· Private foundation
Dr David & Karen Olson Family Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k3 grants · $15k
- $10k–50k11 grants · $190k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Ujamaa Place | $20,000 |
| Twin Cities Public Television | $20,000 |
| Minnesota Public Radio | $20,000 |
| Second Harvest Heartland | $20,000 |
| Planned Parenthood North Central States | $20,000 |
| Friends of the St Paul Public Library | $20,000 |
| Lutheran Social Services | $20,000 |
| St Paul Chamber Orchestra | $20,000 |
| People Incorporated | $10,000 |
| Concordia University | $10,000 |
| Minnesota Orchestra | $10,000 |
| Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity | $5,000 |
| Guthrie Theater | $5,000 |
| Penumbra Theatre | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $144k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
19 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- SHSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND6× · 2020–2025 · $105k · revenue +17%
- TSThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society4× · 2020–2025 · $93k · revenue +66%
- MPMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA6× · 2020–2025 · $90k · revenue +11%
Funded once
- SPSAINT PAUL POLICE FOUNDATIONone grant, 2021 · $30k · revenue -64%
- FOFriends of St Paul Libraryone grant, 2022 · $30k
- IGIndividual grant recipientone grant, 2022 · $10k
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.
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.
Theater mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the asian american experience.
The mission of theater latte' da is to create new connections between story, music, artist and audience by exploring and expanding the art of musical theater.
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…
The great northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through ten days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. in an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action,…
Wp theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of women+ at every stage of their careers. for over four decades we have served as leaders of a global movement…
The mission of the greater msp partnership is to accelerate regional competitiveness and inclusive economic growth through job creation, capital investment and execution of strategic initiatives. the partnership works to strengthen our…
University of minnesota physicians serves as the integrated group practice for the university of minnesota medical school full-time faculty to provide the highest quality healthcare to patients and their families.university of minnesota…
Schubert club creates inspiring musical experiences that contribute to the cultural vibrancy of the twin cities community through concert presentations, music education and student scholarship programs, and musuem exhibits.
Purpose: we inspire, advocate and invest to advance community visions. continued on sch o
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.
We educate women to lead and influence. we educate at all degree levels through valuing and integrating the liberal arts and professional education within the catholic intellectual tradition, see schedule oemphasizing scholarly inquiry and…
The m inspires understandings of identities, experiences, and complex truths through american art.
How this is measured
17 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. 17 of the 26 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND ↗
- Who funds The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society ↗
- Who funds MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
- Who funds LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA ↗
- Who funds UJAMAA PLACE ↗
- Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
- Who funds CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY ST PAUL ↗
- Who funds THE FRIENDS OF THE SAINT PAUL PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
- Who funds PEOPLE INCORPORATED ↗
- Who funds MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds SAINT PAUL POLICE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD NORTH CENTRAL STATES ↗
- Who funds PENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY INC ↗
- Who funds TWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ↗
- Who funds PARK SQUARE THEATRE ↗
- Who funds CLARE HOUSING ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Nicholson Family Foundation · Hardenbergh Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Hrk Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Dr David & Karen Olson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dr David & Karen Olson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Dr David & Karen Olson Family’s filings →