Skip to content
Northwest Minnesota Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Northwest Minnesota Foundation

The NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION invests resources, facilitates collaboration, and promote philanthropy to make the region a better place to live and work.

$4.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
89
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$201k
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 2025.

Community Improvement$5.4MHuman Services$2.8MRecreation & Sports$2.4MEducation$2.1MHealth$1.9MHousing & Shelter$1.6MPublic Safety & Disaster$1.5MYouth Development$1.2MOther$0
02FY2025 · 89 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 89 grants below total $2,355,621, the rows itemized in this filing. The $4,169,436 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,813,815 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 · FY2025

  • Under $10k19 grants · $132k
  • $10k–50k58 grants · $1.1M
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $1.1M
$15,600
Median grant
3
States reached
$111M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE TWIN CITIES OPPORTUNITY CENTER$200,962
BEMIDJI AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT #31$156,082
LIFECARE MEDICAL CENTER$119,816
NORTH STAR NEIGHBORS$102,000
WHITE EARTH NATION$95,000
FRIENDS OF ITASCA STATE PARK$80,743
INTER-COUNTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL INC$75,000
WARROAD PUBLIC SCHOOLS ISD #690$57,481
WARROAD COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER$55,000
CITY OF ROSEAU$55,000
RED LAKE BAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS$51,000
LEECH LAKE BAND OF OJIBWE$50,000
AGASSIZ AUDUBON SOCIETY$44,000
STEPHEN ARGYLE SCHOOL DISTRICT #2856$43,971
THE DISCOVERY PLACE CHILD CARE$40,000
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 (FY17–25, $747k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%INDEPENDENT LIFESTYLES: $10k → 9%FIRST CHILDRENS FINANCE: $30k → 11%FAMILY SAFETY NETWORK: $20k → 14%CLEAR WATERS LIFE CENTER: $24k → 15%FIRST CHILDRENS FINANCE: $20k → 11%FIRST CHILDRENS FINANCE: $8k → 11%LAKES AND PRAIRIES COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP: $11k → 11%FAMILY SAFETY NETWORK: $10k → 14%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES: $7k → 11%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES: $5k → 11%PRAIRIE PINES CHILDCARE CENTER: $23k → 11%DAV OF RED LAKE FALLS: $20k → 10%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE TWIN CITIES OPPORTUNITY CENTER: $201k → 11%AMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%AMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%DISCOVERY PLACE EARLY LEARNING CENT: $12k → 10%LIVING AT HOME OF THE PARK RAPIDS AREA: $21k → 10%BAGLEY SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER: $10k → 11%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES SENIOR NUT: $23k → 17%CLEAR WATERS LIFE CENTER: $27k → 11%CLEAR WATERS LIFE CENTER: $10k → 11%CLEAR WATERS LIFE CENTER: $8k → 11%NEW HOPE FOR IMMIGRANTS: $10k → 11%HOSPICE OF THE RED RIVER: $6k → 10%LIVING AT HOME-PARK RAPIDS: $10k → 10%WARROAD COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER: $55k → 10%HUBBARD COUNTY DEVELOPMENTAL ACHIEV: $10k → 10%WARREN SOS LIVING AT HOMEBLOCK NURSE PROGRAM: $20k → 11%WARREN SENIOR CITIZENS CENTER: $7k → 11%WARREN SENIOR CENTER: $6k → 11%NORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION: $35k → 10%NORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $35k → 10%NORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $8k → 10%NORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION: $8k → 10%NORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION: $7k → 10%ADULT DAY SERVICES INC: $10k → 17%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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
ND
MN
IL
MI
IA
RI
AZ
TN
NC
HI
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.

56%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 171 repeat orgs$11M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +25% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

171 repeat relationships: 57 still active in FY2025, 114 since wound down; 30 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

171
614

Total granted

$14M
$10M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+15%

Still filing today

42%
8%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $841k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • LM
    LifeCare Medical Center
    9× · 2017–2025 · $514k · revenue +72%
  • GB
    GREATER BEMIDJI INC
    2× · 2017–2024 · $453k · revenue +63% · 33% of their budget
  • IC
    INTER-COUNTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL
    5× · 2017–2025 · $412k · revenue +54%

Funded once

  • EC
    EVANGELICAL COVENANT CHURCH BEMIDJI MN
    one grant, 2019 · $732k
  • FC
    FIREFLY CENTER FOR ART & WELLBEING
    one grant, 2024 · $244k
  • 4S
    4TH STREET LODGE
    one grant, 2024 · $195k
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
Mn Community Measurement

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

Health
2
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
3
Lake Superior Community Health Center

To improve access to quality health care for all.

Health
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
African Development Center

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

Human Services
6
Minnesota Business Partnership

The minnesota business partnership's mission is to maintain a high quality of life for all minnesotans by ensuring that the state's economy remains strong, globally competitive and its prospects for growth bright by working with elected…

—
7
Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging Inc

MNRAAA helps older adults thrive in Southwest MN by enabling older adults to maintain the lifestyle of their choice. MNRAAA strives to ensure that services are available for older adults and caregivers, by providing information and…

Human Services
8
Arrowhead Library System

Arrowhead library system enhances the value of all types of libraries to their communities by cultivating collaboration, technological innovation, and professional development; and enriches the quality of life by providing direct services…

Education
9
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St Cloud

At Catholic Charities, we focus our efforts around three core pillars: Food Access, Mental Health and Housing. Guided by our mission - to serve and enhance human dignity for all people - we provide essential services and foster a sense of…

Human Services
10
Benedictine Living Communities - Bismarck Inc Dba St Gabriels Community

We are a catholic, faith-based organization entrusted with advancing the life-enhancing senior care ministry of the benedictine sisters of duluth, minnesota. we witness to god's love by creating inclusive communities, supporting those we…

—
11
Watertown Lutheran Senior Housing Inc

To share christ's love as we serve the spiritual, physical, intellectual and emotional needs of people entrusted to our care and others whose lives we touch.

—
12
Residential Services of Northeastern Minnesota Inc

Enhancing the lives of people with disabilities by providing innovative services that promote inclusion and self-determination.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mahube-Otwa Community Action Partnership Inc; the most unlike its peers is Roseau County Historical Society. 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

147 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. 147 of the 820 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.

8
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
40
Early backer (in before they grew)
141/147
Grantees still filing
98/147
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EVANGELICAL COVENANT CHURCH BEMIDJI MN: $731,887 · OtherBEMIDJI AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT #31: $585,145 · Other+164 more: $12,895,018 · Other+164 moreLifeCare Medical Center: $513,699 · HealthFACE IT TOGETHER BEMIDJI: $121,000 · HealthSANFORD HEALTH FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA: $77,562 · HealthWARROAD CARE CENTER: $76,000 · HealthALLUMA INC: $47,250 · HealthFIRST CARE MEDICAL SERVICES: $34,657 · Health+3 more: $82,000 · HealthINTER-COUNTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL: $412,117 · Community ImprovementHEARTLAND LAKES DEVELOPMENT COMMISS: $204,695 · Community ImprovementTRI-VALLEY OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL INC: $101,009 · Community ImprovementINITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $90,000 · Community ImprovementWARROAD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: $71,517 · Community ImprovementRED LAKE NATION BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $516,500 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE BEMIDJI AREA: $41,900 · Youth DevelopmentAKELEY REGIONAL COMMUNITY CENTER: $29,500 · Youth DevelopmentHOV RECREATIONAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: $200,962 · Human ServicesNORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $91,837 · Human ServicesCLEAR WATERS LIFE CENTER: $68,200 · Human ServicesFIRST CHILDREN'S FINANCE: $57,500 · Human ServicesWARROAD COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER: $55,000 · Human ServicesLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $47,000 · Human ServicesLIVING AT HOME OF THE PARK RAPIDS A: $31,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY SAFETY NETWORK OF CASS COUNTY INC: $29,500 · Human ServicesAMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Human ServicesUNITED WAY OF BEMIDJI AREA: $244,500 · PhilanthropyMinnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc: $35,000 · PhilanthropyNORTHWOODS INTERFAITH VOLUNTEER CAREGIVERS PROGRAM: $35,000 · PhilanthropyEVERGREEN YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $104,500 · Housing & ShelterNORTH STAR NEIGHBORS: $102,000 · Housing & ShelterNAMELESS COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS: $62,900 · Housing & ShelterHEARTH CONNECTION: $34,380 · Housing & Shelter
Other$14,212,050Health$952,168Community Improvement$879,338Youth Development$612,900Human Services$605,999Philanthropy$314,500Housing & Shelter$303,780

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 budgetRED LAKE NATION BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB: $516,500 over 2y, 25% of budgetLifeCare Medical Center: $513,699 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetGREATER BEMIDJI INC: $452,500 over 2y, 33% of budgetINTER-COUNTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL: $412,117 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetBEMIDJI COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL INC: $352,357 over 7y, 59% of budgetMINNESOTA HOUSING PARTNERSHIP: $265,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetAGASSIZ AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $249,144 over 8y, 67% of budgetUNITED WAY OF BEMIDJI AREA: $244,500 over 6y, 10% of budgetHEARTLAND LAKES DEVELOPMENT COMMISS: $204,695 over 4y, 43% of budgetCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: $200,962 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBEMIDJI COMMUNITY FOOD SHELF INC: $192,200 over 9y, 4.3% of budgetPEACEMAKER RESOURCES: $181,000 over 7y, 13% of budgetNORTHWEST INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER NWICDC: $135,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetFACE IT TOGETHER BEMIDJI: $121,000 over 8y, 22% of budgetHEADWATERS ANIMAL SHELTER: $120,000 over 7y, 9.7% of budgetEVERGREEN YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES INC: $104,500 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetNORTH STAR NEIGHBORS: $102,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetTRI-VALLEY OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL INC: $101,009 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetNORTHWEST COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $91,837 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetINITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetLAKE OF THE WOODS HUMANE SOCIETY: $89,800 over 2y, 37% of budgetTRUE FRIENDS: $88,700 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetOURS TO SERVE HOUSE OF HOSPITALITY: $80,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetALL NATIONS RISE INC: $80,000 over 3y, 24% of budgetSANFORD HEALTH FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA: $77,562 over 8y, 2.7% of budgetWARROAD CARE CENTER: $76,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetROSEAU COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $72,875 over 4y, 13% of budgetWARROAD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: $71,517 over 3y, 11% of budgetCLEAR WATERS LIFE CENTER: $68,200 over 4y, 5.6% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $67,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARMORY ARTS & EVENTS CENTER: $65,000 over 5y, 9.1% of budgetNAMELESS COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS: $62,900 over 6y, 10% of budgetNORTHLAND COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $60,837 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetHEADWATERS SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND ARTS: $57,700 over 6y, 5.8% of budgetFIRST CHILDREN'S FINANCE: $57,500 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetGARY CARES: $50,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetMINNESOTA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIMMIGRANT LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $47,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetALLUMA INC: $47,250 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $47,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWEST MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $46,700 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetOPPORTUNITIES IN SCIENCE INC: $45,300 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE BEMIDJI AREA: $41,900 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetBEMIDJI SENIOR CENTER: $41,017 over 3y, 9.9% of budgetHUBBARD COUNTY FOOD SHELF: $40,500 over 2y, 11% of budgetVIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROJECT: $40,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetMinnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc: $35,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetNORTHWOODS INTERFAITH VOLUNTEER CAREGIVERS PROGRAM: $35,000 over 3y, 1.7% 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 RED LAKE NATION BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB ↗
  • Who funds LifeCare Medical Center ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BEMIDJI INC ↗
  • Who funds INTER-COUNTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds BEMIDJI COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA HOUSING PARTNERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds AGASSIZ AUDUBON SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF BEMIDJI AREA ↗
  • Who funds FIREFLY CENTER FOR ART & WELLBEING ↗
  • Who funds HEARTLAND LAKES DEVELOPMENT COMMISS ↗
  • Who funds Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ↗
  • Who funds BEMIDJI COMMUNITY FOOD SHELF INC ↗
  • Who funds PEACEMAKER RESOURCES ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST INDIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER NWICDC ↗
  • Who funds FACE IT TOGETHER BEMIDJI ↗
  • Who funds HEADWATERS ANIMAL SHELTER ↗

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.

Region 2 Arts CouncilUnited Way of Bemidji…George W Neilson Foun…C K Blandin FoundationNorth Country Food Ba…Northwest Minnesota A…Hartz FoundationSanford Group ReturnMinnesota Community F…Otto Bremer TrustThe Affinity Plus Fed…St Joseph's Area Heal…
Region 2 Arts CouncilMN50.6× affinity23 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Region 2 Arts Council · United Way of Bemidji Area · George W Neilson Foundation · C K Blandin Foundation · North Country Food Bank Inc · Northwest Minnesota Arts Council · Hartz Foundation · Sanford Group Return · Minnesota Community Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · The Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union Foundation · St Joseph's Area Health Services

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 Northwest Minnesota Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Northwest Minnesota Foundation. 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
    34report 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 820 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Northwest Minnesota’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