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Lahti Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lahti Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$115k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Youth Development$273kHealth$192kFood & Nutrition$175kHuman Services$135kArts & Culture$98kEducation$44kReligion$43kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $60k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $55k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SECOND HARVEST NORTHERN LAKES FOOD BANK$25,000
MILLER - DWAN FOUNDATION$10,000
LIFE HOUSE INC$10,000
Duluth Library Foundation$10,000
UNION GOSPEL MISSION INC$5,000
MN MASONIC CHILDRENS CLINIC$5,000
BEST CHRISTMAS EVER INC$5,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTHLAND$5,000
DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC$5,000
YOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN$5,000
SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN$5,000
ST LUKE'S FOUNDATION$5,000
DULUTH CHILDRENS MUSEUM INC$5,000
YOUNG LIFE$5,000
REACH MENTORING PROGRAM INC$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 (FY17–25, $80k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, 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%SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN: $5k → 15%SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN: $5k → 15%SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN: $5k → 15%SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN: $5k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $10k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $10k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $10k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $5k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $5k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $5k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $5k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $5k → 15%DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $5k → 15%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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$909k · 24 repeat orgs$33k to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
6

Total granted

$909k
$23k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+94%

Still filing today

50%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesArts & CultureEducationOther
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

  • SH
    Second Harvest Northland
    9× · 2017–2025 · $175k · revenue +159%
  • LH
    LIFE HOUSE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $105k · revenue +71%
  • MF
    MILLER-DWAN FOUNDATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
    9× · 2017–2025 · $60k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • MT
    Minnesota Teen Challenge Incgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +94%
  • AH
    ALLINA HEALTH FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +26%
  • MD
    MN DARE NORTH EASTERN MN
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
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
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
2
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
3
Mercy House Minneapolis
Human Services
4
Second Harvest North Central Food Bank

Engaging the community to end hunger

—
5
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…

—
6
Mn Community Measurement

Mn community measurement empowers stakeholders with meaningful information to drive improvement.

Health
7
United Way of Ne Minnesota

United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.

—
8
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…

—
9
University Nursery Schools Inc

The mission of the university nursery school is to prepare the children in our community for a successful and fulfilling future throughout their education and beyond. we strive daily to provide loving care, as well as high quality and…

—
10
Benedictine Living Communities - Bismarck Inc Dba St Gabriels Community

We are a catholic, faith-based organization entrusted with advancing the life-enhancing senior care ministry of the benedictine sisters of duluth, minnesota. we witness to god's love by creating inclusive communities, supporting those we…

—
11
Duluth Cross Country Ski Club

Promote health through skiing

Recreation & Sports
12
Benedictine Living Community of St Peter

Benedictine living community - st. peter is a catholic organization entrusted with advancing the health care ministry of the benedictine sisters of duluth, minnesota. our mission is to witness to god's love by providing compassionate,…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Damiano of Duluth Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Matinee Musicale Inc. 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

18 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. 18 of the 32 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Second Harvest Northland: $175,000 · OtherSecond Harvest NorthlandBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTHLAND: $65,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NORTHLANDBEST CHRISTMAS EVER INC: $55,000 · OtherBEST CHRISTMAS EVER INCUMD SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS: $55,000 · OtherUMD SCHOOL OF FINE ARTSREACH MENTORING PROGRAM INC: $50,000 · OtherREACH MENTORING PROGRAM INCMN MASONIC CHILDRENS CLINIC: $30,000 · OtherYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN: $28,000 · OtherCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $22,000 · OtherNORTH COUNTRY R I D E: $20,000 · Other+11 more: $69,000 · Other+11 moreLIFE HOUSE INC: $105,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIFE HOUSE INCYOUNG LIFE: $42,500 · Youth DevelopmentYOUNG LIFEMILLER-DWAN FOUNDATION AND SUBSIDIARIES: $60,000 · HealthMILLER-DWAN FO…ST LUKE'S FOUNDATION: $25,000 · HealthST LUKE'S FOUN…MINNESOTA MASONIC CHILDREN'S CLINIC FOR COMMUNICATION DISORDERS: $25,000 · HealthMINNESOTA MASO…Minnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $5,000 · HealthALLINA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5,000 · HealthDAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesDAMIANO O…SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN: $20,000 · Human ServicesSAFE HAVE…DULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureDULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureDULUTH LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Education
Other$569,000Youth Development$147,500Health$120,000Human Services$80,000Arts & Culture$40,000Education$10,000

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 budgetSecond Harvest Northland: $175,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetLIFE HOUSE INC: $105,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetMILLER-DWAN FOUNDATION AND SUBSIDIARIES: $60,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetDAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $60,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetBEST CHRISTMAS EVER INC: $55,000 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $42,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetST LUKE'S FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetDULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $25,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $22,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH COUNTRY R I D E: $20,000 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetSAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetDULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMinnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALLINA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5,000 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.

  • Who funds Second Harvest Northland ↗
  • Who funds LIFE HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds MILLER-DWAN FOUNDATION AND SUBSIDIARIES ↗
  • Who funds DAMIANO OF DULUTH INC ↗
  • Who funds BEST CHRISTMAS EVER INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds ST LUKE'S FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA MASONIC CHILDREN'S CLINIC FOR COMMUNICATION DISORDERS ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NORTH COUNTRY R I D E ↗
  • Who funds SAFE HAVEN SHELTER FOR BATTERED WOMEN ↗
  • Who funds UNION GOSPEL MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Minnesota Teen Challenge Inc ↗
  • Who funds ALLINA HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds The Matinee Musicale Inc ↗

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.

Lloyd K Johnson Found…Duluth-Superior Area …Minnesota Power Found…Ordean FoundationMightycause Charitabl…Wildey Mitchell Famil…Northland FoundationOtto Bremer TrustJames and Nancy Holmg…Smdc Medical CenterPachel FoundationHead of the Lakes Uni…
Lloyd K Johnson FoundationMN28.4× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lloyd K Johnson Foundation · Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation · Minnesota Power Foundation · Ordean Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Wildey Mitchell Family Foundation · Northland Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · James and Nancy Holmgren Foundation · Smdc Medical Center · Pachel Foundation · Head of the Lakes United Way

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 Lahti Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lahti Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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.

    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 32 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lahti 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