Skip to content
Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network

Child care aware of minnesota was incorporated in 1992 to provide technical assistance, training and coordination for the child care resource and referral programs throughout minnesota, to collect data regarding the supply of and demand for child care, and to create and manage statewide, child care-focused projects.

$2.7M
Granted FY2021
40
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$21k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2021.

Public Safety & Disaster$9.2MHuman Services$7.8MEducation$1.1MYouth Development$59kAnimals$20kFood & Nutrition$18kReligion$6k
02FY2021 · 40 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 40 grants below total $638,250, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,709,547 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $2,071,297 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$15,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$8.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MINI APPLIE INT MONTESSORI$21,000
UNLIMITED POTENTIAL IN EDUCATION INC OPERATING AS JACK & JILL$21,000
BRIGHT START CHILD CARE CENTER INC$21,000
AURORA CHILD CARE INC$18,250
ST PAUL MIDWAY YMCA EARLY CHILDHOOD LEARNING CENTER$18,250
CLOSE TO MY HEART$18,250
Individual grant recipient$18,250
NEW HORIZON ACADEMY$18,250
OPEN ARMS LUTHERAN CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER$18,250
LOVELY CHILD CARE CENTER LLC$18,250
FUN FACTORY CHILD CARE CENTER LLC$15,500
EDGCUMBE MONTESSORI & DAY CARE$15,500
CHILD CARE DEVELOPMENT CENTER$15,500
HALLIE Q BROWN EARLY LEARNING CENTER$15,500
WILDER CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER$15,500
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 (FY20–21, $657k) 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%KIDS-R-IT INC: $37k → 11%UNDER THE RAINBOW EARLY EDUCATION: $37k → 9%PARENTING RESOURCE CENTER: $6k → 10%WE CARE DAY CARE INC: $31k → 11%SAINT PETER COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER INC: $37k → 9%A CHILD'S DELIGHT TOO INC: $31k → 11%BUTTERFLY HILL NATURE PRESCHOOL INC: $12k → 9%TRACY KID'S WORLD: $17k → 11%KIDDY KAROUSEL: $21k → 15%HALLIE Q BROWN EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $16k → 14%HAPPY TIME DAY CARE CENTER: $47k → 15%THRIVE CHILD CARE AND FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $47k → 9%GOOD NEWS CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $55k → 9%LINCOLN PARK CHILDREN & FAMILIES COLLABORATIVE: $6k → 15%APPLE TREE LEARNING CENTER: $18k → 15%KIDS CORE-WESTONKA SCHOOL AGE KIDS CORE: $16k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $128k → 11%BABYS SPACE: $16k → 11%EARLY STEPS LEARNING FOUNDATION: $13k → 11%HAZEL PARK LEARNING CENTER: $13k → 14%HAZEL PARK LEARNING CENTER: $12k → 14%METROKIDS: $47k → 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.

7%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 24 repeat orgs$17M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2021, 0 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
408

Total granted

$1.2M
$17M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+23%

Still filing today

4%
8%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 57% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $276k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21
Human ServicesEducationYouth 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

  • SC
    SUCCESS CHILD CARE INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $316k
  • LC
    LOVELY CHILD CARE CENTER LLC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $55k
  • HA
    HOPE ACADEMY CHILD CARE CENTER
    2× · 2020–2021 · $47k

Funded once

  • NH
    NEW HORIZON ACADEMY CORPORATE OFFICE
    one grant, 2020 · $2.2M
  • KL
    KINDERCARE LEARNING CENTER
    one grant, 2020 · $1.2M
  • SB
    STEP BY STEP MONTESSORI
    one grant, 2020 · $262k
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
Beggining Child Care Center

Child care services and child preschool instruction

Education
2
Tlc Child Care Inc

Provide christian based daycare and pre-school

Human Services
3
Monarch Preschool Inc

Monarch Preschool offers a unique play-based learning experience for your child. Play-based, child-led education supports social and emotional development, strengthens language and numeracy skills, and inspires a life-long love of learning.

—
4
Mountain Tots Preschool

Mountain Tots preschool provides high quality early learning enrichment programs that enhances educational, social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development as well as Kindergarten-readiness. We provide preschool and childcare…

Education
5
Little Lambs Childcare Center
Human Services
6
Kid Central

Our mission is to provide quality and safe childcare for the families in our community and provide our youngest learners with a positive start to their education journey.

Education
7
Joyful Learning Edc

In 2001, Joyful Learning Educational Development Center (Joyful Learning EDC) was founded with a clear vision to provide accessible, high-quality childcare that meets the diverse needs of every child.

Education
8
Giggles & Wiggles Preschool Inc
Education
9
Riceville Community Daycare Inc
Human Services
10
Wilmore Day Care Center

At Wilmore Day Care Center, it is our mission to provide holistic care for your child within a loving, Christian environment. We strive to ensure a well-rounded educational experience that will encourage lifelong learning.

—
11
Giggles & Grace Early Learning Center

Giggles & grace early learning center, inc., with community, parents and teachers, is committed to providing a safe, nurturing christian environment emphasizing the total development of each child; spiritual, intellectual, emotional,…

Human Services
12
Little Beginnings Child Development Ctr

Little Beginnings provides pre kindergarten and day care to children under 6 years of age. We believe that learning and playing are synonymous for the preschool age child. Young children learn best when they have an opportunity to practice…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Morris Area Child Care Center; the most unlike its peers is Lakeside Early Learning. 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

42 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. 42 of the 447 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/42
Grantees still filing
26/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NEW HORIZON ACADEMY CORPORATE OFFICE: $2,176,000 · OtherNEW HORIZON ACADEMY CORPORATE OFFICEKINDERCARE LEARNING CENTER: $1,222,750 · OtherKINDERCARE LEARNING CENTER+190 more: $9,936,300 · Other+190 moreYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $127,750 · Human ServicesGOOD NEWS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $54,750 · Human ServicesHAPPY TIME DAY CARE CENTER: $46,500 · Human ServicesMetroKids Daycare Center: $46,500 · Human ServicesTHRIVE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $46,500 · Human ServicesKIDS-R-IT INCORPORATED: $36,500 · Human ServicesUNDER THE RAINBOW EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $36,500 · Human ServicesSaint Peter Community Childcare Center: $36,500 · Human Services
Other$13,335,050Human Services$431,500

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $127,750 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOOD NEWS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $54,750 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetHAPPY TIME DAY CARE CENTER: $46,500 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetCIVIC LEAGUE DAY NURSERY: $46,500 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetTHRIVE FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $46,500 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetLITTLE HEARTS PRESCHOOL & CHILDCARE: $44,500 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY CHILD CARE CENTER INC: $38,250 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetST CROIX KIDS: $38,250 over 1y, 10% of budgetLAKE HARRIET MONTESSORI INC: $38,250 over 1y, 9.9% of budgetKIDS-R-IT INCORPORATED: $36,500 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetUNDER THE RAINBOW EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $36,500 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetSaint Peter Community Childcare Center: $36,500 over 1y, 5.2% 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 YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH ↗

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.

Think SmallFirst Children's Fina…Southern Minnesota In…Northland FoundationRochester Area Founda…Metropolitan Consorti…Otto Bremer TrustThe Sauer Family Foun…Initiative FoundationSaint Paul & Minnesot…Mightycause Charitabl…Donor Advised Charita…
Think SmallMN72.7× affinity35 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Think Small · First Children's Finance · Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation · Northland Foundation · Rochester Area Foundation · Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers · Otto Bremer Trust · The Sauer Family Foundation · Initiative Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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 Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    22report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 447 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $3.5M of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2021, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network’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