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· Private foundation

The Head 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.

$827k
Granted FY2025still arriving
99
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it funds
0198% 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$1.6MEducation$1.1MHuman Services$518kHealth$399kPhilanthropy$176kEnvironment$129kHousing & Shelter$113kCrime & Legal$83kOther$0
02FY2025 · 99 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k80 grants · $207k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $200k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $170k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$2,500
Median grant
9
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA$250,000
KENYON COLLEGE$70,000
THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP$50,000
THE REDEMPTION PROJECT$50,000
THE REDEMPTION PROJECT$30,000
MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO$25,000
MINNESOTA CHILDREN'S PRESS (ANNE BRATAAS PROJECT)$15,000
MCAD (MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN)$15,000
HEARD MUSEUM$15,000
TWIN CITIES PBS$10,000
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART$10,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES$10,000
GUILD$10,000
BRECK SCHOOL$10,000
THE PRINCIPIA$10,000
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 (FY17–25, $331k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 75% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%HOMEWARD BOUND: $2k → 5%THE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $50k → 8%THE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $30k → 8%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $40k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $8k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $5k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $5k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $5k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $4k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $4k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $4k → 11%GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $3k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $50k → 11%UJAMAA PLACE: $3k → 14%UJAMAA PLACE: $3k → 14%UJAMAA PLACE: $3k → 14%UJAMAA PLACE: $3k → 14%UJAMAA PLACE: $3k → 14%UJAMAA PLACE: $2k → 14%UJAMAA PLACE: $2k → 14%THINK SMALL: $3k → 14%THINK SMALL: $3k → 14%THINK SMALL: $3k → 14%ICA FOOD SHELF: $5k → 11%ICA FOOD SHELF: $5k → 11%ICA FOOD SHELF: $5k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $2k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $2k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $2k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING (PPL): $5k → 11%FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING (PPL): $3k → 11%FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $3k → 11%FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING (PPL): $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING (PPL): $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING (PPL): $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $3k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $3k → 11%THINK SMALL: $3k → 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

NH
MN
IL
NY
MA
OH
CT
RI
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
KS
DC
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.
$4.4M · 167 repeat orgs$250k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

167 repeat relationships: 85 still active in FY2025, 82 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

167
39

Total granted

$4.4M
$145k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+3%

Still filing today

55%
23%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationHealthEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • KENYON COLLEGE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $441k · revenue +23%
  • MS
    MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS
    8× · 2017–2025 · $315k · revenue +65%
  • MP
    MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $205k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • AN
    ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2018 · $50k
  • TY
    THE YMCA OF THE NORTH
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
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
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…

—
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
Minneapolis Downtown Council

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

—
6
Arts Midwest Incorporated

Arts Midwest works collaboratively with private and public arts supporters to support, inform, and celebrate arts organizations and creative communities across the Midwest. Our mission is to build unprecedented opportunity across the…

Arts & Culture
7
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
8
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
9
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
10
Minnesota Fringe Festival

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

Arts & Culture
11
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits informs, promotes, connects and strengthens individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.

Philanthropy
12
The Bakken

The bakken museum inspires a passion for innovation by exploring the potential for science, technology, and the humanities to make the world a better place.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Health Care Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Ernest C Oberholtzer 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

112 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. 112 of the 215 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
104/112
Grantees still filing
77/112
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $125,000 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIESSALVATION ARMY: $98,500 · OtherSALVATION ARMYDIAPER BANK: $96,400 · OtherDIAPER BANKABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $80,000 · OtherMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $66,000 · Other+126 more: $1,328,880 · Other+126 moreMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $315,000 · Arts & CultureMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DB…MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $276,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATIONMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $205,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUB…GRAYWOLF PRESS: $165,500 · Arts & CultureGRAYWOLF PRESSTHE HEARD MUSEUM: $62,500 · Arts & CultureWALKER ART CENTER: $60,550 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $60,000 · Arts & Culture+25 more: $326,050 · Arts & Culture+25 moreKENYON COLLEGE: $441,179 · EducationKENYON COLLEGEThe Principia Corporation: $105,000 · EducationThe Principia Corp…MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $91,000 · EducationMINNEAPOLIS COLLEG…Breck School: $86,000 · EducationBreck SchoolTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $28,625 · Education+5 more: $12,500 · EducationTHE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $80,000 · Human ServicesGRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $77,250 · Human ServicesThe Family Partnership: $59,000 · Human ServicesPROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $28,000 · Human ServicesTHE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $21,000 · Human ServicesUJAMAA PLACE: $17,500 · Human ServicesINTERCONGREGATION COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATION INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesThink Small: $12,500 · Human Services+4 more: $20,500 · Human ServicesGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $70,000 · PhilanthropyMICROGRANTS: $48,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $3,900 · PhilanthropyMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $75,637 · EnvironmentDESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $10,200 · EnvironmentLake Minnetonka Association: $8,750 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY: $6,000 · Environment+1 more: $1,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $23,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $22,500 · HealthVAIL PLACE: $17,500 · HealthWashburn Center for Children: $12,500 · HealthCHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION: $7,500 · HealthCaringBridge: $4,500 · Health+1 more: $3,000 · Health
Other$1,794,780Arts & Culture$1,470,600Education$764,304Human Services$330,750Philanthropy$121,900Environment$101,587Health$90,500

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%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $441,179 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $315,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $276,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $205,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetGRAYWOLF PRESS: $165,500 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetThe Principia Corporation: $105,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $91,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBreck School: $86,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $80,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE REDEMPTION PROJECT: $80,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetGRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL: $77,250 over 9y, 5.5% of budgetMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $75,637 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY: $70,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $66,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HEARD MUSEUM: $62,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWALKER ART CENTER: $60,550 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $60,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetThe Family Partnership: $59,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetMICROGRANTS: $48,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetGuild: $46,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $42,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL: $32,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER INC: $31,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetCenter of the American Experiment: $30,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $28,625 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $28,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WOMAN'S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $23,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $22,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMINNETONKA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $21,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetACHIEVE TWIN CITIES: $21,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $21,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $17,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMinnesota Children's Museum: $17,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetUJAMAA PLACE: $17,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetVAIL PLACE: $17,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $15,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetINTERCONGREGATION COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATION INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Lift Garage: $14,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY: $14,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPHOENIX ART MUSEUM: $14,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LOPPET FOUNDATION INC: $14,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Architecture Foundation: $14,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAnimal Humane Society: $13,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $13,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetThe Richard H Driehaus Museum: $13,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWashburn Center for Children: $12,500 over 5y, 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 KENYON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds GRAYWOLF PRESS ↗
  • Who funds The Principia Corporation ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds Breck School ↗
  • Who funds ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE REDEMPTION PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds GRACE NEIGHBORHOOD NURSERY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GREATER TWIN CITIES UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HEARD MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds WALKER ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds The Family Partnership ↗
  • Who funds MICROGRANTS ↗
  • Who funds Guild ↗
  • Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds THE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Center of the American Experiment ↗
  • Who funds THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO ↗

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 FoundationMN62.4× affinity42 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 Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · Minnesota Community Foundation · Target Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · The Phileona 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 Head Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Head Family 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    33report 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 The Head Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Head Family 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 215 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

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