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· Private foundation

Robins Kaplan Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$688k
Granted FY2024still arriving
136
Grants FY2024still arriving
14
States reached
$32k
Largest
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Crime & Legal$1.2MEducation$672kArts & Culture$456kPhilanthropy$397kRecreation & Sports$347kHuman Services$234kCivil Rights$233kHealth$208kOther$0
02FY2024 · 136 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k103 grants · $221k
  • $10k–50k33 grants · $467k
$2,500
Median grant
14
States reached
$936k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SPECIAL OLYMPICS MASSACHUSETTS$32,282
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY$26,000
SOUTHERN MINNESOTA REGIONAL LEGAL SERVICES$25,000
PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION$20,000
THE ADVOCATES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS$20,000
VOLUNTEER LAWYERS NETWORK$17,500
ECONOMIC CLUB OF MINNESOTA$16,645
ECONOMIC CLUB OF MINNESOTA$16,645
GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY$15,000
CHILDREN'S THEATRE COMPANY$15,000
GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY$15,000
GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY$15,000
CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA$15,000
THE AMERICAN ANTITRUST INSTITUTE$15,000
GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY$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 (FY20–24, $148k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $5k → 14%ANGEL CITY SPORTS: $10k → 14%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $100 → 9%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $3k → 14%THE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $3k → 14%TRANSFORMATION PROJECT INC: $856 → 9%YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $3k → 14%TRANSFORMATION PROJECT INC: $500 → 9%CORNERSTONE ADVOCACY SERVICE: $3k → 11%CORNERSTONE ADVOCACY SERVICE: $3k → 11%THE HOME FOR LITTLE WANDERERS: $15k → 16%ST PAUL & RAMSEY COUNTY DOMESTIC ABUSE INTERVENTION PROJ: $500 → 14%BLOOM EARLY LEARNING: $5k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $5k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $5k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $5k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $5k → 11%THE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $10k → 14%TAKE CHARGE MINNESOTA: $3k → 11%YOUTH FRONTIERS: $5k → 11%JFCS JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICE OF MINNEAPOLIS: $4k → 11%JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE: $4k → 11%JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDRENS SERVICE OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%THE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $10k → 11%THE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $10k → 11%THE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $10k → 11%CORNERSTONE ADVOCACY SERVICE: $2k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%YMCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $3k → 11%YWCA MINNEAPOLIS: $500 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ND
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
NV
SD
IA
RI
CA
CO
VA
AZ
NC
DC
AL
GA
TX
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.7M · 136 repeat orgs$550k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

136 repeat relationships: 85 still active in FY2024, 51 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

136
123

Total granted

$3.7M
$514k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+22%

Still filing today

74%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $36k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Crime & LegalEducationArts & CultureCivil RightsHuman ServicesHealthOther
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

  • SO
    SPECIAL OLYMPICS MASSACHUSETTS INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $264k · revenue +82%
  • UO
    University of St Thomas
    2× · 2021–2022 · $206k · revenue +28%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION
    2× · 2020–2021 · $203k · revenue +137%

Funded once

  • LS
    Lake Street Council
    one grant, 2020 · $27k · revenue -85%
  • WB
    WEST BROADWAY BUSINESS AND AREA COALITION
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue -87%
  • UB
    UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
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 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…

—
3
Minnesota Medical Association

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

—
4
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
5
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
6
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
7
Council for Court Excellence

Council for court excellence's (cce's) mission is to bring people together to conduct research, educate, and advocate to make d.c.'s unique legal systems more just, equitable, and accountable to the community.

—
8
Association of Legal Administrators

Ala is the catalyst for growth by providing: diverse educational experiences, engaged peer communities, strategic solutions, dynamic resources, and trusted networks.

—
9
American Law Institute

The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…

Crime & Legal
10
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Iowa

The foundation works to defend and promote the constitution of the united states, focusing especially on the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and 14th amendments. the foundation also works to defend and promote the constitution of the…

Civil Rights
11
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
12
American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa

The union works to advocate and advance a public policy agenda to support and protect the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of iowa. it works to maintain throughout the united states the rights of free…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southern Mn Regional Legal Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Best Buy Foundation. 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

185 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. 185 of the 277 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)
36
Early backer (in before they grew)
183/185
Grantees still filing
124/185
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VOLUNTEER LAWYERS NETWORK LTD: $86,350 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY: $78,950 · OtherPAGE EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $69,690 · Other+138 more: $1,607,926 · Other+138 moreSOUTHERN MN REGIONAL LEGAL SERVICES INC: $175,050 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN MN REGIO…PUBLIC COUNSEL: $110,500 · Crime & LegalPUBLIC COUNSELCHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $76,150 · Crime & LegalCHILDREN'S LAW CE…BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION: $66,616 · Crime & LegalBOSTON BAR FOUNDA…THE FUND FOR LEGAL AID: $46,420 · Crime & LegalTHE FUND FOR LEGA…EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $45,000 · Crime & LegalEQUAL JUSTICE WOR…CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $40,250 · Crime & LegalCALIFORNIA RURAL …PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Crime & LegalPUBLIC JUSTICE FO…+10 more: $66,395 · Crime & Legal+10 moreUniversity of St Thomas: $206,000 · EducationUniversity of S…UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $202,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF M…TEE IT UP FOR THE TROOPS INC: $54,000 · EducationTEE IT UP FOR T…Silicon Valley Urban Debate League: $32,500 · EducationSilicon Valley …JUMPSTART FOR YOUNG CHILDREN INC: $21,074 · EducationMedtechWomen: $20,000 · Education+8 more: $51,220 · Education+8 moreGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $303,070 · PhilanthropyGREATER T…FIREFIGHTERS FOR HEALING: $22,000 · PhilanthropyFIREFIGHT…+4 more: $33,000 · Philanthropy+4 moreChildren's Theatre Company and School: $62,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $50,000 · Arts & CultureMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $50,000 · Arts & CultureGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Arts & CultureThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society: $40,000 · Arts & CultureWALKER ART CENTER: $22,125 · Arts & CultureIllusion Theater and School Inc: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE SEDONA CONFERENCE: $13,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $31,120 · Arts & CultureSPECIAL OLYMPICS MASSACHUSETTS INC: $263,928 · Recreation & SportsHUDSON RIVER COMMUNITY SAILING INC: $26,000 · Recreation & SportsThe Advocates For Human Rights: $119,300 · InternationalBOOKS FOR AFRICA INC: $21,000 · InternationalHAITI OUTREACH INC: $12,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIGHTS FIRST: $5,600 · International+1 more: $5,000 · International
Other$1,842,916Crime & Legal$666,381Education$587,294Philanthropy$358,070Arts & Culture$328,245Recreation & Sports$289,928International$162,900

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 budgetGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $303,070 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS MASSACHUSETTS INC: $263,928 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $206,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $202,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN MN REGIONAL LEGAL SERVICES INC: $175,050 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetThe Advocates For Human Rights: $119,300 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetPUBLIC COUNSEL: $110,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetVOLUNTEER LAWYERS NETWORK LTD: $86,350 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetCHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $76,150 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetPAGE EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $69,690 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBOSTON BAR FOUNDATION: $66,616 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetChildren's Theatre Company and School: $62,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMINNESOTA JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $58,850 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetTEE IT UP FOR THE TROOPS INC: $54,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetECONOMIC CLUB OF MINNESOTA: $47,935 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetTHE FUND FOR LEGAL AID: $46,420 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetINTERFAITH OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS: $45,850 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $45,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $40,250 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $40,000 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetPUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE: $40,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPACER CENTER INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEARTLINK: $35,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSilicon Valley Urban Debate League: $32,500 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN ANTITRUST INSTITUTE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetIMMIGRANT LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $29,050 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $28,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLake Street Council: $26,850 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHUDSON RIVER COMMUNITY SAILING INC: $26,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWEST BROADWAY BUSINESS AND AREA COALITION: $25,100 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetYOUTH FRONTIERS INC: $24,550 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $22,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWALKER ART CENTER: $22,125 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFIREFIGHTERS FOR HEALING: $22,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetJUMPSTART FOR YOUNG CHILDREN INC: $21,074 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOOKS FOR AFRICA INC: $21,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHENNEPIN COUNTY BAR FOUNDATION: $20,250 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetLAWYERS CONCERNED FOR LAWYERS: $20,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetMedtechWomen: $20,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetIllusion Theater and School Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetMINNESOTANS' MILITARY APPRECIATION FUND: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetYWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $18,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN: $15,000 over 2y, 1.0% 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.

The Minneapolis FoundationMN58.9× affinity50 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · The Jamf Nation Global Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · The Walser Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Fredrikson & Byron 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 Robins Kaplan Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robins Kaplan Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • The Home for Little Wanderers Inc: 38% of income from government
  • National Black Justice Coalition Inc: 17% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Legal Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Breakthrough Greater Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Special Olympics Massachusetts Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
63report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Robins Kaplan Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Robins Kaplan 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 277 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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