Minnesota · Private foundation
James Ford Bell 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.
- $566k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 57
- Grants FY2025
- 59
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 12%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $5,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $210,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 56 to 59
- FY2019 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 12
- Total assets, FY2025
- $2.0M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 12% of the organizations James Ford Bell Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 3% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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 | 57 | $566k | 7% |
| FY2024 | 59 | $319k | 12% |
| FY2023 | 56 | $332k | 16% |
| FY2022 | 59 | $364k | 14% |
| FY2021 | 58 | $285k | 38% |
| FY2020 | 56 | $258k | 16% |
| FY2019 | 57 | $265k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Am Ministries Inc | $165,500 | 7 | n/a |
| Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts Dba Minneapolis Institute of Arts | $162,000 | 7 | 0% |
| American Association of Museums | $160,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Minnesota Historical Society | $114,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Minnesota Orchestral Association | $70,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Riverside Theatre Inc | $70,000 | 4 | 0% |
| The Learning Alliance Inc | $61,000 | 7 | 1% |
| Childcare Resources of Indian River Inc | $50,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Connecticut College | $46,500 | 7 | 0% |
| Belwin Conservancy | $38,000 | 6 | 0% |
Show all 72 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 44 recipients with no EIN on record ($922k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget James Ford Bell 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: Indian River Community Foundation Inc · The John's Island Foundation Inc · Bernard a Egan Foundation Inc · John's Island Community Service League Inc · Olivia Delacruz Foundation Inc · Grand Harbor Community Outreach Program Inc · Quail Valley Charities Inc · The Kahle Foundation Inc · Archie S Wingfield Jr Charitable Trust U/A/D 5/15/1995 · The Schooner Foundation · Jake Owen Foundation · United Way of Indian River County Inc
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to James Ford Bell Foundation?
Find your warmest path to James Ford Bell 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 James Ford Bell Foundation
- How much does James Ford Bell Foundation give?
- James Ford Bell Foundation reported 57 grants totaling $565,955 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 56 and 59 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.
- What does James Ford Bell Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (51%), Education (10%), Religion (10%).
- Who are James Ford Bell Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: I Am Ministries Inc ($166k), Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts Dba Minneapolis Institute of Arts ($162k), American Association of Museums ($160k).
- Does James Ford Bell Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 12% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does James Ford Bell 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 James Ford Bell Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Indian River Community Foundation Inc, The John's Island Foundation Inc, Bernard a Egan Foundation Inc.
- Where is James Ford Bell Foundation based?
- James Ford Bell Foundation is based in MN.
Play a game based on James Ford Bell’s filings →