Minnesota · Private foundation
Michael J & Karen B Frey 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.
- $756k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 41
- Grants FY2025
- 25
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 40%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $2,500
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $250,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 21 to 31
- FY2019 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 10
- Total assets, FY2025
- $3.9M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 40% of the organizations Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 10% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $63k 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 | 39 | $745k | 64% |
| FY2024 | 25 | $663k | 40% |
| FY2023 | 21 | $493k | 43% |
| FY2022 | 23 | $518k | 52% |
| FY2021 | 26 | $569k | 73% |
| FY2020 | 25 | $477k | 44% |
| FY2019 | 31 | $466k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Providence Academy | $930,000 | 7 | 1% |
| Friends of Education | $542,000 | 4 | 17% |
| Institute for Justice | $300,000 | 7 | 0% |
| Upper Midwest Law Center | $235,000 | 4 | 14% |
| Minnesota Voters Alliance | $225,000 | 7 | 14% |
| Alpha News | $225,000 | 7 | 28% |
| Center of the American Experiment | $200,000 | 3 | 2% |
| Folds of Honor Foundation | $39,000 | 3 | 0% |
| EdChoice Inc | $25,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Basilica Landmark | $25,000 | 1 | n/a |
Show all 69 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 48 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.0M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 55 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
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: The Minneapolis Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Pine Rock Foundation Inc · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota · Bieber Family Foundation · The Walser Foundation · The US Charitable Gift Trust · Xcel Energy Foundation · Mithun Family Foundation · United Way Worldwide · Pohlad Family Foundation
How this is measured
Compare Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation with peer funders
About Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation
- How much does Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation give?
- Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation reported 41 grants totaling $756,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 21 and 31 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2024.
- What does Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (48%), Public Benefit (16%), Crime & Legal (12%).
- Who are Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2019 to FY2025: Providence Academy ($930k), Friends of Education ($542k), Institute for Justice ($300k).
- Does Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 40% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Michael J & Karen B Frey 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 Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Minneapolis Foundation, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Pine Rock Foundation Inc.
- Where is Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation based?
- Michael J & Karen B Frey Foundation is based in MN.
Play a game based on Michael J & Karen B Frey’s filings →