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Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation

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.

$334k
Granted FY2023
67
Grants FY2023
2
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

94% of Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The Minneapolis Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 52 organizations, $334k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

50
’20
0
’21
44
’22
52
’23
0
’24

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

01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$5.5MReligion$137kArts & Culture$129kCrime & Legal$124kEnvironment$82kPublic Benefit$50kEducation$47kFood & Nutrition$44kOther$0
02FY2023 · 67 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 67 grants below total $259,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $334,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $74,500 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k64 grants · $155k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $55k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$2,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light$50,000
Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota$30,000
League of Women Voters Minnesota Education Fund$25,000
MN350$5,000
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy$5,000
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (Planned Parenthood)$5,000
Joyce Preschool$5,000
Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project$4,000
University of Minnesota Foundation$4,000
Voyageurs National Park Association$4,000
Northeastern Minnesotans For Wilderness$3,000
Frogtown Farm$3,000
Southside Family Nurturing Center$3,000
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop$3,000
Centro Tyrone Guzman$3,000
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 (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $5.5M → 11%SEE ATTACHMENT 1: $350k → 14%SEE ATTACHMENT 2: $257k → 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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$564k · 51 repeat orgs$155k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

51 repeat relationships: 41 still active in FY2023, 10 since wound down; 25 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, 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

51
42

Total granted

$564k
$99k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+18%

Still filing today

84%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $57k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’22’23
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHuman ServicesEducationCrime & LegalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • IL
    IMMIGRANT LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC
    3× · 2020–2023 · $97k · revenue +195%
  • MC
    MINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY
    3× · 2020–2023 · $13k · revenue +59%
  • RC
    RAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
    3× · 2020–2023 · $10k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • OY
    OPEN YOUR HEART TO THE HUNGRY AND HOMELESS
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue -22%
  • EL
    ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWESTgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue +32%
  • TT
    Tree Trustgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue +98%
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
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
2
MinnPost

MinnPost produces independent journalism to serve as a trusted guide for Minnesotans exploring the critical issues, challenges and opportunities facing our state.

Arts & Culture
3
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
4
Minnesota Fringe Festival

Minnesota fringe connects adventurous artists with adventurous audiences by creating open, supportive forums for free and diverse artistic expression.

Arts & Culture
5
Minnesota Voice

Minnesota Voice is a collaboration of organizations working toward permanent change in social, racial, and economic justice by increasing civic engagement and voter participation across the state.

Public Benefit
6
Arts Midwest Incorporated

Arts Midwest works collaboratively with private and public arts supporters to support, inform, and celebrate arts organizations and creative communities across the Midwest. Our mission is to build unprecedented opportunity across the…

Arts & Culture
7
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…

—
8
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc

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

Philanthropy
9
African Development Center

Grow businesses, build wealth and increase reinvestement in the african communities of minnesota

Human Services
10
Wonderlust Productions

Wonderlust Productions is a multicultural, multi-disciplinary arts ensemble that illuminates a community's story through performance, mixing community members from across generations, ethnicities, and perspectives, alongside an ensemble of…

Arts & Culture
11
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
12
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…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Minneapolis Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Frogtown Garden. 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

86 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. 86 of the 119 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)
25
Early backer (in before they grew)
83/86
Grantees still filing
62/86
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $5,483,439 · PhilanthropyTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATIONMinnesota Interfaith Power & Light: $130,000 · OtherIMMIGRANT LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $97,000 · OtherLeague of Women Voters Minnesota Education Fund: $50,000 · Other+59 more: $190,500 · OtherRAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $9,500 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $9,000 · Arts & CultureTHE HISTORY THEATRE INC: $7,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS: $6,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATER MU INCORPORATED: $6,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP: $6,000 · Arts & CultureLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS: $6,000 · Arts & CultureAFTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS: $4,000 · Arts & CultureRAIN TAXI INC: $4,000 · Arts & CultureThe Cedar Cultural Center Inc: $3,000 · Arts & CultureEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY: $3,000 · Arts & CultureNEW NATIVE THEATRE: $3,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATER LATTE DA: $3,000 · Arts & CultureEAST SIDE ARTS COUNCIL: $3,000 · Arts & CulturePUBLIC ART SAINT PAUL: $3,000 · Arts & CulturePangea World Theater: $3,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $6,500 · Arts & CultureMN350: $14,000 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY: $13,000 · EnvironmentVOYAGEURS CONSERVANCY: $9,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $6,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWEST: $4,000 · EnvironmentWOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER: $4,000 · EnvironmentFROGTOWN GARDEN: $3,000 · EnvironmentLAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $3,000 · EnvironmentLOWER PHALEN CREEK PROJECT: $3,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS: $3,000 · EnvironmentNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS: $3,000 · EnvironmentREAL CHANGE HOMELESS EMPOWERMENT PROJECT: $12,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $6,000 · Human ServicesCornerstone Advocacy Service: $6,000 · Human ServicesGOOD IN THE 'HOOD: $4,000 · Human ServicesHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $4,000 · Human ServicesCENTRO TYRONE GUZMAN: $3,000 · Human ServicesDIAPER BANK OF MINNESOTA: $3,000 · Human ServicesMERRICK COMMUNITY SERVICES: $2,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INC: $2,000 · Human Services+2 more: $2,000 · Human ServicesCLIMATE GENERATION: $6,000 · EducationMONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $4,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $4,000 · EducationUniversity of St Thomas: $3,000 · EducationMETROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,000 · EducationMINNESOTA COMPUTERS FOR SCHOOLS: $2,000 · EducationTEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $2,000 · EducationNORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: $2,000 · EducationEAST SIDE LEARNING CENTER: $2,000 · EducationFRANKLIN CENTER: $2,000 · EducationCHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $8,000 · Crime & LegalBATTERED WOMEN'S LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $7,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $6,000 · Crime & LegalLEGAL RIGHTS CENTER: $6,000 · Crime & Legal
Philanthropy$5,483,439Other$467,500Arts & Culture$85,000Environment$65,000Human Services$44,000Education$30,000Crime & Legal$27,000

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 budgetTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $5,483,439 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetIMMIGRANT LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $97,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetOPEN YOUR HEART TO THE HUNGRY AND HOMELESS: $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetMN350: $14,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMINNESOTA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY: $13,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetREAL CHANGE HOMELESS EMPOWERMENT PROJECT: $12,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetJOYCE PRESCHOOL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetRAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $9,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetVOYAGEURS CONSERVANCY: $9,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetMINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $9,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $8,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetBATTERED WOMEN'S LEGAL ADVOCACY PROJECT: $7,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE HISTORY THEATRE INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $6,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLEGAL RIGHTS CENTER: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMixed Blood Theatre Company: $6,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetMINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS: $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHEATER MU INCORPORATED: $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP: $6,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Banyan Foundation: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetYouth Farm and Market Project: $6,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST ANTHONY PARK AREA SENIORS: $6,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetCLIMATE GENERATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCornerstone Advocacy Service: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FRIENDS OF THE SAINT PAUL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURE & TRADE POLICY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSCHROEDER AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $4,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetGOOD IN THE 'HOOD: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN VALLEY ALLIANCE: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAFTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS: $4,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetMONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWEST: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTree Trust: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRAIN TAXI INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRESHWATER SOCIETY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFROGTOWN GARDEN: $3,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetThe Cedar Cultural Center Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNEW NATIVE THEATRE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHEATER LATTE DA: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEAST SIDE ARTS COUNCIL: $3,000 over 2y, 0.8% 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.

Saint Paul & Minnesot…The Minneapolis Found…Fr Bigelow FoundationThe McKnight Foundati…Otto Bremer TrustHardenbergh FoundationMightycause Charitabl…Mardag FoundationMargaret a Cargill Fo…Xcel Energy FoundationThe Richard M Schulze…Pohlad Family Foundat…
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN89.5× affinity58 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Hardenbergh Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Mardag Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family 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 Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen 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 119 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen’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