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Minnesota Power Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Minnesota Power Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$655k
Granted FY2025still arriving
143
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Philanthropy$1.7MFood & Nutrition$411kEducation$385kRecreation & Sports$351kHuman Services$285kArts & Culture$249kHealth$245kCommunity Improvement$122kOther$0
02FY2025 · 143 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k124 grants · $214k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $292k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
$1,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$961k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY$99,500
SECOND HARVEST NORTHLAND$50,000
UNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKES$41,000
UNITED WAY OF NORTHEASTERN MN$30,000
BORAL WATERS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$25,000
VETERANS RESILIENCE PROJECTS$20,000
LAKE SUPERIOR ZOO$20,000
YMCA - DULUTH$20,000
UNITED WAY OF PINE AND CARLTON COUNTIES$16,000
NORTH CENTRAL MN FARM AND ANTIQUE$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION$15,000
DULUTH LIBRARY FOUNDATION$15,000
SECOND HARVEST NORTHLAND$14,600
SMART NORTH$10,000
IEDC$10,000
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 (FY19–25, $201k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%FAMILY PATHWAYS: $1k → 5%FAMILY SAFETY NETWORK: $10k → 14%FAMILY PATHWAYS: $1k → 5%HORIZON HEALTH INC: $2k → 10%FAMILY SAFETY NETWORK: $10k → 14%FAMILY PATHWAYS: $750 → 5%FAMILY PATHWAYS: $750 → 5%HORIZON HEALTH INC: $2k → 10%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $50k → 14%HORIZON HEALTH INC: $1k → 10%FAMILY SAFETY NETWORK: $1k → 14%NORTHSHORE AREA PARTNERS: $3k → 8%CUYUNA RANGE FOOD SHELF: $500 → 11%SAFE HAVEN SHELTER AND RESOURCE CENTER: $500 → 15%CUYUNA RANGE FOOD SHELF: $500 → 11%HORIZON HEALTH INC: $500 → 10%CUYUNA RANGE FOOD SHELF: $500 → 11%CUYUNA RANGE FOOD SHELF: $500 → 11%SAFE HAVEN SHELTER AND RESOURCE CENTER: $500 → 15%CUYUNA RANGE FOOD SHELF: $500 → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $20k → 11%DIVINE KONNECTIONS INC: $15k → 15%CUYUNA RANGE FOOD SHELF: $500 → 11%LAKES AREA FOOD SHELF: $500 → 14%LAKES AREA FOOD SHELF: $500 → 14%LAKES AREA FOOD SHELF: $500 → 14%LAKES AREA FOOD SHELF: $500 → 14%OASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $3k → 10%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $2k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $2k → 11%ELDERCIRCLE: $2k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $2k → 11%OASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $700 → 10%ADVOCATES FOR FAMILY PEACE: $2k → 11%ELDERCIRCLE: $2k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $2k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $1k → 11%FATHER'S RISE TOGETHER: $2k → 15%GRACE HOUSE OF ITASCA COUNTY: $1k → 11%GRACE HOUSE OF ITASCA COUNTY: $1k → 11%ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $750 → 11%ADVOCATES FOR FAMILY PEACE: $3k → 15%DULUTH AREA FAMILY YMCA: $10k → 15%NEW HOPE FOR FAMILIES: $4k → 15%DULUTH AREA FAMILY YMCA: $24k → 15%DAMIANO CENTER: $5k → 15%DAMIANO CENTER: $2k → 15%KIDS CLOSET OF DULUTH: $2k → 15%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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 171 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

171 repeat relationships: 49 still active in FY2025, 122 since wound down; 67 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

171
271

Total granted

$3.5M
$791k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+8%

Still filing today

51%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $216k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesRecreation & SportsHealthEducationArts & CultureYouth 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

  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF NE MINNESOTA
    7× · 2019–2025 · $203k · revenue +32%
  • SH
    Second Harvest Northland
    7× · 2019–2025 · $172k · revenue +157%
  • EH
    ESSENTIA HEALTH FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $110k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • MF
    MESABI FIT COALITION
    one grant, 2023 · $45k
  • OS
    OLD SCHOOL ARTS CENTER 210 GALLERY AND ART CENTER
    one grant, 2024 · $30k
  • CC
    CHISHOLM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $30k
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
North Dakota Natural Resources Trust
—
2
Lonsdale Area Food Shelf Inc

Provide emergency food relief for the families in the Lonsdale MN region .

Food & Nutrition
3
Kandiyohi County Food Shelf

By utilizing and bringing together community resources the willmar area food shelf will provide food assistance to individuals and families. our goal is to insure no one goes hungry.

Food & Nutrition
4
Arc Northland

To promote and protect the rights of people with disabilities and their families while supporting inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetime.

—
5
Tailwinds Bemidji
—
6
Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors Foundation Inc
—
7
Northern Pines Mental Health Center

Providing direct and indirect services in the areas of mental health, developmental disabilites, and substance use to residents of aitkin, cass, crow wing, morrison, todd, and wadena counties.

Health
8
The Open Door

The open door is a leading hunger-relief organization serving dakota county, minnesota, where food insecurity is a growing challenge. the open door is dedicated to ending local hunger by providing access to healthy, fresh, and nutritious…

Food & Nutrition
9
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless

Since 1986, open your heart to the hungry and homeless has worked to ensureevery minnesotan is free from hunger and homelessness. by partnering with organizations serving those in need, we grow donor engagement and raise awareness to…

—
10
First Call for Help of Itasca County

First call for Help of Itasca County is a private, nonprofit community organization whose mission is to provide free, confidential and nonjudgement crisis intervention, active listening, and information and referral services 24 hours a…

Health
11
Northwest Wisconsin Community Services Agency Inc

To improve the quality of life by providing resources and services within our communities.

Human Services
12
Hilltop Regional Kitchen

Serve fresh and frozen meals to seniors, disabled and homebound individuals in central MN. Over 60,000 meals served annually to over 400 individuals.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is One Roof Community Housing; the most unlike its peers is Rocky Wall Productions. 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

179 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 179 of the 512 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)
47
Early backer (in before they grew)
175/179
Grantees still filing
108/179
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITED WAY OF NE MINNESOTA: $203,250 · OtherUNITED WAY OF NE MINNESOTASecond Harvest Northland: $172,131 · OtherSecond Harvest Northland+157 more: $1,831,576 · Other+157 moreHEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY: $724,500 · PhilanthropyHEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAYUNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKES: $323,750 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKESDULUTH-SUPERIOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $120,500 · PhilanthropyDULUTH-SUPERIOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUND…UNITED WAY OF CARLTON AND PINE COUNTY AREA: $96,500 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF CARLTON AND PINE COUNT…MORRISON COUNTY UNITED WAY INC: $71,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $37,500 · PhilanthropyLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $50,500 · Human ServicesDULUTH AREA FAMILY YMCA: $33,500 · Human ServicesITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC: $29,250 · Human ServicesFAMILY SAFETY NETWORK OF CASS COUNTY INC: $28,500 · Human ServicesDIVINE KONNECTIONS INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesDAMIANO OF DULUTH INC: $8,000 · Human Services+8 more: $32,800 · Human ServicesCOLLEGE OF ST SCHOLASTICA INC: $61,500 · EducationIRONWORLD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $45,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $40,000 · EducationDULUTH LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF THE WALKER PUBLIC LIBRARY: $15,000 · Education+1 more: $4,500 · EducationESSENTIA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $110,000 · HealthVeteran Resilience Project Inc: $21,000 · Health+2 more: $8,050 · HealthMESABI FIT COALITION: $45,000 · Recreation & SportsGND DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsSUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Recreation & Sports7 Stars Ranch Inc: $11,000 · Recreation & SportsCENTRAL RANGE PICKLEBALL CLUB: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports+2 more: $6,500 · Recreation & SportsDULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC: $55,000 · Arts & CultureDULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $10,500 · Arts & CultureELYS HISTORIC STATE THEATER: $6,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$2,206,957Philanthropy$1,373,750Human Services$197,550Education$186,000Health$139,050Recreation & Sports$112,500Arts & Culture$71,500

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%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY: $724,500 over 7y, 6.5% of budgetUNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKES: $323,750 over 7y, 17% of budgetUNITED WAY OF NE MINNESOTA: $203,250 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetSecond Harvest Northland: $172,131 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetDULUTH-SUPERIOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $120,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetESSENTIA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $110,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CARLTON AND PINE COUNTY AREA: $96,500 over 6y, 5.1% of budgetMORRISON COUNTY UNITED WAY INC: $71,000 over 7y, 7.8% of budgetCOLLEGE OF ST SCHOLASTICA INC: $61,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC: $55,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetFIRST WITNESS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: $51,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetLAKE SUPERIOR CENTER: $50,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $50,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNorthland Counseling Center Inc: $50,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetARROWHEAD ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AGENCY INCORPORATED: $49,379 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANK: $46,762 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetIRONWORLD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $45,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetMESABI FIT COALITION: $45,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetSMART NORTH: $40,000 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDULUTH AREA FAMILY YMCA: $33,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC: $29,250 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetFAMILY SAFETY NETWORK OF CASS COUNTY INC: $28,500 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetCHESTER BOWL IMPROVEMENT CLUB: $28,000 over 4y, 5.7% of budgetEMPLOYMENT ENTERPRISES INC: $26,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetGND DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC: $23,950 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetLAKES AREA UNITED WAY: $22,500 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetCHURCHES UNITED IN MINISTRY: $21,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetHARTLEY NATURE CENTER: $21,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetARROWHEAD ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $20,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEN AS PEACEMAKERS: $20,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetDULUTH LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetSUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetWESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $18,000 over 3y, 4.7% of budgetNORTH COUNTRY R I D E: $16,150 over 1y, 10% of budgetNORTHLAND FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WALKER PUBLIC LIBRARY: $15,000 over 1y, 9.6% of budgetPINE RIVER-BACKUS FAMILY CENTER: $15,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetDIVINE KONNECTIONS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCARING FOR THE KIDS COMMUNITY: $14,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetBOYS' CLUB OF DULUTH: $13,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetINITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $12,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budget7 Stars Ranch Inc: $11,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetDULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $10,500 over 2y, 1.6% of budget23RD VETERAN: $10,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetMINNESOTA DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKOOTASCA COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF 1000 LAKES ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF NE MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds Second Harvest Northland ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH-SUPERIOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ESSENTIA HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CARLTON AND PINE COUNTY AREA ↗
  • Who funds MORRISON COUNTY UNITED WAY INC ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE OF ST SCHOLASTICA INC ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds FIRST WITNESS CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LAKE SUPERIOR CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds Northland Counseling Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds ARROWHEAD ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AGENCY INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST NORTH CENTRAL FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds IRONWORLD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds MESABI FIT COALITION ↗
  • Who funds SMART NORTH ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH AREA FAMILY YMCA ↗
  • Who funds ITASCA COUNTY FAMILY YMCA INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY SAFETY NETWORK OF CASS COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds CHESTER BOWL IMPROVEMENT CLUB ↗
  • Who funds EMPLOYMENT ENTERPRISES INC ↗
  • Who funds GND DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds UNION GOSPEL MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKES AREA UNITED WAY ↗

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.

Duluth-Superior Area …Lloyd K Johnson Found…Northland FoundationSmdc Medical CenterC K Blandin FoundationOrdean FoundationOtto Bremer TrustMardag FoundationSecond Harvest Northl…Grand Rapids Area Com…Pachel FoundationHead of the Lakes Uni…
Duluth-Superior Area Community FoundationMN109.2× affinity56 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation · Lloyd K Johnson Foundation · Northland Foundation · Smdc Medical Center · C K Blandin Foundation · Ordean Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Mardag Foundation · Second Harvest Northland · Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation · Pachel Foundation · Head of the Lakes United Way

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    69report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 512 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 Minnesota Power’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