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Rodney and Barbara Burwell Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Rodney and Barbara Burwell Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$514k
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$375k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$2.1MArts & Culture$352kHuman Services$117kEnvironment$89kReligion$71kHealth$35kAnimals$16kPublic Safety & Disaster$11kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k24 grants · $61k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $78k
  • $250k+1 grant · $375k
$2,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$9.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER$375,000
LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS$25,025
YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES$20,000
FRIENDS OF MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA$13,200
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART$10,000
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA$10,000
CAN DO CANINES$6,000
NSCDA DUMBARTON HOUSE$5,400
BRECK SCHOOL$5,000
DUCKS UNLIMITED$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF ST THOMAS$4,900
CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$4,000
WAYZATA COMMUNITY CHURCH$4,000
ST OLAF COLLEGE$2,500
CHILDREN'S THEATRE COMPANY$2,500
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, $33k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, 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%RECREATIONAL AVIATION FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $3k → 11%GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $3k → 11%GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $3k → 11%GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $2k → 11%GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $1k → 11%GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $300 → 11%PROOF ALLIANCE: $5k → 14%PROOF ALLIANCE: $5k → 14%PROOF ALLIANCE: $2k → 14%PROOF ALLIANCE: $2k → 14%PROOF ALLIANCE: $2k → 14%PROOF ALLIANCE: $2k → 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

MT
MN
WY
SD
CA
CO
MD
TN
DC
FL
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.8M · 33 repeat orgs$50k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

33 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
16

Total granted

$2.8M
$46k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
0%

Still filing today

73%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4k 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 ServicesHealthPublic Safety & DisasterEnvironmentOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF DENVER
    5× · 2020–2025 · $2.0M · revenue +22%
  • YM
    YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH
    4× · 2022–2025 · $100k · revenue +14%
  • DU
    Ducks Unlimited Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $80k · revenue +105%

Funded once

  • AN
    ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $13k · revenue -92%
  • LM
    LIBERIA MEDICAL RELIEF INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • RA
    RECREATIONAL AVIATION FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +88%
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 Medical Association

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

—
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
University of Minnesota Alumni Association

The university of minnesota alumni association (umaa) fosters a lifelong spirit of belonging and pride by connecting alumni, students, and friends to the university of minnesota and each other. the alumni association advocates for the…

—
4
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…

—
5
Minnesota Fringe Festival

Minnesota fringe connects adventurous artists with adventurous audiences by creating open, supportive forums for free and diverse artistic expression.

Arts & Culture
6
Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Mcad provides a transformative education within a community of support for creative students of all backgrounds to work, collaborate, and lead with confidence in a dynamic, interconnected world.

Education
7
University of Minnesota Foundation Investment Advisors

To provide the highest level of stewardship for university donors through professional management and oversight of the university of minnesota foundation's assets by creating a focused investment environment with clarity of purpose,…

Education
8
Minneapolis Downtown Council

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

—
9
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.

—
10
Augsburg University

Augsburg university educates students to be informed citizens, thoughtful stewards, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders.the augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community that is committed to intentional diversity in its…

Education
11
Minnesota State Fair Foundation

The minnesota state fair foundation's mission is to preserve and improve the historic minnesota state fairgrounds and support state fair programs and projects in agriculture, arts & culture, education, the environment, and history.

Philanthropy
12
Minnesota Grocers Association

The minnesota grocers association advances the common interest of those engaged in all aspects of the food industry of mn as a leadership resource. the mga encourages and sponsors educational seminars, conventions and fosters the exchange…

—
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 Sing for America 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

39 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. 39 of the 54 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/39
Grantees still filing
29/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $2,050,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF DENVER+6 more: $71,400 · EducationLUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS: $125,025 · OtherLUNDSTRUM P…Wayzata Community Church: $44,500 · OtherWayzata Com…CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $19,000 · OtherCHRIST PRES…CAN DO CANINES: $15,000 · OtherCAN DO CANI…FRIENDS OF MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA: $14,200 · OtherABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $12,500 · OtherTPT: $9,400 · Other+15 more: $38,200 · Other+15 moreMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $65,875 · Arts & CultureMACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC: $34,500 · Arts & CultureMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $25,850 · Arts & CultureVOCALESSENCE: $18,500 · Arts & CultureChildren's Theatre Company and School: $17,500 · Arts & CultureLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS: $14,500 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $12,500 · Arts & Culture+8 more: $14,450 · Arts & CultureYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $100,000 · Human ServicesPROOF ALLIANCE: $17,500 · Human ServicesGREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $10,800 · Human ServicesRECREATIONAL AVIATION FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesDucks Unlimited Inc: $80,000 · EnvironmentLIBERIA MEDICAL RELIEF INC: $10,000 · HealthCaringBridge: $3,500 · HealthALLINA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $1,000 · HealthTHE AOPA FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 · Public Safety & DisasterLong Lake Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association: $3,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Education$2,121,400Other$277,825Arts & Culture$203,675Human Services$133,300Environment$80,000Health$14,500Public Safety & Disaster$11,000

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $2,050,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $80,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $65,875 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC: $34,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBreck School: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $25,850 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetVOCALESSENCE: $18,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetChildren's Theatre Company and School: $17,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPROOF ALLIANCE: $17,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of St Thomas: $15,900 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAN DO CANINES: $15,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetST OLAF COLLEGE: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS: $14,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $12,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY: $10,800 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLIBERIA MEDICAL RELIEF INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetTHE AOPA FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRECREATIONAL AVIATION FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF EDUCATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA MILITARY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCaringBridge: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLong Lake Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association: $3,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetHOPE ACADEMY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA: $2,450 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Minnesota Opera: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALLINA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL MINNESOTA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERFAITH OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF DANCE: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSING FOR AMERICA FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ART: $500 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DENVER ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH ↗
  • Who funds Ducks Unlimited Inc ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds Breck School ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds VOCALESSENCE ↗
  • Who funds Children's Theatre Company and School ↗
  • Who funds PROOF ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds University of St Thomas ↗
  • Who funds CAN DO CANINES ↗
  • Who funds ST OLAF COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds LUNDSTRUM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DBA LUNDSTRUM PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds GREATER MINNEAPOLIS CRISIS NURSERY ↗
  • Who funds LIBERIA MEDICAL RELIEF INC ↗
  • Who funds THE AOPA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds RECREATIONAL AVIATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF EDUCATION ↗
  • Who funds THE AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA MILITARY FAMILY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CaringBridge ↗
  • Who funds Long Lake Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association ↗
  • Who funds HOPE ACADEMY INC ↗
  • Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds The Minnesota Opera ↗

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 Found…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Margaret a Cargill Fo…Hognander FoundationStanley M & Luella G …Sit Investment Associ…Longview FoundationXcel Energy FoundationMightycause Charitabl…The Ayco Charitable F…C & K Cunningham Fam …Wmn Foundation
The Minneapolis FoundationMN23× affinity10 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 · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · Hognander Foundation · Stanley M & Luella G Goldberg Family Foundation · Sit Investment Associates Foundation · Longview Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · C & K Cunningham Fam Fdn · Wmn 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 Rodney and Barbara Burwell Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Rodney and Barbara Burwell Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 54 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 Rodney and Barbara Burwell Family’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