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The West Fork Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The West Fork 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.

$200k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$65k
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.

Youth Development$735kEnvironment$140kFood & Nutrition$30kInternational$25kArts & Culture$20kRecreation & Sports$20kHousing & Shelter$10kReligion$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $85k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $115k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROJECT SUCCESS$65,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$50,000
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE$25,000
SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND$20,000
SAVE THE BOUNDARY WATERS$20,000
CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH$10,000
MINNEAPOLIS PARKS FOUNDATION$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 5% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%SAVE THE BOUNDARY WATERS: $20k → 8%MINNEAPOLIS PARKS FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE: $25k → 14%MATRIX HUMAN SERVICES: $5k → 21%NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS: $20k → 8%MINNEAPOLIS PARKS FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%WALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $20k → 14%MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $600 → 11%CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH: $10k → 11%ST STEPHEN'S HUMAN SERVICE: $10k → 11%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $50k → 11%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $50k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $115k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $115k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $115k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $65k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $65k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $65k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $65k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $65k → 11%PROJECT SUCCESS: $65k → 11%GROVELAND FOOD SHELF: $10k → 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.
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$895k · 4 repeat orgs$100k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +130% since the first grant, against +47% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
4

Total granted

$895k
$45k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+130%
+47%

Still filing today

75%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k 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
Food & NutritionEducationEnvironmentRecreation & SportsReligionOther
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

  • PS
    PROJECT SUCCESS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $735k · revenue +130%
  • NM
    NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS
    2× · 2024–2025 · $40k · revenue +198%
  • MP
    Minneapolis Parks Foundation
    2× · 2024–2025 · $20k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • WW
    WALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue 0%
  • AH
    AGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +56%
  • GE
    GROVELAND EMERGENCY FOOD SHELF INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -10%
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
Environmental Initiative

Catalyze collaboration across perspectives, power, and systems for social equity and environmental health.

Environment
2
Achieve Twin Cities

As one of the upper midwest's leading career and college readiness organizations, achieve twin cities rallies community support and delivers best-in-class programs to inspire and equip young people in minneapolis and saint paul, minnesota…

Youth Development
3
Leadership Matters Mn

Leadership matters mn is focused on advancing a policy agenda that places working minnesotans first. we support economic growth, job creation and equitable tax and education policies that will allow every minnesotan to thrive.

Education
4
The Great Northern Winter Festival

The great northern celebrates our cold, creative winters through ten days of diverse programming that invigorate mind and body. in an era of changing climate that threatens our signature season, we seek to create community, inspire action,…

Arts & Culture
5
Youthlink

To be a community in which all youth, without regard to their living situation, have an equal opportunity to pursue and achieve their goals and dreams. the agency does this by supporting, resourcing, and empowering young people on their…

Human Services
6
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
7
Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors Foundation Inc
—
8
Minnesota Environmental Partnership

The minnesota environmental partnership is a coalition that strengthens member effectiveness and builds collective power to secure a healthy environment for all minnesotans.

Environment
9
Women's Foundation of Minnesota

Women's Foundation of Minnesota is a statewide community foundation investing in ending systemic inequities and driving innovation for gender and racial justice. WFM applies an Intersectional Equity Framework inclusive of gender, race,…

Philanthropy
10
Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services Inc

Strengthen central mn communities through leadership in workforce excellence.

—
11
Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance

The minnesota community health worker alliance builds community and systems capacity for better health through the integration of community health worker (chw) strategies. our vision is equitable and optimal outcomes for all communities.…

Health
12
Fondy Food Center Inc

He fondy food center connects greater milwaukee to local, fresh food- from farm to market to table - so that children learn better, adults live healthier, and communities celebrate cultural food traditions.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Minneapolis Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Project Success. 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

9 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. 9 of the 12 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
6/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PROJECT SUCCESS: $735,000 · EducationPROJECT SUCCESSTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $100,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERV…INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE: $25,000 · OtherINTERNATIONAL INST…WALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $20,000 · OtherWALKER WEST MUSIC …CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH: $10,000 · OtherCENTRAL LUTHERAN C…+1 more: $5,000 · OtherNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS: $40,000 · EnvironmentSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $20,000 · Food & NutritionGROVELAND EMERGENCY FOOD SHELF INC: $10,000 · Food & NutritionMinneapolis Parks Foundation: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $10,000 · ReligionTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $600 · Philanthropy
Education$735,000Other$160,000Environment$40,000Food & Nutrition$30,000Recreation & Sports$20,000Religion$10,000Philanthropy$600

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPROJECT SUCCESS: $735,000 over 9y, 3.9% of budgetNORTHEASTERN MINNESOTANS FOR WILDERNESS: $40,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMinneapolis Parks Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAGATE HOUSING & SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGROVELAND EMERGENCY FOOD SHELF INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMATRIX HUMAN SERVICES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $600 over 1y, 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.

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.

Mightycause Charitabl…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Mightycause Charitable FoundationFL12.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mightycause Charitable Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 West Fork Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The West Fork 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 12 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 West Fork’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