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Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Jim and Linda Lee Family 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.

$210k
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$125kReligion$71kYouth Development$65kEducation$61kFood & Nutrition$56kCivil Rights$30kHealth$28kHuman Services$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $183k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$989k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OPEN DOORS FOR YOUTH$25,000
EAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY$20,000
LUTHERAN CHURH OF THE RESURRECTION$17,000
OUT FRONT MINNESOTA$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
TRANSFORMING FAMILIES MN$15,000
CLARE HOUSING$15,000
NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL$11,000
EVERY MEAL$10,000
RECLAIM$10,000
TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION$10,000
WONDERLUST PRODUCTIONS$10,000
QUATREFOIL LIBRARY$10,000
PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND$5,000
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES$5,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $42k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES: $5k → 14%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES: $5k → 14%CLARE HOUSING: $15k → 11%TRANSFORMING FAMILIES MN: $15k → 11%TWIN CITIES MUSIC COMMUNITY TRUST: $2k → 11%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 6% of Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 98% of the giving stays in MN; by stated purpose, 93%.

Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$384k · 17 repeat orgs$115k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +17% since the first grant, against -17% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
19

Total granted

$384k
$60k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
-17%

Still filing today

88%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • OD
    Open Doors For Youth
    5× · 2020–2024 · $60k · revenue +54%
  • QL
    QUATREFOIL LIBRARY
    3× · 2022–2024 · $30k · revenue +1%
  • EM
    EVERY MEAL
    3× · 2021–2024 · $27k · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • RE
    Rise Early Learning Centergraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +583%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $7k
  • TB
    The Banyan Foundation
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue +8%
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
Mixed Blood Theatre Company

Mixed Blood Theatre Company uses theater to disrupt injustice. We are a social justice organization catalyzing action and change through art. Our work is guided by deep community engagement and rooted in radical hospitality.

—
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
Open Eye Theatre

Open Eye serves artists and audiences by advancing adventurous and imaginative arts programming in theatre, puppetry, live music, dance, and storytelling.

Arts & Culture
4
Ten Thousand Things Theater

Ten Thousand Things awakens the creative spirit of audiences and artists by bringing essential and exceptional theater to people from all backgrounds and life experiences.

Arts & Culture
5
The Cedar Cultural Center Inc

To promote intercultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance. The Cedar is committed to artistic excellence and integrity, diversity of programming, support for emerging artists and community…

Arts & Culture
6
Minnesota Fringe Festival

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

Arts & Culture
7
Minnesota Brass Inc

Minnesota Brass shares a unique passion for the live performing arts by producing ensembles and events that challenge our members to reach their full potential while inspiring our audiences.

Education
8
Fargo Theatre Management Corporation

To preserve the historic integrity of the Fargo Theatre while expanding the Theatre's ability to meet the artistic and entertainment needs of increasingly diverse audiences, performers and filmmakers.(Continued on Schedule O)To effectively…

Arts & Culture
9
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
10
Mounds Theatre Company

We believe that performing arts can engage stimulate inspire challenge educate reflect,empower and nourish artists audiences and communities. We are committed to the cultural enrichment of Saint Pauls ethnically and economically diverse…

Arts & Culture
11
Youth Performance Company

Youth artistic and leadership development and education

Arts & Culture
12
La Crosse Community Theatre

To honor and celebrate our rich theatrical heritage while establishing a sustainable foundation for the years to come.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota; the most unlike its peers is Dalekoarts. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

31 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. 31 of the 40 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/31
Grantees still filing
17/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION: $71,000 · OtherLUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTIONIndividual grant recipient: $24,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientRise Early Learning Center: $10,000 · OtherRise Early Learning CenterIndividual grant recipient: $7,000 · OtherRECLAIM: $20,000 · OtherRECLAIMPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $10,000 · OtherPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND+12 more: $35,500 · Other+12 moreWONDERLUST PRODUCTIONS: $20,000 · Arts & CultureWONDERLUST PRODUCTIONSEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY: $20,000 · Arts & CultureEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARYTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVI…MERRILL ARTS CENTER: $12,000 · Arts & CultureMERRILL ARTS CENTERDALEKOARTS: $12,000 · Arts & CultureDALEKOARTSMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCI…THE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $8,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY …+6 more: $14,500 · Arts & Culture+6 moreOpen Doors For Youth: $60,000 · Youth DevelopmentOpen Doors Fo…QUATREFOIL LIBRARY: $30,000 · EducationQUATREFOIL …NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: $21,000 · EducationNORTH HOUSE…TRANSFORMING FAMILIES: $15,000 · Human ServicesTRANSFORM…CLARE HOUSING: $15,000 · Human ServicesCLARE HOU…LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $10,000 · Human ServicesLUTHERAN …Twin Cities Music Community Trust: $2,000 · Human ServicesOUTFRONT MINNESOTA: $30,000 · Civil RightsEVERY MEAL: $27,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$177,500Arts & Culture$111,500Youth Development$60,000Education$51,000Human Services$42,000Civil Rights$30,000Food & Nutrition$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 budgetOpen Doors For Youth: $60,000 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetOUTFRONT MINNESOTA: $30,000 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetQUATREFOIL LIBRARY: $30,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetEVERY MEAL: $27,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: $21,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetWONDERLUST PRODUCTIONS: $20,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetRECLAIM: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY: $20,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetTRANSFORMING FAMILIES: $15,000 over 1y, 9.2% of budgetCLARE HOUSING: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMERRILL ARTS CENTER: $12,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRise Early Learning Center: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetThe Banyan Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF GLOBAL MARKET INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetPAUL BUNYAN PLAYHOUSE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHEATRE L'HOMME DIEU: $3,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFRANCONIA SCULPTURE PARK LEGEROS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetALL SQUARE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLake Street Council: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUnicorn Riot: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCaringBridge: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

The Minneapolis Found…Mightycause Charitabl…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Mardag FoundationThe McKnight Foundati…Xcel Energy FoundationFr Bigelow FoundationThe Jamf Nation Globa…Ch Robinson Worldwide…Otto Bremer TrustHugh J Andersen Found…Andersen Corporate Fo…
The Minneapolis FoundationMN29.7× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Mardag Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · The Jamf Nation Global Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Hugh J Andersen Foundation · Andersen Corporate 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 Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Jim and Linda Lee Family 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 40 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Jim and Linda Lee Family’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