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· 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

Read this first · the figures below need context

92% 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 you fund
0193% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY20202024.

Philanthropy$5.5MArts & Culture$85kEnvironment$65kHuman Services$44kEducation$30kCrime & Legal$27kCommunity Improvement$9kFood & Nutrition$9kYouth Development$5kOther$445k
02FY2023 · 67 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 67 grants below total $259,500 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $334,000 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $74,500 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised 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
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy$5,000
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (Planned Parenthood)$5,000
MN350$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
Mixed Blood Theatre$3,000
Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness$3,000
Frogtown Farm$3,000
Centro Tyrone Guzman$3,000
Children's Law Center of Minnesota$3,000
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 (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your 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

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.

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
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

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

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%
+32%

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

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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%
  • TT
    Tree Trustgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue +98%
  • EL
    ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWESTgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $4k · revenue +32%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

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
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…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Minneapolis Foundation and 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.

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 backsteady#23#17#11#7#21#13#24#6
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 17. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number21%0%<5yr14%5%5–10yr20%14%10–20yr18%33%20–35yr14%32%35–55yr13%16%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value21%0%<5yr14%0%5–10yr20%1%10–20yr18%2%20–35yr14%2%35–55yr13%95%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 1% lost their exemption, against 16% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
1%1/86
the rest of the field
16%
1,428/9,073

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

86 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 20172025, 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; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
26
Early backer (in before they grew)
83/86
Grantees still filing
64/86
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, 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 & CultureMINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP — $6,000 · Arts & CultureLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS — $6,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATER MU INCORPORATED — $6,000 · Arts & CultureAFTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS — $4,000 · Arts & CultureRAIN TAXI INC — $4,000 · Arts & CulturePangea World Theater — $3,000 · Arts & CultureThe Cedar Cultural Center Inc — $3,000 · Arts & CulturePUBLIC ART SAINT PAUL — $3,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATER LATTE DA — $3,000 · Arts & CultureNEW NATIVE THEATRE — $3,000 · Arts & CultureEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY — $3,000 · Arts & CultureEAST SIDE ARTS COUNCIL — $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 · EnvironmentWOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER — $4,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CENTER OF THE MIDWEST — $4,000 · EnvironmentFROGTOWN GARDEN — $3,000 · EnvironmentLOWER PHALEN CREEK PROJECT — $3,000 · EnvironmentLAND STEWARDSHIP 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 ServicesHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $4,000 · Human ServicesGOOD IN THE 'HOOD — $4,000 · Human ServicesCENTRO TYRONE GUZMAN — $3,000 · Human ServicesDIAPER BANK OF MINNESOTA — $3,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INC — $2,000 · Human ServicesMERRICK COMMUNITY SERVICES — $2,000 · Human Services+2 more — $2,000 · Human ServicesCLIMATE GENERATION — $6,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $4,000 · EducationMONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC — $4,000 · EducationMETROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $3,000 · EducationUniversity of St Thomas — $3,000 · EducationEAST SIDE LEARNING CENTER — $2,000 · EducationFRANKLIN CENTER — $2,000 · EducationMINNESOTA COMPUTERS FOR SCHOOLS — $2,000 · EducationTEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA — $2,000 · EducationNORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL — $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 org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your 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 budgetMINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS — $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCLIMATE GENERATION — $6,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA — $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER — $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP — $6,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS — $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMixed Blood Theatre Company — $6,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCornerstone Advocacy Service — $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYouth Farm and Market Project — $6,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetST ANTHONY PARK AREA SENIORS — $6,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER — $6,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLEGAL RIGHTS CENTER — $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetThe Banyan Foundation — $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHEATER MU INCORPORATED — $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% 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 budgetHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION — $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRESHWATER SOCIETY — $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAFTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS — $4,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetWOLF RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER — $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSCHROEDER AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY — $4,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetTree Trust — $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOOD IN THE 'HOOD — $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN VALLEY ALLIANCE — $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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 budgetWALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY — $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetRAIN TAXI INC — $4,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCENTRO TYRONE GUZMAN — $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPangea World Theater — $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Cedar Cultural Center Inc — $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFROGTOWN GARDEN — $3,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetDIAPER BANK OF MINNESOTA — $3,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetPUBLIC ART SAINT PAUL — $3,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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 & 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

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 Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen 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.

2025
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your 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, FY2025

    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 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 119 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph