Minnesota · Private foundation
Eric James Benson 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.
- $3k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 5
- Grants FY2025
- 6
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 67%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $500
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $1,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 3 to 8
- FY2020 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 2
- Total assets, FY2025
- $21k
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 67% of the organizations Eric James Benson Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 68% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 32% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 5 | $3k | 20% |
| FY2024 | 6 | $5k | 67% |
| FY2023 | 3 | $11k | 33% |
| FY2022 | 5 | $9k | 40% |
| FY2021 | 8 | $6k | 88% |
| FY2020 | 3 | $3k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Hands Foundation | $18,000 | 6 | 8% |
| Bolder Options | $2,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Fairylilylong Lake Association Inc | $2,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Sarah Shulze Foundation Inc | $1,521 | 2 | 1% |
| Wilderness Inquiry Inc | $1,500 | 3 | 0% |
| University of Minnesota Foundation | $1,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders Association Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation | $610 | 1 | 0% |
| American Heart Association Inc | $523 | 1 | 0% |
| The Bond Between | $500 | 1 | 0% |
Show all 13 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Hands Foundation | $18,000 | 6 | 8% |
| Bolder Options | $2,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Fairylilylong Lake Association Inc | $2,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Sarah Shulze Foundation Inc | $1,521 | 2 | 1% |
| Wilderness Inquiry Inc | $1,500 | 3 | 0% |
| University of Minnesota Foundation | $1,500 | 2 | 0% |
| Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders Association Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation | $610 | 1 | 0% |
| American Heart Association Inc | $523 | 1 | 0% |
| The Bond Between | $500 | 1 | 0% |
| Samaritan's Purse | $500 | 1 | 0% |
| Salvation Army | $500 | 1 | n/a |
| Minnesota Land Trust | $200 | 1 | 0% |
Plus 5 recipients with no EIN on record ($5k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Eric James Benson Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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: Margaret a Cargill Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Eric James Benson Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Eric James Benson 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.
About Eric James Benson Foundation
- How much does Eric James Benson Foundation give?
- Eric James Benson Foundation reported 5 grants totaling $3,200 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 3 and 8 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
- What does Eric James Benson Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Philanthropy (50%), Environment (10%), Youth Development (7%).
- Who are Eric James Benson Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: Open Hands Foundation ($18k), Bolder Options ($3k), Fairylilylong Lake Association Inc ($2k).
- Does Eric James Benson Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 67% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Eric James Benson Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Eric James Benson Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Margaret a Cargill Foundation, Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation.
- Where is Eric James Benson Foundation based?
- Eric James Benson Foundation is based in MN.
Play a game based on Eric James Benson’s filings →