Skip to content
Foundation Dossiers

Minnesota · Private foundation

The Helgeson 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.

$186k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
29
Grants FY2025
31
Organizations funded FY2024
10%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$5,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$15,000
Organizations funded a year
23 to 31
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
1
Total assets, FY2025
$2.4M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 10% of the organizations The Helgeson Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 1% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentAnimalsHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterOther
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
FY2025still arriving29$186k0%
FY202431$136k10%
FY202330$146k17%
FY202224$160k4%
FY202123$142k4%
FY202025$142k8%
FY201926$140k23%
FY201825$134k48%
96% 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$640kEnvironment$393kRecreation & Sports$84kHealth$62kYouth Development$34kEducation$22kFood & Nutrition$20kAnimals$13kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Climate Generation$121,50092%
The Cedar Cultural Center Inc$109,00091%
The Loppet Foundation Inc$83,50090%
Voyageur Outward Bound School$76,50070%
Brownbody$73,500616%
Wilderness Inquiry Inc$59,00090%
American Composers Forum$48,00091%
Penumbra Theatre Company Inc$47,00060%
Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center$43,00040%
Center for Irish Music$42,00082%
Show all 35 grantees
All grantees of The Helgeson Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Climate Generation$121,50092%
The Cedar Cultural Center Inc$109,00091%
The Loppet Foundation Inc$83,50090%
Voyageur Outward Bound School$76,50070%
Brownbody$73,500616%
Wilderness Inquiry Inc$59,00090%
American Composers Forum$48,00091%
Penumbra Theatre Company Inc$47,00060%
Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center$43,00040%
Center for Irish Music$42,00082%
Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop$42,00082%
Minnesota Mens Conference$36,800627%
Truartspeaks$36,00084%
Ernest C Oberholtzer Foundation$35,50076%
Paramount Center for the Arts$28,50090%
Spark Youth$25,50080%
The M2 Foundation$25,000227%
Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Inc$24,50084%
Hopewell Music Cooperative-North$24,50081%
Jazz Central Studios$21,50092%
Youth Farm and Market Project$20,00080%
Articulture$17,50084%
Walker West Music Academy$12,50040%
Indigenous Roots$10,50030%
In Progress$10,00031%
Minnesota Public Radio American Public Media$5,00010%
Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir$4,00026%
Great River Greening$4,00030%
Commusication$4,00031%
American Indian Community Housing Organization$3,50030%
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy$3,00010%
Conservation Minnesota$2,50010%
Cook County Community Radio$1,00010%
Sierra Club Foundation$50020%
Free Arts Minnesota$5001n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 13 recipients with no EIN on record ($209k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The Helgeson Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 34 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetClimate Generation: $121,500 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetThe Cedar Cultural Center Inc: $109,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetThe Loppet Foundation Inc: $83,500 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetVoyageur Outward Bound School: $76,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetBrownbody: $73,500 over 6y, 16% of budgetWilderness Inquiry Inc: $59,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Composers Forum: $48,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetPenumbra Theatre Company Inc: $47,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetWolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center: $43,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCenter for Irish Music: $42,000 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetMinnesota Prison Writing Workshop: $42,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetMinnesota Mens Conference: $36,800 over 6y, 27% of budgetTruartspeaks: $36,000 over 8y, 4.1% of budgetErnest C Oberholtzer Foundation: $35,500 over 7y, 6.3% of budgetParamount Center for the Arts: $28,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetSpark Youth: $25,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetThe M2 Foundation: $25,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetFriends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Inc: $24,500 over 8y, 4.5% of budgetHopewell Music Cooperative-North: $24,500 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetJazz Central Studios: $21,500 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetYouth Farm and Market Project: $20,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetArticulture: $17,500 over 8y, 4.1% of budgetWalker West Music Academy: $12,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetIndigenous Roots: $10,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetIn Progress: $10,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetMinnesota Public Radio American Public Media: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTwin Cities Community Gospel Choir: $4,000 over 2y, 5.7% of budgetGreat River Greening: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCommusication: $4,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Indian Community Housing Organization: $3,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMinnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetConservation Minnesota: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCook County Community Radio: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSierra Club Foundation: $500 over 2y, 0.0% 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 34.

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 Minneapolis Found…Saint Paul & Minnesot…The McKnight Foundati…Mightycause Charitabl…Fr Bigelow FoundationXcel Energy FoundationMarbrook FoundationMinnesota Humanities …Propel NonprofitsElmer L & Eleanor J A…Patrick and Aimee But…Hrk Foundation
The Minneapolis FoundationMN44.5× affinity23 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 · The McKnight Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Marbrook Foundation · Minnesota Humanities Center · Propel Nonprofits · Elmer L & Eleanor J Andersen Foundation · Patrick and Aimee Butler Family · Hrk 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 Helgeson Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Helgeson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Helgeson 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 Helgeson Foundation

How much does The Helgeson Foundation give?
The Helgeson Foundation reported 29 grants totaling $186,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 23 and 31 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does The Helgeson Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (49%), Environment (30%), Recreation & Sports (6%).
Who are The Helgeson Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Climate Generation ($122k), The Cedar Cultural Center Inc ($109k), The Loppet Foundation Inc ($84k).
Does The Helgeson Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 10% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Helgeson Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as The Helgeson Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Minneapolis Foundation, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, The McKnight Foundation.
Where is The Helgeson Foundation based?
The Helgeson 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 48 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 Helgeson’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