Skip to content
Minnesota Council on Foundations at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
21
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$550k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Human Services$2.5MCommunity Improvement$2.4MHousing & Shelter$897kPublic Benefit$784kEducation$284kHealth$249kArts & Culture$208kReligion$203kOther$0
02FY2024 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 21 grants below total $1,011,100, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,081,100 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $70,000 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.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $23k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $439k
  • $250k+1 grant · $550k
$25,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$5.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MN Secretary of State$550,000
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop$40,000
Minnesota Voice$40,000
Leagure of Women Voters of Minnesota$35,500
Asian American Organizing Project$35,000
Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Accion Latina-COPAL Education Fund$35,000
Native American Community Development Institute$35,000
American Indian Family Center$32,300
YMCA of the North - Center for Youth Voice$27,500
EMERGE Community Development$25,000
Karen Organization of Minnesota$25,000
National Youth Leadership Council$18,300
Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research$15,000
Central Minnesota Community Empowerment Organization (CMCEO)$15,000
African Career Education Resources Inc$15,000
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 (FY21–24, $2.4M) 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%Deaf Equity: $15k → 7%Community Integration Center: $75k → 9%Somali Community Resettlement of Olmsted County: $61k → 11%First Children's Finance: $70k → 11%Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging Inc: $32k → 15%Deaf Equity: $15k → 7%First Children's Finance: $55k → 11%Mwanyagetinge: $75k → 11%YMCA of the North: $1.4M → 11%YMCA of the North - Center for Youth Voice: $28k → 11%YMCA of the North: $23k → 11%YMCA of the North: $20k → 11%Neighborhood Development: $70k → 14%Karen Organization of Minnesota: $25k → 14%Sierra Leone Community in Minnesota: $26k → 11%Stairstep Foundation: $409k → 11%Native Governance Center: $14k → 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.

27%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 10 repeat orgs$5.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
55

Total granted

$1.9M
$4.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+15%

Still filing today

90%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $851k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesCommunity ImprovementEducationHousing & ShelterArts & CulturePhilanthropyOther
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

  • YM
    YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +26%
  • FC
    FIRST CHILDREN'S FINANCE
    2× · 2021–2022 · $125k · revenue +124%
  • CM
    CENTRAL MINNESOTA COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION
    2× · 2021–2024 · $70k · revenue +77%

Funded once

  • SF
    STAIRSTEP FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $409k · revenue +33%
  • CR
    COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT FUND INC
    one grant, 2021 · $404k · revenue -32%
  • AI
    AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $300k · revenue +31%
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
African Development Center

Grow businesses, build wealth and increase reinvestement in the african communities of minnesota

Human Services
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 Leadership Council On Aging

The Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging is uniting leaders to advance equitable opportunities for all Minnesotans as we age.

Education
4
Mn Community Measurement

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

Health
5
Growth & Justice

To develop and advocate for public policy that makes Minnesota's economy more prosperous and fair for all Minnesotans.

—
6
Minnesota African Women Coalition

Our mission is to cultivate, foster and implement sustainable and long-lasting change through Economic Development, Capacity Building, Technical Assistance, Job Training & Career Development, Mental Health initiatives, Memory Loss and…

Health
7
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
8
Coalition of Asian American Leaders

The Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) is a network organization of Asian Minnesotan leaders harnessing our collective power to improve the lives of community.

Arts & Culture
9
Center for Economic Inclusion

The Center for Economic Inclusion is an organization committed to strengthening the Minneapolis - Saint Paul region's civic infrastructure and collective capacity to disrupt systems and influence market forces to catalyze shared prosperity…

Community Improvement
10
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
11
Sahan Journal

Sahan Journal provides immigrants and communities of color with free, fair, and responsive journalism that shows everyone the way to a more equitable Minnesota.

Education
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 Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment Through Research; the most unlike its peers is African Minnesota Women Awawreness Group. 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

68 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. 68 of the 80 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
66/68
Grantees still filing
39/68
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $1,455,600 · Human ServicesYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION O…STAIRSTEP FOUNDATION: $409,000 · Human ServicesSTAIRSTEP FOUNDATIONFIRST CHILDREN'S FINANCE: $125,000 · Human Services+9 more: $407,753 · Human Services+9 moreMN Secretary of State: $550,000 · OtherMN Secretary of StateHabitat for Humanity of MN: $166,000 · OtherHabitat for Humanity of MNMinnesota Parent Union: $75,000 · OtherISLAMIC CIVIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $71,097 · OtherCENTRAL MINNESOTA COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION: $69,960 · OtherGREATER MINNEAPOLIS COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: $74,950 · OtherHMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP: $75,000 · Other+26 more: $978,181 · Other+26 moreCOMMUNITY REINVESTMENT FUND INC: $404,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY REINVEST…LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION: $166,000 · Community ImprovementLOCAL INITIATIVES …SOUTHERN MINNESOTA INITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $130,000 · Community ImprovementSOUTHERN MINNESOTA…SOUTHWEST INITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $130,000 · Community ImprovementSOUTHWEST INITIATI…INITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $130,000 · Community ImprovementINITIATIVE FOUNDAT…AFRICAN MINNESOTA WOMEN AWAWRENESS GROUP: $75,000 · Community ImprovementAFRICAN MINNESOTA …METROPOLITAN CONSORTIUM OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPERS: $60,000 · Community ImprovementNORTHFIELD HEALTHY COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: $45,855 · Community Improvement+5 more: $149,299 · Community Improvement+5 moreAMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $300,000 · Housing & ShelterAMERICAN IN…COMMUNITY NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES: $166,000 · Housing & ShelterCOMMUNITY N…GREATER MINNESOTA HOUSING FUND: $166,000 · Housing & ShelterGREATER MIN…Latino Economic Development Center: $150,000 · Housing & ShelterLatino Econ…MINNESOTA HOME OWNERSHIP CENTER: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterMINNESOTA H…Youthprise: $150,000 · EducationYouthpris…AFRICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS: $130,000 · EducationAFRICAN E…Marnitas Table Inc: $75,000 · EducationMarnitas …MIGIZI Communications Inc: $74,153 · EducationMIGIZI Co…IGNITE AFTERSCHOOL: $70,000 · EducationIGNITE AF…RIVERSIDE PLAZA TENANTS ASSOCIATION: $56,953 · EducationRIVERSIDE…AFRICAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $39,899 · EducationAFRICAN C…AFRICAN CAREER EDUCATION & RESOURCES IN: $28,500 · Education+1 more: $13,500 · EducationWEST CENTRAL INITIATIVE: $130,000 · PhilanthropyNORTHLAND FOUNDATION: $130,000 · PhilanthropyNEXUS COMMUNITY PARTNERS: $125,000 · PhilanthropyACCESS PHILANTHROPY CHARITIES: $42,500 · PhilanthropyPROPEL NONPROFITS: $35,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $13,500 · PhilanthropyNORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $166,000 · Public BenefitMinnesota Voice: $40,000 · Public Benefit
Human Services$2,397,353Other$2,060,188Community Improvement$1,290,154Housing & Shelter$832,000Education$638,005Philanthropy$476,000Public Benefit$206,000

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 budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $1,455,600 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetSTAIRSTEP FOUNDATION: $409,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetCOMMUNITY REINVESTMENT FUND INC: $404,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $300,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetNORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $166,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetLOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION: $166,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES: $166,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetGREATER MINNESOTA HOUSING FUND: $166,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLatino Economic Development Center: $150,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetYouthprise: $150,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetSOUTHERN MINNESOTA INITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWEST CENTRAL INITIATIVE: $130,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetSOUTHWEST INITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAFRICAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS: $130,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetNORTHLAND FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFIRST CHILDREN'S FINANCE: $125,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetNEXUS COMMUNITY PARTNERS: $125,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetHMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP: $75,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAFRICAN MINNESOTA WOMEN AWAWRENESS GROUP: $75,000 over 1y, 57% of budgetMarnitas Table Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetMWANYAGETINGE: $75,000 over 1y, 55% of budgetGREATER MINNEAPOLIS COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: $74,950 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetMIGIZI Communications Inc: $74,153 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC: $70,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetIGNITE AFTERSCHOOL: $70,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetCENTRAL MINNESOTA COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ORGANIZATION: $69,960 over 2y, 7.6% of budgetTHE ARC MINNESOTA INC: $65,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMETROPOLITAN CONSORTIUM OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPERS: $60,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRIVERSIDE PLAZA TENANTS ASSOCIATION: $56,953 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetNative American Community Development Institute: $56,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetMINNESOTA HOME OWNERSHIP CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMINNESOTA ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCROWN MEDICAL SUPPORT SERVICES: $50,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $49,356 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BEAUTYWELL PROJECT: $46,266 over 1y, 36% of budgetNORTHFIELD HEALTHY COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: $45,855 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCOPAL-EDUCATION FUND COMMUNIDADES ORGANIZANDO EL PODER Y LA A: $42,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetACCESS PHILANTHROPY CHARITIES: $42,500 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetMINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP: $40,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetVOICES FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: $40,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetMinnesota Voice: $40,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetCedar Riverside Neighborhood Revitalization Program: $39,999 over 1y, 21% of budgetAFRICAN COMMUNITY SERVICES: $39,899 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetHUEMAN PARTNERSHIP: $37,500 over 1y, 31% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MINNESOTA EDUC: $35,500 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetPROPEL NONPROFITS: $35,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN FAMILY CENTER: $32,300 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

Saint Paul & Minnesot…The Minneapolis Found…The McKnight Foundati…Target FoundationOtto Bremer TrustNorthwest Area Founda…Greater Twin Cities U…The Bush FoundationFr Bigelow FoundationYouthpriseBCBSM Foundation IncWomen's Foundation of…
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN70.4× affinity44 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Target Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Northwest Area Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · The Bush Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Youthprise · BCBSM Foundation Inc · Women's Foundation of Minnesota

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 Council on Foundations funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Minnesota Council on Foundations. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%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
    30report 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.

    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 80 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Minnesota Council on Foundations’ 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