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The Luther Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Luther Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$966k
Granted FY2025still arriving
37
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$2.2MHuman Services$1.1MFood & Nutrition$830kReligion$301kHousing & Shelter$298kEducation$250kRecreation & Sports$236kPhilanthropy$116kOther$0
02FY2025 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $62k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $329k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $325k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAYO CLINIC$250,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES$150,000
MINNEAPOLIS UNITED SOCCER FOR THE CITY$65,000
HUDSON HOCKEY ASSOCIATION$60,000
MINNESOTA ADULT & TEEN CHALLENGE$50,000
METRO HOPE MINISTRIES$40,000
FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN$30,000
THE FOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC$25,000
THE GRAHAM RAHAL FOUNDATION$23,588
GUILD INC$20,000
LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA$20,000
THE LIFT GARAGE$15,000
CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION$15,000
UNION GOSPEL MISSION$15,000
GLOBESERVE INTERNATIONAL$15,000
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, $538k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%American Red Cross: $25k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%ALEXANDRA HOUSE: $10k → 7%ALEXANDRA HOUSE: $10k → 7%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $20k → 14%SENIOR COMMUNITY SERVICE: $5k → 11%COATED IN LOVE: $10k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INC: $10k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INC: $10k → 11%BLAISDELL YMCA: $50k → 11%BLAISDELL YMCA: $40k → 11%BLAISDELL YMCA: $40k → 11%BLAISDELL YMCA: $30k → 11%BLAISDELL YMCA: $30k → 11%Blaisdell YMCA: $25k → 11%YMCA OF THE NORTH: $20k → 11%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES: $20k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES: $20k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES: $20k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES: $20k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES: $20k → 11%COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICES: $15k → 11%OPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $10k → 11%Community Emergency Services: $10k → 11%RELATE COUNSELING CENTER: $10k → 11%RELATE COUNSELING CENTER: $10k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $5k → 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

MN
WI
MI
NY
MA
IN
OH
CO
AZ
SC
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.1M · 59 repeat orgs$438k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

59 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

59
38

Total granted

$5.1M
$316k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+17%

Still filing today

66%
32%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $122k 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
Human ServicesHealthEducationInternationalYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • FG
    FOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $375k · revenue +21%
  • FM
    FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $350k · revenue +83%
  • MT
    Minnesota Teen Challenge Inc
    7× · 2017–2025 · $163k · revenue +94%

Funded once

  • AN
    Abbott Northwestern Foundation
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • MH
    Minneapolis Heart Institute
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
  • RI
    Rein in Sarcoma Foundation
    one grant, 2017 · $25k
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
Mercy House Minneapolis
Human Services
2
Ronald Mcdonald House Southeastern Mn & Western Wi

Ronald mcdonald house southeastern mn and western wi mission is to provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare.

—
3
Touchstone Mental Health

Touchstone mental health provides innovative, person-centered services that foster hope, health and well-being. we envision a world where all people whose lives are affected by mental illness will flourish with effective treatment, quality…

Human Services
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
Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless

Since 1986, open your heart to the hungry and homeless has worked to ensureevery minnesotan is free from hunger and homelessness. by partnering with organizations serving those in need, we grow donor engagement and raise awareness to…

—
6
Minnesota Medical Association

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

—
7
Missions Inc Programs

See Schedule O.Established in 1895, Missions Inc. Programs is a multi-service non-profit organization with a long history of providing services to those who are most in need, each year offering thousands of people, whose lives have been…

—
8
Children's Health Care

We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.

Health
9
United Way of Ne Minnesota

United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.

—
10
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
11
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
12
Avivo

Avivo increases well-being through recovery and career advancement while working to end homelessness.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Feed My Starving Children Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hmong American 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

69 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. 69 of the 113 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
65/69
Grantees still filing
44/69
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $619,940 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIESSALVATION ARMY: $185,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYIndividual grant recipient: $168,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC: $155,000 · OtherTHE GRAHAM RAHAL FOUNDATION: $151,336 · OtherCEAP: $135,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $130,000 · OtherThe Lift Garage: $110,000 · Other+68 more: $1,338,550 · Other+68 moreMAYO CLINIC: $1,485,610 · HealthMAYO CLINICMinnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $163,000 · HealthMinnesota Teen Challenge IncTREEHOUSE INC: $145,000 · HealthTREEHOUSE INC+9 more: $149,540 · Health+9 moreYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $235,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICE INC: $125,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $65,000 · Human ServicesRelate Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesALEXANDRA HOUSE INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $20,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INC: $20,000 · Human Services+5 more: $33,000 · Human ServicesFOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE: $375,000 · Food & NutritionEVERY MEAL: $150,000 · Food & NutritionFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $350,000 · InternationalCOMMON HOPE: $69,240 · International+2 more: $14,900 · InternationalHUDSON HOCKEY ASSOCIATION INC: $180,000 · Recreation & SportsMINNEAPOLIS UNITED SOCCER FOR THE CITY: $128,000 · Recreation & SportsTRUE FRIENDS: $70,000 · Recreation & SportsAVENUES FOR YOUTH: $123,000 · Youth DevelopmentYOUNG LIFE: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentMinneapolis Recreation Development Inc Love One Another: $20,065 · Youth DevelopmentThe Cookie Cart: $10,000 · Youth Development
Other$2,992,826Health$1,943,150Human Services$538,000Food & Nutrition$525,000International$434,140Recreation & Sports$378,000Youth Development$193,065

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 budgetMAYO CLINIC: $1,485,610 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE: $375,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $350,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $235,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHUDSON HOCKEY ASSOCIATION INC: $180,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetMinnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $163,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC: $155,000 over 8y, 3.8% of budgetEVERY MEAL: $150,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetTREEHOUSE INC: $145,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS UNITED SOCCER FOR THE CITY: $128,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICE INC: $125,000 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetAVENUES FOR YOUTH: $123,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetThe Lift Garage: $110,000 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetPACER CENTER INC: $90,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetMETRO HOPE MINISTRIES INC: $90,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetTRUE FRIENDS: $70,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMON HOPE: $69,240 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $65,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetN C LITTLE MEMORIAL HOSPICE INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetSIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHOUSE OF CHARITY: $60,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGuild: $50,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GRAHAM RAHAL FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetWITHALL: $30,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetGLOBESERVE INTERNATIONAL: $30,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetCOURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCROSS (CHRISTIANS REACHING OUT IN SOCIAL SERVICES): $25,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBridging Inc: $24,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMinneapolis Recreation Development Inc Love One Another: $20,065 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetRelate Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetALEXANDRA HOUSE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA ZOO FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMINNESOTA ASSISTANCE COUNCIL FOR VETERANS: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPARK NICOLLET FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWAUKESHA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $13,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBLUEBIRDS AND BLOOMS INC: $12,500 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetBUILDING WITHOUT BORDERS: $12,100 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetSPARE KEY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMAGNUS VETERANS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetThe Cookie Cart: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetOPEN ARMS OF MINNESOTA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOATED IN LOVE: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% 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 MAYO CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD GROUP MINNESOTA INC THE ↗
  • Who funds FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH ↗
  • Who funds HUDSON HOCKEY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Minnesota Teen Challenge Inc ↗
  • Who funds UNION GOSPEL MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds EVERY MEAL ↗
  • Who funds TREEHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS UNITED SOCCER FOR THE CITY ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY EMERGENCY SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds AVENUES FOR YOUTH ↗
  • Who funds The Lift Garage ↗
  • Who funds PACER CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds METRO HOPE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds TRUE FRIENDS ↗
  • Who funds COMMON HOPE ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds N C LITTLE MEMORIAL HOSPICE INC ↗
  • Who funds SIMPSON HOUSING SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds HOUSE OF CHARITY ↗
  • Who funds ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Guild ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds THE GRAHAM RAHAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WITHALL ↗
  • Who funds GLOBESERVE INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds COURAGE KENNY FOUNDATION ↗

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…The Richard M Schulze…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Otto Bremer TrustMightycause Charitabl…Edina Realty Foundati…Pohlad Family Foundat…Margaret a Cargill Fo…Xcel Energy FoundationGreater Twin Cities U…Ch Robinson Worldwide…The Jamf Nation Globa…
The Minneapolis FoundationMN41.4× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Edina Realty Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · The Jamf Nation Global 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 Luther Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Luther Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Als Therapy Development Foundation Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of 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
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 113 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 Luther 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