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River Road Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

River Road Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$520k
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$145k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$850kHuman Services$779kArts & Culture$400kYouth Development$300kRecreation & Sports$190kEnvironment$140kHealth$125kHousing & Shelter$110kOther$0
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $50k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $125k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $345k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$6.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST PAUL ACADEMY AND SUMMIT SCHOOL$145,000
COLGATE UNIVERSITY$50,000
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE$50,000
HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER$50,000
MIGIZI COMMUNICATIONS INC$50,000
FRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER$35,000
THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP$30,000
AMERICAN CAMPER ASSOCIATION$10,001
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MN ND AND SD$10,000
WALKER ART CENTER$10,000
TEXTILE CENTER$10,000
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS$10,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$10,000
SANKATY HEAD FOUNDATION$5,000
SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS$5,000
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 (FY20–25, $549k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $50k → 12%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $30k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $30k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $25k → 11%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER: $70k → 14%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $25k → 11%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 14%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 14%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 14%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 14%HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 14%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $30k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $30k → 11%WILDER FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%AMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
IN
NC
GA
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.8M · 33 repeat orgs$155k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +67% since the first grant, against +46% for those funded once.

33 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
4

Total granted

$2.8M
$95k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+67%
+46%

Still filing today

73%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementHealthOther
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

  • ST PAUL ACADEMY AND SUMMIT SCHOOL
    6× · 2020–2025 · $550k · revenue +64%
  • CU
    COLGATE UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $260k · revenue +60%
  • NH
    NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $230k · revenue +78%

Funded once

  • NH
    NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
  • MT
    MASTERS TOURNAMENT FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue 0%
  • TC
    TWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITYgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +46%
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
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…

—
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 Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
4
The Minneapolis Club

The minneapolis club is a private city club that brings together an engaged community of talented and diverse people, connecting them socially and professionally through extraordinary experiences.

Recreation & Sports
5
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth

Mity's mission is to inspire and challenge intellectually curious students to pursue their passions within a diverse, inclusive community and empower them by building skills and relationships for lifelong success.

—
6
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation

To support charitable, plant-based scientific, and educational activities exclusively for the benefit of the minnesota landscape arboretum of the university of minnesota

Environment
7
St Paul Transportation Management Organization

Move minnesota leads the movement for an equitable and sustainable transportation system that puts people first. we are passionate about connecting communities, ending the climate crisis, expanding access to jobs and resources, and…

Environment
8
Minneapolis Downtown Council

To create an extraordinary downtown minneapolis, applying the core values of leadership, collaboration, advocacy and innovation.

—
9
The Minneapolis Foundation

The foundation cultivates generosity by taking action on the greatest civic, social, and economic needs partnering with nonprofits, facilitating grantmaking, driving research and advocacy, and providing services to donors seeking to make a…

Philanthropy
10
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The minnesota chamber of commerce proactively leads the business community statewide to: advance pro-business, responsible minnesota public policy that creates jobs and grows the econony; provde member services to address evolving business…

—
11
Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

Purpose: we inspire, advocate and invest to advance community visions. continued on sch o

Philanthropy
12
Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership

The mission of the greater msp partnership is to accelerate regional competitiveness and inclusive economic growth through job creation, capital investment and execution of strategic initiatives. the partnership works to strengthen our…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts Dba Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the most unlike its peers is Masters Tournament Foundation Inc. 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

28 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. 28 of the 39 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/28
Grantees still filing
19/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST PAUL ACADEMY AND SUMMIT SCHOOL: $550,000 · EducationST PAUL ACADEMY AND SUMMIT SCHOOLMIGIZI Communications Inc: $300,000 · EducationMIGIZI Communications IncCOLGATE UNIVERSITY: $260,000 · EducationCOLGATE UNIVERSITY+1 more: $30,000 · EducationHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $320,000 · Human ServicesHALLIE Q BROWN COMMU…The Family Partnership: $169,000 · Human ServicesThe Family Partnersh…NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE I…+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MN ND AND SD: $85,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD …TEXTILE CENTER: $65,000 · OtherTEXTILE CENTERNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $50,000 · OtherNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSEAMERICAN CAMPER ASSOCIATION: $40,003 · OtherAMERICAN CAMPER ASS…HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $40,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANIT…AMERICAN CAMPING ASSOCIATION INC: $30,003 · OtherAMERICAN CAMPING AS…SANKATY HEAD FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · OtherSANKATY HEAD FOUNDA…PARK SQUARE THEATRE: $30,000 · OtherPARK SQUARE THEATREJDRF: $20,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD: $20,000 · OtherPUBLIC ART ST PAUL: $20,000 · OtherTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $20,000 · Other+7 more: $70,000 · Other+7 moreMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $150,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA HIS…WALKER ART CENTER: $60,000 · Arts & CultureWALKER ART CE…MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $50,000 · Arts & CultureMINNEAPOLIS S…SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $30,000 · Arts & CultureSPRINGBOARD F…NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $30,000 · Arts & CultureNANTUCKET HIS…CABLE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureCABLE NATURAL…NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $230,000 · Community ImprovementFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $85,000 · EnvironmentMISSISSIPPI PARK CONNECTION: $35,000 · EnvironmentTHE SAINT PAUL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $35,000 · EnvironmentLAKE OWEN ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 · EnvironmentMASTERS TOURNAMENT FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Philanthropy
Education$1,140,000Human Services$549,000Other$520,006Arts & Culture$350,000Community Improvement$230,000Environment$175,000Philanthropy$25,000

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 budgetST PAUL ACADEMY AND SUMMIT SCHOOL: $550,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $320,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetMIGIZI Communications Inc: $300,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetCOLGATE UNIVERSITY: $260,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $230,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetThe Family Partnership: $169,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $150,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $85,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetWALKER ART CENTER: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMISSISSIPPI PARK CONNECTION: $35,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetTHE SAINT PAUL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $35,000 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetAMERICAN CAMPING ASSOCIATION INC: $30,003 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSANKATY HEAD FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetSOMERSET SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $30,000 over 6y, 6.3% of budgetPARK SQUARE THEATRE: $30,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetSPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCABLE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetMASTERS TOURNAMENT FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLAKE OWEN ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetREADING POWER INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetAMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of the Parks and Trails of St Paul: $10,000 over 2y, 4.5% 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.

  • Who funds ST PAUL ACADEMY AND SUMMIT SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds HALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MIGIZI Communications Inc ↗
  • Who funds COLGATE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds The Family Partnership ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER ↗
  • Who funds WALKER ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds MISSISSIPPI PARK CONNECTION ↗
  • Who funds THE SAINT PAUL PARKS CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CAMPING ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SANKATY HEAD FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SOMERSET SCHOLARSHIP FUND ↗
  • Who funds PARK SQUARE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds SPRINGBOARD FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds CABLE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds MASTERS TOURNAMENT FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE OWEN ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds READING POWER INC ↗
  • Who funds AMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ↗
  • Who funds Friends of the Parks and Trails of St Paul ↗

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…Fr Bigelow FoundationXcel Energy FoundationThe Minneapolis Found…The McKnight Foundati…Mightycause Charitabl…Hrk FoundationMortenson Family Foun…Driscoll FoundationThe Quaker Hill Found…Patrick and Aimee But…Hardenbergh Foundation
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN22.3× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Hrk Foundation · Mortenson Family Foundation · Driscoll Foundation · The Quaker Hill Foundation Inc · Patrick and Aimee Butler Family · Hardenbergh 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 River Road Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from River Road Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 53%
  • Neighborhood House Inc: 53% of income from government
  • Nantucket Historical Association: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to River Road Foundation?

Find your warmest path to River Road Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 39 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 River Road’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