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The Depot Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Depot 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.

$559k
Granted FY2025still arriving
31
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$149k
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.

Arts & Culture$3.5MCommunity Improvement$77kPhilanthropy$53kHuman Services$8kPublic Safety & Disaster$6kEducation$4k
02FY2025 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k16 grants · $51k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $276k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $232k
$8,153
Median grant
3
States reached
$8.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST LOUIS COUNTY - THE DEPOT$149,000
MINNESOTA BALLET$83,346
ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$49,808
ZEITGEIST CENTER FOR ARTS AND COMMU$30,000
LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM$29,480
DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$25,377
MINNESOTA BALLET$24,510
THE OLD HILLSIDE LLC$20,000
LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROD MUSEUM$19,874
LAKE ARTS PROJECT$16,159
MINNESOTA BALLET$13,780
DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$12,725
ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$12,500
ZEITGEIST CENTER FOR ARTS AND COMMU$10,901
LYRIC OPERA OF THE NORTH$10,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 15%. 1% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY - THE DEPOT: $149k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY - THE DEPOT: $149k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY - THE DEPOT: $125k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $125k → 15%MINNESOTA BALLET: $105k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $96k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $95k → 15%MINNESOTA BALLET: $83k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $82k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $76k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $71k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $70k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY ADMIN OFFICE: $69k → 15%DULUTH ART INSTITUTE: $68k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $67k → 15%DULUTH ART INSTITUTE: $67k → 15%MINNESOTA BALLET: $64k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $64k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $60k → 15%DULUTH ART INSTITUTE: $55k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $53k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $50k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY ADMIN OFFICE: $50k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $50k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $50k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $47k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $46k → 15%MINNESOTA BALLET: $43k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $42k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $40k → 15%ST LOUIS COUNTY ADMIN OFFICE: $40k → 15%ONEIDA REALTY COMPANY: $38k → 15%HISTORIC UNION DEPOT CORPORATION: $36k → 15%DULUTH ART INSTITUTE: $36k → 15%DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO: $35k → 15%MINNESOTA BALLET: $34k → 15%DULUTH ART INSTITUTE: $34k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $32k → 15%MINNESOTA BALLET: $30k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $30k → 15%ZEITGEIST CENTER FOR ARTS AND COMMU: $30k → 15%LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM: $29k → 15%DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO: $29k → 15%DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO: $28k → 15%DULUTH PLAYHOUSE: $27k → 15%DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO: $26k → 15%DULUTH ART INSTITUTE: $26k → 15%DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $25k → 15%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.
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 15 repeat orgs$93k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +17% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
1

Total granted

$3.6M
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
0%

Still filing today

53%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $83k went to new ones.

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

  • SL
    ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $511k · revenue +37%
  • MB
    MINNESOTA BALLET INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $507k · revenue +13%
  • LS
    LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSUEM
    9× · 2017–2025 · $457k · revenue +62%

Funded once

  • T2
    THE 24 HOUR COMPANY
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue 0%
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
Sioux City Community Theater

Promotion of and presentation of dramatic arts

Arts & Culture
2
Rock River Repertory Theatre

Inspire artists, audiences, and our greater southern wisconsin community to celabrate the art of theatre.

Arts & Culture
3
State Street Theater Co

To foster the joy and art of theater to those of all ages and backgrounds in and around new ulm, minnesota via education and production; to responsibly care for and interpret its historic site and murals on behalf of those same residents…

Arts & Culture
4
Le Sueur Theatre Historic Preservation Corporation
Arts & Culture
5
Theater Latte Da

The mission of theater latte' da is to create new connections between story, music, artist and audience by exploring and expanding the art of musical theater.

Arts & Culture
6
Chicago Wind Symphony
Arts & Culture
7
The History Theatre Inc

History theatre entertains, educates and engages audiences by creating and producing new works that explore minnesota's past and the diverse american experience.

Arts & Culture
8
Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre
Arts & Culture
9
Theater Mu Incorporated

Theater mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the asian american experience.

Arts & Culture
10
Detroit Puppet Company

Dpc uses awe-inspiring puppetry as a vehicle for a better tomorrow. dpc collaborates with the local commmunity to create inclusive spaces that bring together detroit and hamtramck residents with artists from around the country. the works…

Arts & Culture
11
Meadowlark Arts Council Inc

Support of the arts

Arts & Culture
12
East Lynne Theater Company

The mission of eltc is to produce and present unique theatrical experiences:: american stage classics and newly written scripts based on relevant american history and/or literature which entertain, enlighten, and educate. eltc's…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Duluth Superior Symphony Associatio; the most unlike its peers is The Matinee Musicale 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

12 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. 12 of the 22 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC: $599,002 · Arts & CultureDULUTH PLAYHOUSE INCMINNESOTA BALLET INC: $507,185 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA BALLET INCLAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSUEM: $457,090 · Arts & CultureLAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSUEMDULUTH ART INSTITUTE ASSOC: $367,834 · Arts & CultureDULUTH ART INSTITUTE ASSOCDULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO: $273,628 · Arts & CultureDULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO+4 more: $84,773 · Arts & CultureST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $511,087 · OtherST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYST LOUIS COUNTY - THE DEPOT: $434,404 · OtherST LOUIS COUNTY - THE DEPOTST LOUIS COUNTY ADMIN OFFICE: $164,318 · OtherST LOUIS COUNTY ADMIN OFFICEHISTORIC UNION DEPOT CORP: $89,535 · OtherHISTORIC UNION DEPOT CORPARROWHEAD CHORALE: $60,102 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $53,031 · Other+7 more: $57,790 · Other
Arts & Culture$2,289,512Other$1,370,267

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC: $599,002 over 7y, 11% of budgetST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $511,087 over 9y, 13% of budgetMINNESOTA BALLET INC: $507,185 over 9y, 23% of budgetLAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSUEM: $457,090 over 9y, 7.1% of budgetDULUTH ART INSTITUTE ASSOC: $367,834 over 8y, 22% of budgetDULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO: $273,628 over 9y, 4.6% of budgetHISTORIC UNION DEPOT CORP: $89,535 over 3y, 14% of budgetDULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $18,123 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetTHE 24 HOUR COMPANY: $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% 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 DULUTH PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds ST LOUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSUEM ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH ART INSTITUTE ASSOC ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH SUPERIOR SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIO ↗
  • Who funds HISTORIC UNION DEPOT CORP ↗
  • Who funds ZEITGEIST CENTER FOR ARTS AND COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds LYRIC OPERA OF THE NORTH ↗
  • Who funds THE 24 HOUR COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds The Matinee Musicale Inc ↗

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.

Lloyd K Johnson Found…Duluth-Superior Area …Arrowhead Regional Ar…Pachel FoundationMinnesota Historical …Northland FoundationWildey Mitchell Famil…Ordean FoundationMinnesota Power Found…Minnesota Humanities …The McKnight Foundati…Mightycause Charitabl…
Lloyd K Johnson FoundationMN26.3× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lloyd K Johnson Foundation · Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation · Arrowhead Regional Arts Council · Pachel Foundation · Minnesota Historical Society · Northland Foundation · Wildey Mitchell Family Foundation · Ordean Foundation · Minnesota Power Foundation · Minnesota Humanities Center · The McKnight Foundation · Mightycause Charitable 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 The Depot Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Depot Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 22 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 Depot’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