUSE AMERICA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWISCONSIN DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBARRON COUNTY DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES INC: $1,595 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetESPERANZA UNITED: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJY6 Foundation: $500 over 1y, 7.9% 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.

Mortenson Family Foun…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Mightycause Charitabl…Xcel Energy FoundationThe Minneapolis Found…Otto Bremer TrustHrk FoundationFr Bigelow FoundationThe K FoundationMinnesota Community F…The McKnight Foundati…The Blackbaud Giving …
Mortenson Family FoundationMN19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mortenson Family Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Hrk Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · The K Foundation · Minnesota Community Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

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 Brown Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Brown Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • National Indian Womens Health Resource Center: 52% of income from government
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Brown Family Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Brown Family Foundation Inc 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 61 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Brown Family’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