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· Private foundation

Ecolab Foundation (A/K/A Ecolab Industry Foundation)

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$9.6M
Granted FY2020
63
Grants FY2020
9
States reached
$2.3M
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

93% of Ecolab Foundation (A/K/A Ecolab Industry Foundation)’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The Blackbaud Giving Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 2 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year Ecolab Foundation (A/K/A Ecolab Industry Foundation) named its own grantees at scale: 29 organizations, $10M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

29
’20
0
’21
1
’22
2
’23
2
’24

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

01What you fund
0182% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY2020–2024.

Philanthropy$30MEducation$1.6MFood & Nutrition$625kInternational$470kEnvironment$125kArts & Culture$66kCommunity Improvement$50kYouth Development$35kHealth$25kOther$7.3M
02FY2020 · 63 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k7 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $503k
  • $50k–250k23 grants · $2.2M
  • $250k+10 grants · $6.8M
$50,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$25M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BLACKBAUD$2,302,035
YOURCAUSE$1,350,000
BLACKBAUD$756,200
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION$643,333
GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY$350,000
YOURCAUSE$345,000
BLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE$312,212
YOURCAUSE$275,000
NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$250,000
NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$250,000
BLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE$208,651
YOURCAUSE$205,240
YOURCAUSE$162,000
BLACKBAUD$161,233
BLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE$140,619
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 7% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%YOURCAUSE: $1.4M → 10%THOMAS IRVINE DODGE FOUNDATION: $50k → 6%UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $643k → 11%MINNESOTA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE: $30k → 14%PROJECT WET FOUNDATION: $75k → 10%WORLD EMERGENCY RELIEF: $300k → 14%BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND: $7.9M → 9%NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $250k → 14%WATERORG: $100k → 15%COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS: $25k → 7%YOURCAUSE: $345k → 10%GREAT RIVER PASSAGE CONSERVANCY: $50k → 14%WORLD EMERGENCY RELIEF: $50k → 14%BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND: $7.8M → 9%NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $250k → 14%YOURCAUSE: $275k → 10%BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND: $7.3M → 9%YOURCAUSE: $205k → 10%BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND: $6.8M → 9%YOURCAUSE: $162k → 10%BLACKBAUD: $2.3M → 9%YOURCAUSE: $116k → 10%GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $350k → 11%BLACKBAUD: $756k → 9%YOURCAUSE: $89k → 10%MINNESOTA COMPUTERS FOR SCHOOLS: $35k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $50k → 14%BLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE: $312k → 9%YOURCAUSE: $76k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25k → 11%FACE TO FACE COUNSELING: $25k → 14%BLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE: $209k → 9%YOURCAUSE: $56k → 10%SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $125k → 11%ST PAUL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOUNDATION INC: $100k → 14%BLACKBAUD: $161k → 9%YOURCAUSE: $26k → 10%THE SAINT PAUL FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%BLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE: $141k → 9%THE SAINT PAUL FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%BLACKBAUD: $119k → 9%ST PAUL DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE: $50k → 14%BLACKBAUD: $74k → 9%BLACKBAUD: $40k → 9%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $50k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS SAINT PAUL AREA CHAPTER: $50k → 14%ST PAUL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT: $40k → 14%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE TWIN CITIES: $35k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

MT
MN
WI
NY
CA
MO
VA
SC
DC

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
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…

—
2
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
3
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…

—
4
Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership

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…

Community Improvement
5
Minnesota Chamber Foundation

The organization's mission is to bring stakeholders together to promote prosperity and long-term growth of minnesota's economy.

Public Benefit
6
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
7
Minnesota Medical Association

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

—
8
St Paul Transportation Management Organization

Move minnesota leads the movement for an equitable and sustainable transportation system that puts people first. we are passionate about connecting communities, ending the climate crisis, expanding access to jobs and resources, and…

Environment
9
Women's Foundation of Minnesota

Women's Foundation of Minnesota is a statewide community foundation investing in ending systemic inequities and driving innovation for gender and racial justice. WFM applies an Intersectional Equity Framework inclusive of gender, race,…

Philanthropy
10
Global Minnesota

Global minnesotas mission is to advance international understanding and engagement. we are committed to serving minnesota from a foundation built on the values of respect, collaboration, nonpartisanship, global competency, inclusion and…

International
11
The Minneapolis Foundation

The foundation cultivates generosity by taking action on the greatest civic, social, and economic needs partnering with nonprofits, facilitating grantmaking, driving research and advocacy, and providing services to donors seeking to make a…

Philanthropy
12
Minnesota State Council On Economic Education

Mcee equips minnesotans with the economic and personal financial knowledge and skills to make informed decisions and thrive in our complex world. we fulfill our mission by teaching teachers through top quality professional development and…

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and the most unlike its peers is World Emergency Relief. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyCommunity Arts CentersCancer Support ServicesCommunity FoundationsYouth Mentoring ProgramsHealth Access Advocacy and …Christian Missionary Organi…Policy Research and AdvocacyAffordable Housing Developm…Community FoundationsEnvironmental Conservation …Food Banks and PantriesCommunity College Foundatio…United Way Affiliates
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 33 years old; the field is 21. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number21%0%<5yr12%3%5–10yr15%16%10–20yr24%32%20–35yr9%29%35–55yr19%19%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value21%0%<5yr12%0%5–10yr15%89%10–20yr24%2%20–35yr9%4%35–55yr19%5%55yr+

The field is 21% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 12% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/33
the rest of the field
12%
3,449/28,756

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 32 of the 44 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/32
Grantees still filing
20/32
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND — $29,817,774 · PhilanthropyTHE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND+3 more — $485,000 · PhilanthropyBLACKBAUD — $3,471,862 · OtherBLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE — $2,715,273 · OtherYOURCAUSEBLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE — $661,482 · OtherBLACKBAUDYOURCAUSE+21 more — $600,320 · Other+21 moreUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $1,570,001 · Education+3 more — $72,500 · EducationThe National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation — $500,000 · Food & NutritionSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND — $125,000 · Food & NutritionWORLD EMERGENCY RELIEF — $350,000 · InternationalWATERORG — $100,000 · InternationalGlobal Compact Network USA Inc — $20,000 · InternationalPROJECT WET FOUNDATION INC — $75,000 · EnvironmentGREAT RIVER PASSAGE CONSERVANCY — $50,000 · EnvironmentACTORS THEATER OF MINNESOTA — $20,000 · Arts & CulturePENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY INC — $20,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION — $12,150 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $10,000 · Arts & CultureORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS — $3,500 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$30,302,774Other$7,448,937Education$1,642,501Food & Nutrition$625,000International$470,000Environment$125,000Arts & Culture$65,650

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetTHE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND — $29,817,774 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $1,570,001 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation — $500,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetWORLD EMERGENCY RELIEF — $350,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY — $350,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND — $125,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAINT PAUL & MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $120,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAINT PAUL AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION — $100,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetWATERORG — $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPROJECT WET FOUNDATION INC — $75,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetTHOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER — $50,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetGREAT RIVER PASSAGE CONSERVANCY — $50,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE — $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMINNESOTA COMPUTERS FOR SCHOOLS — $35,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES — $35,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMinnesota Academy of Science — $30,000 over 1y, 10.0% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS — $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA — $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGlobal Compact Network USA Inc — $20,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetACTORS THEATER OF MINNESOTA — $20,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetPENUMBRA THEATRE COMPANY INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetUNITED HOSPITAL FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAINT PAUL POLICE FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetTWIN CITIES REGIONAL SCIENCE FAIRS — $15,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetSTARBASE MINNESOTA INC — $12,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDRESS FOR SUCCESS TWIN CITIES — $12,500 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION — $12,150 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEARTLINK — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetECONOMIC CLUB OF MINNESOTA — $3,820 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS — $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Saint Paul & Minnesot…The Blackbaud Giving …Hardenbergh FoundationXcel Energy FoundationOtto Bremer TrustMightycause Charitabl…Fr Bigelow FoundationCharities Aid Foundat…United Way WorldwideThe Minneapolis Found…Medtronic Communities…Nicholson Family Foun…
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN21.6× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Hardenbergh Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · United Way Worldwide · The Minneapolis Foundation · Medtronic Communities Foundation · Nicholson Family Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Ecolab Foundation (A/K/A Ecolab Industry Foundation) funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%your share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Ecolab Foundation (A/K/A Ecolab Industry Foundation)?

    Find your warmest path to Ecolab Foundation (A/K/A Ecolab Industry 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 44 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    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 camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home
    State money flows
    the interactive map of money crossing state lines