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Lenzmeier Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lenzmeier Family 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.

$3.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$1.5M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$2.3MYouth Development$1.7MHealth$895kHuman Services$725kCrime & Legal$710kPhilanthropy$635kEducation$591kEnvironment$420kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $142k
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $1.2M
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.8M
$55,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$29M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA$1,500,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE TWIN CITIES$321,250
NATURE CONSERVANCY$230,000
PACER CENTER INC$175,000
GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION$125,000
MINNEAPOLIS PARKS FOUNDATION$125,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS$110,000
NORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE$100,000
Individual grant recipient$85,000
ALIGHT$55,000
THE ADVOCATES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS$50,000
CONSTELLATION FUND$50,000
OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA$50,000
ASCENSION CATHOLIC SCHOOL$50,000
MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MANKATO FOUNDATION$40,000
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, $1.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, 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%INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 14%OPEN ARMS: $100k → 11%OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $25k → 11%OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $22k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $160k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $110k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $110k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $105k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $100k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $100k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL & MPLS: $100k → 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.
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.
$12M · 24 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
16

Total granted

$12M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+3%

Still filing today

75%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesInternationalEducationPhilanthropyEnvironmentOther
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

  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES
    7× · 2017–2025 · $2.0M · revenue +42%
  • TA
    The Advocates For Human Rights
    7× · 2017–2025 · $457k · revenue +192%
  • MP
    Minneapolis Parks Foundation
    3× · 2020–2025 · $383k · revenue +144%

Funded once

  • SH
    SIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +87%
  • MP
    MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA
    one grant, 2017 · $200k · revenue +5%
  • TC
    Twin Cities Rise
    one grant, 2020 · $155k · revenue +3%
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 Council on Foundations

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

—
2
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…

—
3
Women's Foundation of Minnesota

Women's Foundation of Minnesota is a statewide community foundation investing in ending systemic inequities and driving innovation for gender and racial justice. WFM applies an Intersectional Equity Framework inclusive of gender, race,…

Philanthropy
4
Minnesota Women Lawyers

To advance the success of women attorneys and strive for a just society.

—
5
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
6
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth

Mity's mission is to inspire and challenge intellectually curious students to pursue their passions within a diverse, inclusive community and empower them by building skills and relationships for lifelong success.

—
7
Twin Cities Public Television Inc

The mission of twin cities public television, inc. (tpt) is to enrich lives and strengthen our community through the power of media.see schedule o for continuation.

Arts & Culture
8
Minnesota Medical Association

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

—
9
Minneapolis Downtown Council

To create an extraordinary downtown minneapolis, applying the core values of leadership, collaboration, advocacy and innovation.

—
10
Minnesota Fringe Festival

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

Arts & Culture
11
The Great Northern Winter Festival

The great northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through ten days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. in an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action,…

Arts & Culture
12
Leadership Matters Mn

Leadership matters mn is focused on advancing a policy agenda that places working minnesotans first. we support economic growth, job creation and equitable tax and education policies that will allow every minnesotan to thrive.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Minnesota Orchestral Association; the most unlike its peers is The Advocates for Human Rights. 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

28 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. 28 of the 41 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
17/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $2,450,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATIONGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $475,000 · Arts & CultureGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATIONMILKWEED EDITIONS INC: $350,000 · Arts & CultureMILKWEED EDITIONS INCMACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC: $300,000 · Arts & CultureMACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSICMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $200,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $100,000 · Arts & CultureNATURE CONSERVANCY: $570,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCYMAYO FOUNDATION: $450,000 · OtherMAYO FOUNDATIONASCENSION CATHOLIC GRADE SCHOOL: $310,000 · OtherASCENSION CATHOLIC GRADE SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient: $305,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INC: $250,000 · OtherSIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INCMinneapolis Parks Foundation: $382,500 · OtherMinneapolis Parks FoundationWashburn Center for Children: $260,000 · OtherWashburn Center for ChildrenMINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MANKATO FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · OtherThe Constellation Fund: $135,000 · OtherTwin Cities Rise: $155,000 · Other+16 more: $911,000 · Other+16 moreBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES: $2,010,550 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CL…Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: $785,000 · Human ServicesCatholic …OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $172,000 · Human ServicesOPEN ARMS…INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MINNESOTA: $50,000 · Human Services+1 more: $25,000 · Human ServicesNORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE: $810,000 · Crime & LegalThe Advocates For Human Rights: $457,000 · InternationalALIGHT: $177,000 · InternationalPACER CENTER INC: $600,000 · Civil Rights
Arts & Culture$3,875,000Other$3,928,500Youth Development$2,010,550Human Services$1,032,000Crime & Legal$810,000International$634,000Civil Rights$600,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $2,450,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES: $2,010,550 over 7y, 5.1% of budgetNORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE: $810,000 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: $785,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetPACER CENTER INC: $600,000 over 7y, 3.5% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $475,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetThe Advocates For Human Rights: $457,000 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetMinneapolis Parks Foundation: $382,500 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetMILKWEED EDITIONS INC: $350,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetMACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC: $300,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetWashburn Center for Children: $260,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetSIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INC: $250,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $200,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MANKATO FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetALIGHT: $177,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetOPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $172,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetTwin Cities Rise: $155,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetThe Constellation Fund: $135,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetThe Fistula Foundation: $105,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetALIVENESS PROJECT INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTHE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS: $100,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetNORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: $100,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS: $70,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MINNESOTA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMICROGRANTS: $50,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetGREEN CITIES ACCORD: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% 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 MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE TWIN CITIES ↗
  • Who funds NORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE ↗
  • Who funds Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ↗
  • Who funds PACER CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds The Advocates For Human Rights ↗
  • Who funds Minneapolis Parks Foundation ↗
  • Who funds MILKWEED EDITIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds MACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds Washburn Center for Children ↗
  • Who funds SIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MANKATO FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ALIGHT ↗
  • Who funds OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds Twin Cities Rise ↗
  • Who funds The Constellation Fund ↗
  • Who funds The Fistula Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds ALIVENESS PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS ↗
  • Who funds NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds MICROGRANTS ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC ↗
  • Who funds GREEN CITIES ACCORD ↗

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…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Mightycause Charitabl…The McKnight Foundati…Otto Bremer TrustThe Richard M Schulze…Lenfestey Family Foun…Opus FoundationTarget FoundationGreater Twin Cities U…Charities Aid Foundat…Margaret a Cargill Fo…
The Minneapolis FoundationMN29.6× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Lenfestey Family Foundation Inc · Opus Foundation · Target Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · Charities Aid Foundation America · Margaret a Cargill 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 Lenzmeier Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lenzmeier Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report 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 Lenzmeier Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lenzmeier 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 41 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 Lenzmeier 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