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Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$217k
Granted FY2025still arriving
74
Grants FY2025still arriving
18
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$418kEnvironment$180kCommunity Improvement$125kEducation$87kInternational$58kCivil Rights$51kPhilanthropy$49kReligion$48kOther$0
02FY2025 · 74 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k71 grants · $187k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
$2,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VALENCIA ELEMENTARY HOME AND SCHOOL CLUB$10,000
FLOW (FOR LOVE OF WATER)$10,000
THE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS$10,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC$9,000
MACKINAC ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$8,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$6,000
STEGER WILDERNESS CENTER FOR INNOVATION$5,000
350ORG$5,000
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$5,000
RAIN TAXI INC$5,000
PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH$5,000
JANET S MUNT FAMILY ROOM$5,000
MICHILIMACKINAC HISTORICAL SOCIETY$5,000
RYTHER$5,000
MINNESOTA MEDIA ARTS$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 (FY18–25, $49k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 66% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%JANET S MUNT FAMILY ROOM: $5k → 10%JANET S MUNT FAMILY ROOM: $3k → 10%JANET S MUNT FAMILY ROOM: $2k → 10%JANET S MUNT FAMILY ROOM: $2k → 10%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT: $2k → 17%RYTHER: $5k → 9%TEWA WOMEN UNITED: $2k → 12%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $1k → 11%TIWAHE FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%TIWAHE FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 11%UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 11%UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 11%UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 11%UKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
NH
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
AR
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL
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 7% of Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Lenfestey Family Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 4.1% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 84 repeat orgs$151k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

84 repeat relationships: 50 still active in FY2025, 34 since wound down; 21 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

84
62

Total granted

$1.3M
$108k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+2%

Still filing today

83%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $43k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentInternationalEducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsOther
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

  • OB
    Open Book
    2× · 2022–2023 · $125k · revenue +204%
  • TW
    THE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS
    6× · 2017–2025 · $103k · revenue +12%
  • TA
    The Advocates For Human Rights
    4× · 2022–2025 · $45k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • MC
    MINNEAPOLIS CLIMATE ACTION
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue 0%
  • United States Association for UNHCR
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -59%
  • GS
    Global Synergy Group Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -76%
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
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
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
Minnesota Environmental Partnership

The minnesota environmental partnership is a coalition that strengthens member effectiveness and builds collective power to secure a healthy environment for all minnesotans.

Environment
4
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…

—
5
Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership

The mission of the greater msp partnership is to accelerate regional competitiveness and inclusive economic growth through job creation, capital investment and execution of strategic initiatives. the partnership works to strengthen our…

Community Improvement
6
Environmental Initiative

Catalyze collaboration across perspectives, power, and systems for social equity and environmental health.

Environment
7
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…

—
8
Minnesota Land Trust

The minnesota land trust protects and restores minnesota's most vital natural lands in order to provide wildlife habitat, clean water, outdoor experiences and scenic beauty for generations to come.

Environment
9
Minnesota Fringe Festival

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

Arts & Culture
10
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.

—
11
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
12
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

Creating powerful advocacy to enhance economic vitality in the minneapolis-st. paul region.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Springboard for the Arts; the most unlike its peers is Ernest C Oberholtzer Foundation. 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

143 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 143 of the 170 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
139/143
Grantees still filing
83/143
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SEE THE LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONS: $261,200 · OtherSEE THE LIST OF CONTRIBUTIONSWATCH: $35,700 · OtherWATCHPLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: $33,000 · OtherPLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHUKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $26,500 · Other+76 more: $241,125 · Other+76 moreOpen Book: $125,000 · Arts & CultureOpen BookTHE LOFT INC: $36,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LOFT INCHill & Lake Press Inc: $35,000 · Arts & CultureHill & Lake Press IncGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $23,500 · Arts & CultureGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATIO…MINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS: $19,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK…RAIN TAXI INC: $14,000 · Arts & Culture+25 more: $87,750 · Arts & Culture+25 moreFOR LOVE OF WATER: $43,000 · EnvironmentFOR LOVE OF…350ORG: $23,500 · Environment350ORGENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $21,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENT…FRESH ENERGY: $12,000 · EnvironmentFRESH ENERG…Black Mesa Trust inc: $9,000 · EnvironmentBlack Mesa …TREES FOR THE FUTURE INC: $5,500 · Environment+15 more: $37,500 · Environment+15 moreThe Advocates For Human Rights: $45,000 · InternationalThe Advoc…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $24,500 · InternationalMEDECINS …WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $17,000 · InternationalWORLD CEN…ALIGHT: $10,000 · InternationalALIGHTTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $5,500 · InternationalEDEN PEOPLEPLANET: $5,500 · InternationalUnited States Association for UNHCR: $5,000 · International+7 more: $11,500 · International+7 moreValencia Elementary Home & School Club: $40,000 · EducationANDERSON CENTER FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES INC: $16,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $11,500 · EducationANDERSON CENTER INC: $10,000 · EducationPROJECT SUCCESS: $8,000 · EducationMIGIZI Communications Inc: $7,000 · EducationDARROW SCHOOL: $6,000 · EducationSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $6,000 · EducationCLIMATE GENERATION: $5,000 · Education+4 more: $6,500 · EducationTHE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS: $103,300 · Community ImprovementEconomic Opportunity Institute: $8,500 · Community Improvement+2 more: $4,000 · Community ImprovementMACKINAC ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 · PhilanthropyLENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $18,625 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10,000 · Philanthropy+4 more: $4,500 · Philanthropy
Other$597,525Arts & Culture$340,250Environment$151,500International$124,000Education$116,000Community Improvement$115,800Philanthropy$68,125

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetOpen Book: $125,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetTHE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS: $103,300 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetThe Advocates For Human Rights: $45,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFOR LOVE OF WATER: $43,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetValencia Elementary Home & School Club: $40,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetTHE LOFT INC: $36,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetWATCH: $35,700 over 2y, 12% of budgetMACKINAC ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetHill & Lake Press Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetUKRAINIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $26,500 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $24,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $23,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $23,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $21,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF SEATTLE KING COUNTY: $19,500 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetMINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS: $19,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetLENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $18,625 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $17,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetANDERSON CENTER FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES INC: $16,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetESPANOLA VALLEY HUMANE SOCIETY: $14,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRAIN TAXI INC: $14,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetFRESH ENERGY: $12,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $11,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJanet Munt Family Room: $11,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMICHILIMACKINAC HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $11,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetANDERSON CENTER INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetALIGHT: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNURSE-FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBlack Mesa Trust inc: $9,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEconomic Opportunity Institute: $8,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $8,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT SUCCESS: $8,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOFFEE HOUSE PRESS INC: $7,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMIGIZI Communications Inc: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA MEDIA ARTS: $6,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetCONGREGATIONS CARING FOR CREATION: $6,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetDARROW SCHOOL: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTREES FOR THE FUTURE INC: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTree Trust: $5,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGRAYWOLF PRESS: $5,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEDEN PEOPLEPLANET: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS CLIMATE ACTION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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…The McKnight Foundati…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Margaret a Cargill Fo…Target FoundationPohlad Family Foundat…Mightycause Charitabl…Marbrook FoundationXcel Energy FoundationJerome Foundation IncOtto Bremer TrustThe Head Family Found…
The Minneapolis FoundationMN66.3× affinity50 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · Target Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Marbrook Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Jerome Foundation Inc · Otto Bremer Trust · The Head Family 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 Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Janet Munt Family Room: 44% of income from government
  • Xerces Society Inc: 22% of income from government
  • New England Foundation for the Arts Incorporated: 8% of income from government
  • Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation: 4% of income from government
  • Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
36report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc 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 170 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 Lenfestey 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