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Minnesota · Private foundation

The Bush Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$54M
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
148
Grants FY2024
99
Organizations funded FY2023
14%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2024
$150,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$4,200,000
Organizations funded a year
99 to 211
FY2020 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
13
Total assets, FY2024
$1.5B
Applications
Takes unsolicited applications
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 14% of the organizations The Bush Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 7% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6.0M went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23
EducationCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterHealthPhilanthropyCrime & LegalOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving104$44M19%
FY202399$83M14%
FY2022120$84M25%
FY2021147$51M27%
FY2020211$27Mn/a
100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Community Improvement$109MCivil Rights$63MPhilanthropy$38MEducation$18MHuman Services$17MArts & Culture$17MReligion$14MEnvironment$14MOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

MT
ND
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
SD
IN
OH
CA
VA
MD
AZ
NM
KS
TN
NC
DC

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Nexus Community Partners$54,370,000593%
Ndn Collective Inc$51,110,000371%
Native Governance Center$6,046,495470%
Local Initiatives Support Corporation$5,707,00022%
Four Bands Community Fund Inc$5,635,000422%
Native American Community Clinic$4,242,000517%
Exodus Financial Services$4,200,000184%
Northside Economic Opportunity Network$4,043,000527%
Family Housing Fund$4,000,00019%
Build Wealth MN Inc$3,937,500318%
Show all 264 grantees
All grantees of The Bush Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Nexus Community Partners$54,370,000593%
Ndn Collective Inc$51,110,000371%
Native Governance Center$6,046,495470%
Local Initiatives Support Corporation$5,707,00022%
Four Bands Community Fund Inc$5,635,000422%
Native American Community Clinic$4,242,000517%
Exodus Financial Services$4,200,000184%
Northside Economic Opportunity Network$4,043,000527%
Family Housing Fund$4,000,00019%
Build Wealth MN Inc$3,937,500318%
National Arts Strategies Inc$3,827,600471%
Knowledgeworks Foundation$3,736,262526%
Propel Nonprofits$3,458,000535%
City of Saint Paul$3,155,0004n/a
Lower Phalen Creek Project$3,090,595235%
Owamniyomni Okhodayapi$2,625,000122%
Makoce Agriculture Development$2,625,000344%
Finnovation Institute$2,585,000333%
Black Hills Special Services Cooperative$2,222,5004n/a
City of Lakes Community Land Trust$2,206,000144%
Shared Capital Coop$2,200,0003n/a
Land Bank Twin Cities Inc$2,100,000128%
Naca-Inspired Schools Network$2,063,333411%
North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems$1,995,000139%
Springboard for the Arts$1,781,000516%
Communidades Latinas Unidas En Servico Inc$1,760,000211%
Family Tree Inc$1,737,000319%
St Luke's Hospital of Duluth$1,700,00010%
Education Evolving$1,675,000538%
Minnesota Council on Foundations$1,547,000510%
Sacred Pipe Resource Center$1,509,000543%
Northcountry Cooperative Foundation$1,410,000141%
Enhancing and Strengthening North Dakota Nonprofits$1,400,310551%
Arts Midwest Incorporated$1,350,00036%
Midwest Indigenous Immersion Network$1,270,050117%
American Indian Youth Running Strong Inc$1,224,000310%
Givemn$1,217,600520%
South Dakota Education Equity Coalition$1,070,000215%
The Modern Classrooms Project Inc$1,000,000210%
Edvisions Schools Inc$1,000,000392%
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos En Lucha$988,000222%
Thunder Valley Community Development Cor$984,00047%
Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers$982,665121%
Lake Street Council$950,000141%
Gender Justice$936,000216%
All Square$907,000224%
South Central Service Cooperative$870,0002n/a
Amherst H Wilder Foundation$844,32551%
African American Leadership Forum$828,000510%
Latino Economic Development Center$818,00043%
Nonviolent Peaceforce$806,00037%
Ducks Unlimited Inc$787,50010%
Dakota Resources$775,00055%
Achieve Twin Cities$774,00044%
Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership$770,00055%
West Side Citizens Organization$760,000266%
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc$741,00055%
Equity in Action Way Foundation$718,8581100%
First Peoples Fund$707,50057%
Emerging Prairie$701,500510%
North American Council for Online Learning$685,000517%
Arts South Dakota Inc$667,500544%
Prison Fellowship Ministries$656,00011%
Women and Technology$653,500525%
Center for Economic Inclusion$640,00053%
The Tiwahe Foundation$630,000541%
Coalition of Asian American Leaders$620,000511%
Minnesota Education Equity Partnership$620,000528%
Citizens League$620,000520%
Lindsay Unified School District$600,0002n/a
World Wildlife Fund Inc$600,00010%
Pollen Midwest$597,500523%
Tanka Fund$534,000318%
The Consensus Council Inc$530,000542%
The Lost and Found Association$529,600219%
Mn Zej Zog$525,000322%
The Compass Center$523,135154%
Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance$500,00013%
Great Plains Tribal Leaders Health$500,00011%
Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment Through Research$482,500221%
Rural Philanthropy Institute$476,300480%
Commission for Oceti Sakowin Accred$470,000393%
Akiing 8th Fire$462,400217%
Hennepin Health Foundation$417,55914%
African Career Education & Resources In$408,000313%
Hopa Mountain Inc$405,00049%
Sacred Purposes Inc$405,000373%
Helpline Center Inc$405,00019%
Oyate Hotanin$403,000342%
Greater Twin Cities United Way$400,00040%
Wallin Education Partners$400,00014%
Borealis Philanthropy$400,00040%
Global Health Alliance Inc$367,5001n/a
Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples Inc$359,00013%
Latinolead Inc$356,000520%
Mastery Transcript Consortium$324,000114%
Voices for Racial Justice$320,000318%
Philanthrofund Foundation Inc$310,000218%
The Lakota Fund Incorporated$309,00018%
Center For Rural Policy & Development$304,000227%
Minneapolis Area Synod Elca$300,0001n/a
The Native Ways Federation Inc$296,000353%
Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood For$294,200311%
Rethos F/K/A Preservation Alliance of Minnesota$290,000211%
North Dakota Council on the Arts$270,5002n/a
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability$270,000118%
National Lead for America Inc$269,00023%
Tribal Nations Research Group$267,000420%
Sex Workers Outreach Project$258,0001n/a
Art of the Rural$258,000438%
Benchmark Data Labs$250,000243%
Avalon Charter School$235,00023%
Sisseton Wahpeton College$234,5001n/a
Social Enterprise Msp$230,000593%
Immigrant Development Center$220,800237%
Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota$216,000112%
Minnesota Public Radio American Public Media$215,03230%
Impact Hub Msp$213,000420%
North Dakota Rural Electric Cooperatives Foundation$210,000260%
Enitan Story$210,000264%
Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center$209,000124%
Prairie Island Indian Community$209,0001n/a
Akiptan Inc$209,00022%
Southside Harm Reduction Services$208,000216%
First Children's Finance$208,00015%
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations$208,00051%
Minnesota Medication Repository Program Dba Roundtablerx$208,000226%
Neighborhood Development Center Inc$208,00011%
Communities United Against Police Brutality$208,000143%
Pillsbury United Communities$207,50031%
Oneheart$207,00015%
Embe$207,00013%
TNT Kid's Fitness$206,50019%
Enterprise Community Partners Inc$206,50010%
Minot State University$206,4081n/a
Second Harvest Heartland$206,00010%
Project for Pride in Living Inc$206,00011%
The Good Acre$206,000116%
Youthprise$200,00011%
Niibi Center$198,000224%
Council on Foundations Inc$175,00050%
Lunar Inc$175,000255%
Candid$155,00050%
Minnesota Black Collective Foundation$150,00015%
Minnesota Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors$150,000144%
Grow South Dakota$150,00015%
Rural Development Finance Corporation$150,00016%
Saint Paul Downtown Alliance$150,00016%
Twin Cities Public Television Inc$149,20040%
Friends of South Dakota Public Broadcasting$145,79041%
African Economic Development Solutions$140,00024%
Prairie Public Broadcasting Inc$127,57240%
Independent Sector$115,00051%
Native Americans in Philanthropy$110,00051%
Hope Community Inc$110,00023%
Northeast Entrepreneur Fund Inc$100,00011%
Isuroon$100,00013%
The Center for Evaluation Innovation Inc$100,00012%
Healing Justice Foundation$100,00014%
Northland Foundation$100,00010%
Access Philanthropy Charities$100,00016%
White Earth Investment Initiative$100,00016%
Greater Minnesota Housing Fund$100,00010%
Association of Black Foundation Executives Inc$100,00050%
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition$94,000238%
Asian AmericansPacific Islanders in Philanthropy Inc$90,00051%
Vision West ND Inc$88,000220%
Education Reimagined$85,00026%
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy$80,00051%
Enterprise Institute$80,000217%
Ubuntu Institute of Learning$75,000119%
High School for Recording Arts$75,00021%
Native American Finance Officer Association$75,00015%
Connectup Institute$75,000112%
Mni Sota Fund$75,00016%
Duluth-Superior Area Educational Television Corporation$72,50040%
Association of Minnesota Public Educational Radio Stations Inc$71,20032%
Friends of Finland and Community$70,000122%
Plains Art Museum$70,00031%
University of Minnesota Foundation$70,00020%
Hispanics in Philanthropy$59,99650%
Grantmakers in the Arts$55,00051%
Sahan Journal$54,00031%
Americans for the Arts Inc$50,00011%
Higher Ground Church of God in Christ$50,0002n/a
Charities Review Council$50,000111%
Leech Lake Financial Services Inc$50,00018%
Sisseton Arts Council Inc$50,000232%
North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations Inc$50,000411%
Peak Grantmaking Inc$46,00030%
Womn Act$45,00029%
Third Sector New England Inc$45,00040%
Beta Group$40,00024%
Phumulani$40,000110%
TEDxMinneapolis Incorporated$40,000244%
YWCA of Minneapolis$40,00020%
Possibility Labs$37,50020%
Metropolitan Regional Arts Council$35,00011%
North Dakota Humanities Council$35,00022%
Twin Cities Media Alliance$35,000110%
Cherokee Park United Church$35,0002n/a
Salzburg Global Seminar Inc$33,00010%
MinnPost$30,00021%
Red Lake Nation College$28,65710%
Juxtaposition Arts Inc$25,00011%
Fargo-Moorhead Crossroads$25,0001n/a
Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial Inc$25,000112%
The Matthews Opera House and Arts Center$25,00019%
30000 Feet$25,00015%
Welcome Center Inc$25,000110%
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe$25,0001n/a
White Earth Land Recovery Project$25,0001n/a
Great River School Charter School No 4105-07$25,00010%
The Arc of Dickinson Inc$25,0001n/a
Cheyenne River Youth Project Inc$25,00012%
Jamestown Fine Arts Association Inc$25,00019%
Project Fine$25,00014%
Northwest Indian Community Development Center Nwicdc$25,0001n/a
Macrostie Art Center$25,00017%
Boys & Girls Club of the Missouri River Area$25,00014%
Lanesboro Arts Center$25,00019%
Pangea World Theater$25,00011%
Asian Economic Development Association$25,00011%
Metropolitan Economic Development Association$25,00010%
Sead Project$25,000110%
Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies Inc$25,00012%
New York Mills Arts Retreat$25,00019%
Region Five Development Commission$25,0001n/a
Filmnorth$25,00011%
Turtle Mountain Indian Historical Society$25,0001n/a
Pine Ridge Area Chamber of Commerce$25,00014%
Sitting Bull College$25,00010%
Centerville Development Corporation$25,000115%
American Indian Community Housing Organization$25,00011%
Racing Magpie$25,00028%
Green Card Voices$24,50027%
Mission Investors Exchange Inc$23,25030%
Region Nine Development Commission$20,0001n/a
American Indian Oic$20,00010%
National Indian Education Assn$20,00011%
Rural Ethnic Institute$20,0001n/a
Seed Coalition$19,00018%
United Way of the Black Hills$18,00011%
The Circle Corp$15,00025%
Community Initiatives$15,00010%
United Tribes Technical College$15,00010%
Arcata Press$15,00013%
Science Museum of Minnesota$10,71110%
Government Training Services Inc$10,00021%
United Way of Central Minnesota$10,00010%
Envision Communities Inc$10,00012%
Bold Institute$10,0001n/a
Greater St Cloud Development Corporation$10,00021%
Handson Twin Cities$10,00011%
Minnesota Community Action Association Resource Fund$10,00012%
Minnesota Multifaith Network$8,0001n/a
The Playwrights' Center Inc$7,50010%
Irreducible Grace Foundation$7,50012%
Rabata Inc$6,20011%
South Dakota News Watch$5,00011%
North Dakota Women's Network$5,00017%
Technology Association of Grantmakers Inc$5,00010%
Sibley County$5,0001n/a
Minneapolis Regional Chamber Development Foundation$3,00010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 50 recipients with no EIN on record ($34M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The Bush Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 47 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 200 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNexus Community Partners: $54,370,000 over 5y, 93% of budgetNdn Collective Inc: $51,110,000 over 3y, 71% of budgetNative Governance Center: $6,046,495 over 4y, 70% of budgetLocal Initiatives Support Corporation: $5,707,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetFour Bands Community Fund Inc: $5,635,000 over 4y, 22% of budgetNative American Community Clinic: $4,242,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetExodus Financial Services: $4,200,000 over 1y, 84% of budgetNorthside Economic Opportunity Network: $4,043,000 over 5y, 27% of budgetFamily Housing Fund: $4,000,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetBuild Wealth MN Inc: $3,937,500 over 3y, 18% of budgetNational Arts Strategies Inc: $3,827,600 over 4y, 71% of budgetKnowledgeworks Foundation: $3,736,262 over 5y, 26% of budgetPropel Nonprofits: $3,458,000 over 5y, 35% of budgetLower Phalen Creek Project: $3,090,595 over 2y, 35% of budgetOwamniyomni Okhodayapi: $2,625,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetMakoce Agriculture Development: $2,625,000 over 3y, 44% of budgetFinnovation Institute: $2,585,000 over 3y, 33% of budgetCity of Lakes Community Land Trust: $2,206,000 over 1y, 44% of budgetLand Bank Twin Cities Inc: $2,100,000 over 1y, 28% of budgetNaca-Inspired Schools Network: $2,063,333 over 4y, 11% of budgetNorth American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems: $1,995,000 over 1y, 39% of budgetSpringboard for the Arts: $1,781,000 over 5y, 16% of budgetCommunidades Latinas Unidas En Servico Inc: $1,760,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetFamily Tree Inc: $1,737,000 over 3y, 19% of budgetSt Luke's Hospital of Duluth: $1,700,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetEducation Evolving: $1,675,000 over 5y, 38% of budgetMinnesota Council on Foundations: $1,547,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetSacred Pipe Resource Center: $1,509,000 over 5y, 43% of budgetNorthcountry Cooperative Foundation: $1,410,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetEnhancing and Strengthening North Dakota Nonprofits: $1,400,310 over 5y, 51% of budgetArts Midwest Incorporated: $1,350,000 over 3y, 5.9% of budgetMidwest Indigenous Immersion Network: $1,270,050 over 1y, 17% of budgetAmerican Indian Youth Running Strong Inc: $1,224,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetGivemn: $1,217,600 over 5y, 20% of budgetSouth Dakota Education Equity Coalition: $1,070,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetThe Modern Classrooms Project Inc: $1,000,000 over 2y, 9.9% of budgetEdvisions Schools Inc: $1,000,000 over 3y, 92% of budgetCentro de Trabajadores Unidos En Lucha: $988,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetThunder Valley Community Development Cor: $984,000 over 4y, 7.4% of budgetMetropolitan Consortium of Community Developers: $982,665 over 1y, 21% of budgetLake Street Council: $950,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetGender Justice: $936,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetAll Square: $907,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetAmherst H Wilder Foundation: $844,325 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetAfrican American Leadership Forum: $828,000 over 5y, 9.9% of budgetLatino Economic Development Center: $818,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetNonviolent Peaceforce: $806,000 over 3y, 7.2% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $787,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 200.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 McKnight FoundationMN160.5× affinity107 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The McKnight Foundation · Northwest Area Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Target Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Women's Foundation of Minnesota · Propel Nonprofits · Mortenson Family Foundation · Headwaters Foundation for Justice · Pohlad Family 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.

Compare The Bush Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Bush Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Bush 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.

About The Bush Foundation

How much does The Bush Foundation give?
The Bush Foundation reported 148 grants totaling $53,713,449 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 99 and 211 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2023.
What does The Bush Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2024, its largest causes are Community Improvement (33%), Civil Rights (19%), Philanthropy (11%).
Who are The Bush Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2024: Nexus Community Partners ($54M), Ndn Collective Inc ($51M), Native Governance Center ($6.0M).
Does The Bush Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 14% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Bush Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Bush Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The McKnight Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, Otto Bremer Trust.
Where is The Bush Foundation based?
The Bush Foundation is based in MN.

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 337 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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