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Donald Weesner Charitable Tr Ua at a glance

· Private foundation

Donald Weesner Charitable Tr Ua

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$307k
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$61k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$1.3MAnimals$1.1MArts & Culture$898kHealth$512kRecreation & Sports$85kSocial Science$65kYouth Development$31kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $80k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $222k
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREAT RIVER GREENING$61,000
WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER$60,000
WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER$51,000
THOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER$50,000
TWIN CITIES PBS$35,000
TRUE FRIENDS$25,000
GREAT LAKES AQUARIUM$20,000
LAKE SUPERIOR ZOO$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 83% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%THOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER: $50k → 6%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL: $190k → 8%MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART: $37k → 11%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $74k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $74k → 7%THOMAS IRVINE DODGE FOUNDATION: $50k → 6%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL --: $142k → 8%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $66k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $66k → 7%THOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE: $39k → 6%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENT: $135k → 8%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $64k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $66k → 7%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL: $130k → 8%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $59k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $64k → 7%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER: $127k → 8%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINN: $52k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $61k → 7%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL: $80k → 8%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINN: $66k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $59k → 7%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL: $59k → 8%SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINN: $61k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $52k → 7%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $74k → 6%WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER: $51k → 8%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $96k → 11%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $71k → 6%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $87k → 11%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $66k → 6%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $74k → 11%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $64k → 6%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $66k → 11%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $61k → 6%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $66k → 11%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $59k → 6%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $64k → 11%MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $52k → 6%COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $59k → 11%GREAT RIVER GREENING: $61k → 14%GREAT RIVER GREENING: $50k → 14%WILDLIFE REHAB CENTER OF MN: $146k → 14%WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER: $100k → 14%WIDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER: $84k → 14%WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER: $60k → 14%WIDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER: $50k → 14%WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER: $39k → 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.
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.0M · 28 repeat orgs$328k to everyone else

28 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
14

Total granted

$4.0M
$328k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+100%

Still filing today

57%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsEnvironmentArts & CultureRecreation & SportsEducationOther
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

  • MZ
    MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2023 · $448k · revenue +158%
  • WR
    WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER OF MINNESOTA
    7× · 2017–2024 · $394k · revenue +133%
  • WR
    WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER
    3× · 2019–2024 · $313k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • WR
    WILDLIFE REHAB CENTER OF MN
    one grant, 2022 · $146k
  • T
    TPT
    one grant, 2022 · $35k
  • EI
    EAGLEWATCH INC
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +16%
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
Friends of Schlitz Audubon Nature Center Inc

Schlitz audubon nature center conserves our land's diverse habitats on lake michigan and provides meaningful experiences and environmental education for all.

Environment
2
Huron Pines Resource Conservation & Development Council Inc

It is our mission at huron pines to conserve and enhance northern michigan's natural resources to ensure healthy water, protected places and vibrant communities. for alomst 50 years, our work across the forests, lakes and streams of…

Environment
3
The Wildlife Society

The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.

Animals
4
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
5
Kalamazoo Nature Center

Create relationships & experiences that welcome and inspire people to discover, enjoy, value, and care for nature. Kalamazoo Nature Center envisions a resilient community where all people have strong interconnections with the natural world.

Environment
6
Swan Valley Connections

Maintain the swan valley's unique natural resources and ensure that a vibrant human community can sustain itself through stewardship, education, economic viability, and conservation on public and private lands.

Environment
7
Wild Rivers Conservancy of the St Croix & Namekagon

The mission of wild rivers conservancy of the st. croix & namekagon is to inspire stewardship to forever ensure the rare ecological integrity of the st. croix and namekagon riverway. the conservancy of the st. croix and namekagon works…

Environment
8
Conservation Minnesota

Conservation minnesota's mission is to turn our shared conservation values into state priorities and provide you with the information you need to make decisions for your family, community and future.

Environment
9
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…

Science & Tech
10
International Wolf Center

The international wolf center uses science-based education to teach and inspire the world about wolves, their ecology, and the wolf-human relationship.

Animals
11
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association

Hawk mountain sanctuary association's mission is to conserve birds of prey worldwide by providing leadership in raptor conservation science and education, and by maintaining hawk mountain sanctuary as a model observation, research, and…

Animals
12
North Dakota Natural Resources Trust
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Minnesota Zoo Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Boys Girls Club. 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

23 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. 23 of the 43 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/23
Grantees still filing
19/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $601,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $512,265 · OtherCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATIONTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $442,933 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINN: $179,598 · OtherSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNWILDLIFE REHAB CENTER OF MN: $146,000 · OtherWILDLIFE REHAB CENTER OF MNTHOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER: $119,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $104,151 · Other+18 more: $448,770 · Other+18 moreMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $447,933 · AnimalsMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATIONWILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $394,000 · AnimalsWILDLIFE REHABILITATION C…GREAT RIVER GREENING: $176,000 · AnimalsGREAT RIVER GREENING+4 more: $76,000 · Animals+4 moreSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $263,335 · Arts & CultureSCIENCE MUSEUM …MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $157,751 · Arts & CultureMINNEAPOLIS SOC…MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $157,751 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA ORCHE…TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $70,000 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES PUB…WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER: $313,000 · EnvironmentWOLF RIDG…LAKE SUPERIOR CENTER: $35,500 · EnvironmentLAKE SUPE…HARTLEY NATURE CENTER: $32,000 · EnvironmentHARTLEY N…+2 more: $15,000 · EnvironmentTRUE FRIENDS: $85,000 · Recreation & SportsCLIMATE GENERATION: $35,000 · Education
Other$2,553,717Animals$1,093,933Arts & Culture$648,837Environment$395,500Recreation & Sports$85,000Education$35,000

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 budgetCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $512,265 over 7y, 5.5% of budgetMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $447,933 over 7y, 1.5% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $442,933 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $394,000 over 7y, 3.9% of budgetWOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER: $313,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $263,335 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGREAT RIVER GREENING: $176,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $157,751 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $157,751 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER: $119,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetTRUE FRIENDS: $85,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLAKE SUPERIOR CENTER: $35,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCLIMATE GENERATION: $35,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetHARTLEY NATURE CENTER: $32,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetEAGLEWATCH INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCOMO FRIENDS: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetARROWHEAD ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $19,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHAWK RIDGE BIRD OBSERVATORY INC: $12,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PRAIRIE WETLANDS LEA: $10,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds WOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER ↗
  • Who funds SCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds GREAT RIVER GREENING ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds TRUE FRIENDS ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE SUPERIOR CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CLIMATE GENERATION ↗
  • Who funds HARTLEY NATURE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds EAGLEWATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds BELWIN CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds COMO FRIENDS ↗
  • Who funds ARROWHEAD ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds HAWK RIDGE BIRD OBSERVATORY INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE PRAIRIE WETLANDS LEA ↗
  • Who funds BOYS GIRLS CLUB ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM 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.

Mightycause Charitabl…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Xcel Energy FoundationThe Minneapolis Found…Ch Robinson Worldwide…Longview FoundationLloyd K Johnson Found…Hugh J Andersen Found…Minnesota Power Found…Hardenbergh FoundationThe K FoundationPohlad Family Foundat…
Mightycause Charitable FoundationFL27.9× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · Longview Foundation · Lloyd K Johnson Foundation · Hugh J Andersen Foundation · Minnesota Power Foundation · Hardenbergh Foundation · The K Foundation · Pohlad Family 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 Donald Weesner Charitable Tr Ua funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Donald Weesner Charitable Tr Ua. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report 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 43 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Donald Weesner Charitable Tr Ua’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