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Minnesota Humanities Center at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Minnesota Humanities Center

To spark positive change by increasing collective understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our histories through shared experiences.

$4.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
90
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$473k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$14MFood & Nutrition$2.8MHealth$1.3MHuman Services$787kPublic Benefit$736kCrime & Legal$441kCommunity Improvement$330kCivil Rights$287kOther$0
02FY2024 · 90 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 90 grants below total $3,912,543, the rows itemized in this filing. The $4,201,323 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $288,780 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 $10k13 grants · $107k
  • $10k–50k54 grants · $1.2M
  • $50k–250k21 grants · $1.7M
  • $250k+2 grants · $845k
$24,936
Median grant
1
States reached
$44M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Minnesota Childrens Museum$472,500
Hunger Solutions Minnesota$372,659
Springboard for the$237,406
Giiwedinong Museum$177,188
Asian Economic Development Association$105,203
Great River Children's Museum$102,500
Reviving The Islamic Sisterhood For Empowerment$102,284
The Works Museum$85,657
Rondo Community Land Trust$78,750
Film Society of Minneapolis St Paul$77,000
Somali Museum of Min$75,000
WonderTrek Children's Museum$70,053
NEOMURALISMOS DE MEX$66,500
Speaking Out Collective$65,000
Learning Law and Dem$64,723
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 (FY18–24, $730k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%DAKOTA WICOHAN: $24k → 11%SOMALI COMMUNITY RESETTLEMENT SERVICES: $81k → 11%SOMALI COMMUNITY RESETTLEMENT SERVICES: $49k → 11%SOMALI COMMUNITY RESETTLEMENT SERVICES: $49k → 11%SOMALI COMMUNITY RESETTLEMENT SERVICES: $21k → 11%SOMALI COMMUNITY RESETTLEMENT SERVICES: $19k → 11%Young Mens Christian Association Of The North: $62k → 11%AFRICAN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY SERVICES: $48k → 11%SOMALI COMMUNITY RESETTLEMENT SERVICES: $7k → 11%AFRICAN IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY SERVICES: $43k → 11%Somali Community Resettlement Services: $9k → 11%YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT AND MN CIVICS YOUTH: $92k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $68k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $33k → 11%East Side Freedom Library: $44k → 14%YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT: $27k → 11%Face to Face: $9k → 14%Tiwahe Foundation: $26k → 14%NATIVE GOVERNANCE CENTER: $8k → 14%Interact Center For The Visual And Performing Arts: $13k → 14%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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$16M · 85 repeat orgs$5.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

85 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2024, 49 since wound down; 53 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

85
157

Total granted

$16M
$3.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+21%

Still filing today

66%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.6M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationPublic BenefitFood & NutritionEmploymentOther
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

  • MC
    Minnesota Children's Museum
    9× · 2017–2025 · $3.4M · revenue +98%
  • CM
    CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $873k · revenue +122%
  • DC
    DULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $671k · revenue +17% · 26% of their budget

Funded once

  • R5
    REGION 5 CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
    one grant, 2022 · $113k
  • AP
    ARCATA PRESS
    one grant, 2023 · $83k
  • CL
    COMUNIDADES LATINAS UNIDAS EN SERVICIO
    one grant, 2022 · $80k
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
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.

—
2
Minnesota Voice

Minnesota Voice is a collaboration of organizations working toward permanent change in social, racial, and economic justice by increasing civic engagement and voter participation across the state.

Public Benefit
3
Theater Mu Incorporated

Theater mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the asian american experience.

Arts & Culture
4
African American Interpretive Center of Minnesota

Non-profit

Arts & Culture
5
Minnesota Humanities Center

To spark positive change by increasing collective understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our histories through shared experiences.

—
6
Diaspora One Tikar One People Dna Descendants of C

Preservation of culture

—
7
Northwest Minnesota Arts Council

Support and enhance the development of the arts in northwestern minnesota. facilitate and encourage the creation and appreciation of the arts.

Arts & Culture
8
Manoomin Arts Initiative

The manoomin arts initiative (mai) is an indigenous-led artist-led creative community development organization that supports artists and cultivates the creative economy within the white earth nation and surrounding communities. we work…

Arts & Culture
9
Science Museum of Minnesota

The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."

Arts & Culture
10
Mounds Theatre Company

We believe that performing arts can engage stimulate inspire challenge educate reflect,empower and nourish artists audiences and communities. We are committed to the cultural enrichment of Saint Pauls ethnically and economically diverse…

Arts & Culture
11
Minnesota Multifaith Network

The Minnesota Multifaith Network is the statewide network supporting faith and interfaith leaders and organizations who work for a more just and loving world.

Religion
12
Mankato Area Arts Council

The mission of the Mankato Area Arts Council, DBA Carnegie Art Center, is to be a vibrant community destination that inspires, nurtures, and expands artistic, cultural, and educational experiences.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Springboard for the Arts; the most unlike its peers is Rice County Neighbors United. 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

193 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. 193 of the 296 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.

12
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
57
Early backer (in before they grew)
188/193
Grantees still filing
105/193
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Minnesota Children's Museum: $3,384,974 · Arts & CultureMinnesota Children's MuseumCHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA: $872,739 · Arts & CultureCHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTADULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $671,130 · Arts & CultureDULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INCJudy Garland Childrens Museum: $555,345 · Arts & CultureJudy Garland Childrens MuseumSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $527,184 · Arts & CultureSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTSGREAT RIVER CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $309,500 · Arts & Culture+48 more: $2,856,183 · Arts & Culture+48 moreKA JOOG NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION: $441,780 · OtherKA JOOG NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONWONDERTREK CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $241,200 · Other+120 more: $5,747,127 · Other+120 moreHUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA: $2,586,229 · Food & NutritionHUNGER SOLUTION…+2 more: $113,833 · Food & NutritionVETERANS DEFENSE PROJECT: $441,274 · Public BenefitLearning Law and Democracy Foundation: $288,665 · Public BenefitSEAD PROJECT: $101,000 · Public BenefitSGU VETERANS & FAMILIES OF USA INC: $88,412 · Public BenefitPlanting people growing justice leadership institute: $37,000 · Public BenefitYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $281,937 · Human ServicesSomali Community Resettlement: $233,898 · Human ServicesAFRICAN IMMIGRANTS COMMUNITY SERVIC: $91,000 · Human ServicesEAST PHILLIPS NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTE: $43,825 · Human ServicesDAKOTA WICOHAN: $36,250 · Human ServicesTHE TIWAHE FOUNDATION: $26,255 · Human Services+2 more: $40,000 · Human ServicesASIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION: $105,203 · EmploymentCOMMUNIDADES LATINAS UNIDAS EN SERVICO INC: $51,000 · EmploymentTwin Cities Rise: $40,855 · EmploymentMIGIZI Communications Inc: $60,858 · Education826 MSP: $31,492 · EducationRice County Neighbors United: $27,500 · EducationST CATHERINE UNIVERSITY: $19,250 · EducationYouthprise: $18,697 · Education
Arts & Culture$9,177,055Other$6,430,107Food & Nutrition$2,700,062Public Benefit$956,351Human Services$753,165Employment$197,058Education$157,797

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 budgetMinnesota Children's Museum: $3,384,974 over 9y, 7.9% of budgetHUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA: $2,586,229 over 9y, 5.1% of budgetCHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA: $872,739 over 9y, 17% of budgetDULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $671,130 over 9y, 26% of budgetJudy Garland Childrens Museum: $555,345 over 7y, 74% of budgetSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $527,184 over 7y, 4.1% of budgetKA JOOG NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION: $441,780 over 8y, 20% of budgetVETERANS DEFENSE PROJECT: $441,274 over 3y, 97% of budgetGREAT RIVER CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $309,500 over 4y, 7.0% of budgetLearning Law and Democracy Foundation: $288,665 over 6y, 100% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $281,937 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWHEEL AND COG CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $249,747 over 6y, 60% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF ROCHESTER INC: $246,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetSomali Community Resettlement: $233,898 over 7y, 9.7% of budgetMINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP: $197,500 over 5y, 14% of budgetSOMALI MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER: $192,889 over 7y, 9.3% of budgetGIIWEDINONG MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER OF THE NORT: $177,188 over 2y, 73% of budgetOTTER COVE CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $151,769 over 3y, 28% of budgetWONDERTREK CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $145,447 over 3y, 92% of budgetTHE WORKS: $120,425 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetHmong Cultural Center: $114,909 over 4y, 11% of budgetREVIVING THE ISLAMIC SISTERHOOD FOR: $112,284 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetASIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION: $105,203 over 2y, 9.8% of budgetSEAD PROJECT: $101,000 over 4y, 8.6% of budgetAFRICAN IMMIGRANTS COMMUNITY SERVIC: $91,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetSGU VETERANS & FAMILIES OF USA INC: $88,412 over 4y, 93% of budgetNorth American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems: $86,833 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetGREEN CARD VOICES: $84,021 over 4y, 12% of budgetMINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $79,200 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetTHE RONDO COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $78,750 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL: $77,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budget(NEO)MURALISMOS DE MEXICO: $66,500 over 2y, 20% of budgetSpeaking Out Collective: $65,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetMIGIZI Communications Inc: $60,858 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetCOMPAS INC: $58,625 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetTWIN CITIES FILM FEST: $54,132 over 2y, 10% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $52,211 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCOMMUNIDADES LATINAS UNIDAS EN SERVICO INC: $51,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHMONG MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $50,977 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetUNITECLOUD: $47,400 over 3y, 10% of budgetEAST PHILLIPS NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTE: $43,825 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetNative American Community Development Institute: $42,589 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetARCATA PRESS: $42,106 over 3y, 8.5% of budgetDAKHOTA IAPI OKHODAKICHIYE: $41,437 over 3y, 16% of budgetTwin Cities Rise: $40,855 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetWALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $40,791 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED FAMILY PRACTICE HEALTH CENTER: $40,659 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetDULUTH-SUPERIOR AREA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION CORPORATION: $40,000 over 2y, 0.6% 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 Children's Museum ↗
  • Who funds HUNGER SOLUTIONS MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds Judy Garland Childrens Museum ↗
  • Who funds SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds KA JOOG NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION ↗
  • Who funds VETERANS DEFENSE PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds GREAT RIVER CHILDRENS MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds Learning Law and Democracy Foundation ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH ↗
  • Who funds WHEEL AND COG CHILDREN'S MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF ROCHESTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Somali Community Resettlement ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA PRISON WRITING WORKSHOP ↗
  • Who funds SOMALI MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds GIIWEDINONG MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER OF THE NORT ↗
  • Who funds OTTER COVE CHILDRENS MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds WONDERTREK CHILDREN'S MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds THE WORKS ↗
  • Who funds Hmong Cultural Center ↗
  • Who funds REVIVING THE ISLAMIC SISTERHOOD FOR ↗
  • Who funds ASIAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SEAD PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS COMMUNITY SERVIC ↗
  • Who funds SGU VETERANS & FAMILIES OF USA INC ↗
  • Who funds North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems ↗

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 McKnight Foundati…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Fr Bigelow FoundationPropel NonprofitsHeadwaters Foundation…The Minneapolis Found…Mardag FoundationMinnesota Historical …YouthpriseTarget FoundationOtto Bremer TrustThe Bush Foundation
The McKnight FoundationMN117× affinity74 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The McKnight Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Propel Nonprofits · Headwaters Foundation for Justice · The Minneapolis Foundation · Mardag Foundation · Minnesota Historical Society · Youthprise · Target Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · The Bush 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 Minnesota Humanities Center funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Minnesota Humanities Center. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%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
    67report 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 296 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.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $8.3M 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 FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Minnesota Humanities Center’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