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Think Small at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Think Small

To advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years.

$10M
Granted FY2025still arriving
135
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$2.5M
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.

Education$117MHuman Services$32MHousing & Shelter$649kReligion$349kYouth Development$171kHealth$102kArts & Culture$87kCommunity Improvement$69kOther$0
02FY2025 · 135 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 135 grants below total $8,729,155, the rows itemized in this filing. The $10,133,472 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,404,317 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k52 grants · $375k
  • $10k–50k63 grants · $1.4M
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $1.5M
  • $250k+8 grants · $5.4M
$14,139
Median grant
5
States reached
$8.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEW HORIZON CHILD CARE INC$2,505,427
KUEHG Corp$628,962
LAKESHORE LEARNING MATERIALS$549,861
COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIPS RAMSEY & WASHINGTON COUNTIES$417,109
LA CRECHE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS$396,328
YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES$334,298
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS$312,672
PHYLLIS WHEATLEY COMMUNITY CENTER$287,724
OLUS CENTER LLC$229,009
THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP$222,061
YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS$212,262
AGAPE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER$181,772
PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC$167,584
TUTOR TIME LEARNING CENTER LLC$97,444
PLYMOUTH ACADEMY$93,101
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, $24.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $222k → 6%THINK SMALL: $186k → 14%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $468k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $458k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $378k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $376k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAP: $373k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $369k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $276k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAP: $265k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $264k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $206k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $334k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $564k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $558k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $458k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $452k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $243k → 11%YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $172k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $517k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $473k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $465k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $409k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $376k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $359k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $350k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $349k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $277k → 11%BABYS SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $273k → 11%THE FAMILY PARTNERSHIP: $192k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $313k → 11%PHYLLIS WHEATLEY COMMUNITY CENTER: $288k → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $1.3M → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $1.2M → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $1.1M → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $738k → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $667k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $601k → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $471k → 11%PHYLLIS WHEATLEY COMMUNITY CENTER: $335k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $325k → 11%PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $292k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $292k → 11%PHYLLIS WHEATLEY COMMUNITY CENTER: $236k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF ST PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS: $231k → 11%AGAPE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $182k → 11%YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $212k → 11%YMCA OF THE GREATER TWIN CITIES: $457k → 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
IL
WI
OR
CA
MO
VA
MD
NC
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.
$146M · 338 repeat orgs$4.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

338 repeat relationships: 104 still active in FY2025, 234 since wound down; 30 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

338
237

Total granted

$146M
$4.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+22%

Still filing today

21%
8%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $279k 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 ServicesEducationHousing & ShelterHealthEmploymentYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • PI
    PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $5.9M · revenue +57%
  • CA
    Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties
    8× · 2017–2025 · $4.1M · revenue +67%
  • LE
    LACRECHE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $3.5M · revenue +34% · 44% of their budget

Funded once

  • BC
    BARAKA CHILD CARE CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $176k
  • SA
    STILLWATER AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2017 · $166k
  • VL
    VANHSY LOR
    one grant, 2017 · $142k
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
The U School

To offer a happy, healthy, and inspired early childhood learning environment that builds a positive sense of self in children and a connectedness to community.

—
2
Monarch Preschool Inc

Monarch Preschool offers a unique play-based learning experience for your child. Play-based, child-led education supports social and emotional development, strengthens language and numeracy skills, and inspires a life-long love of learning.

—
3
Good News Childrens Center Inc

Good news children's center provides quality childcare to southeast minnesota families, in a safe environment that promotes life-long learning through developmentally appropriate and active learning curriculum.

Human Services
4
Little Beginnings Child Development Ctr

Little Beginnings provides pre kindergarten and day care to children under 6 years of age. We believe that learning and playing are synonymous for the preschool age child. Young children learn best when they have an opportunity to practice…

—
5
River Ridge Learning Center Inc

Rrlc offers exceptional childcare and early childhood learning to children attending its eclp allowing parents to obtain and focus on employment and granting them the peace of mind that their children are being well cared for.

Education
6
Level Up Academy

By tapping the intrinsic motivation and curiosity of every child, we deliver higher than usual growth.

Education
7
Linda Vista Children's Center

We help children discover a way of dealing with life that is realistic, comfortable, and satisfying. Self-confidence is nurtured as children learn to rely on themselves and each other. The noncompetitive environment is one that allows each…

—
8
Little Sprouts Learning Center Inc Wersal

Little sprouts learning center is an educationally based child care facility located in sleepy eye, mn that strives to serve the child and family in a safe and nurturing environment.

Education
9
Dakota Montessori School

To nurture children to become lifelong learners and citizens of the world using the montessori method of education.

Education
10
Northpoint Cooperative Preschool

The general philosophy of Northpoint Cooperative Preschool is that we all learn together - adults and children alike. Guided by our qualified, caring, and endlessly imaginative teachers, co-op parents create an environment of learning and…

—
11
Saint Peter Community Childcare Center

Childcare services for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school age children

Human Services
12
Wild Lilac Child Development Community

Wild Lilac Dev Community offers high quality, inclusive, culturally competent, accessible early childhood education,comprehensive family support, and educational opportunities for child development educators, social service professionals…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Life Prep; the most unlike its peers is Happy Time Day Care Center. 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

104 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. 104 of the 606 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
25
Early backer (in before they grew)
93/104
Grantees still filing
71/104
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NEW HORIZON CHILD CARE INC: $44,222,646 · OtherNEW HORIZON CHILD CARE INCKUEHG CORP DBA KINDERCARE EDUCATION LLC: $11,490,707 · OtherKUEHG CORP DBA KINDERCARE EDUCATION LLCKINDERCARE LEARNING CENTERS LLC: $4,793,641 · OtherCommunity Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties: $4,129,148 · Other+149 more: $46,654,293 · Other+149 morePARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $5,908,809 · Human ServicesPARENTS IN COMMUNIT…YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $3,246,824 · Human ServicesYOUNG MENS CHRISTIA…YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $2,821,050 · Human ServicesYWCA OF MINNEAPOLISCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: $2,605,410 · Human ServicesCatholic Charities …BABY'S SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $2,564,019 · Human ServicesBABY'S SPACE A PLAC…The Family Partnership: $2,187,367 · Human ServicesThe Family Partners…Phyllis Wheatley Community Center Inc: $1,271,032 · Human Services+17 more: $3,845,167 · Human Services+17 moreANEW DIMENSION CHILD ENRICHMENT CENTER: $685,908 · EducationClose To My Heart: $594,576 · EducationMINNESOTA WILDFLOWER MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $574,581 · EducationEXCELL ACADEMY FOR HIGHER LEARNING INC: $518,657 · EducationCREEKSIDE MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $511,730 · EducationMONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $464,058 · EducationLake Area Discovery Center: $349,167 · EducationLITTLE VOYAGEURS' MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $159,435 · Education+9 more: $769,815 · EducationPEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE INC: $502,769 · Housing & ShelterJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $319,685 · Housing & ShelterHMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP: $240,165 · EmploymentST DAVID'S CENTER: $166,679 · Youth DevelopmentFamilyWise Services: $117,041 · HealthSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $110,764 · Crime & Legal
Other$111,290,435Human Services$24,449,678Education$4,627,927Housing & Shelter$822,454Employment$240,165Youth Development$166,679Health$117,041Crime & Legal$110,764

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%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $5,908,809 over 8y, 3.5% of budgetCommunity Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties: $4,129,148 over 8y, 2.6% of budgetLACRECHE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS INC: $3,543,295 over 9y, 44% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH: $3,246,824 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetYWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS: $2,821,050 over 9y, 2.8% of budgetCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: $2,605,410 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetBABY'S SPACE A PLACE TO GROW: $2,564,019 over 9y, 21% of budgetThe Family Partnership: $2,187,367 over 9y, 6.5% of budgetPhyllis Wheatley Community Center Inc: $1,271,032 over 9y, 13% of budgetANEW DIMENSION CHILD ENRICHMENT CENTER: $685,908 over 8y, 11% of budgetAMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION: $666,540 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetClose To My Heart: $594,576 over 8y, 11% of budgetMINNESOTA WILDFLOWER MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $574,581 over 7y, 10% of budgetEXCELL ACADEMY FOR HIGHER LEARNING INC: $518,657 over 8y, 2.2% of budgetCREEKSIDE MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $511,730 over 8y, 7.5% of budgetPEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE INC: $502,769 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetMONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $464,058 over 8y, 3.9% of budgetHALLIE Q BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $422,377 over 9y, 5.3% of budgetJOYCE PRESCHOOL: $402,442 over 7y, 19% of budgetAgape Child Development Center: $377,943 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetLake Area Discovery Center: $349,167 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetBLOOM EARLY LEARNING: $347,118 over 8y, 3.1% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $319,685 over 7y, 1.4% of budgetTHOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER: $250,568 over 7y, 2.3% of budgetWAY TO GROW: $248,784 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetHMONG AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP: $240,165 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetFRASER: $240,076 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetA CHANCE TO GROW: $232,634 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetCENTRO TYRONE GUZMAN: $223,323 over 7y, 8.9% of budgetThink Small: $214,483 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetPILLSBURY UNITED COMMUNITIES: $178,280 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION ASSOCIATION OF ST PAUL INC: $171,689 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetBright Water Montessori School: $170,302 over 2y, 14% of budgetCOMMUNITY CHILD CARE CENTER INC: $167,207 over 7y, 7.1% of budgetST DAVID'S CENTER: $166,679 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLITTLE VOYAGEURS' MONTESSORI SCHOOL INC: $159,435 over 7y, 17% of budgetLIFETRACK RESOURCES INC: $155,131 over 5y, 1.9% of budgetTINY TOTS AND LITTLE TYKES PRE-SCHOOL INC: $152,427 over 7y, 4.4% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $150,241 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetEARLY STEPS LEARNING FOUNDATION: $143,712 over 3y, 12% of budgetURBAN VENTURES LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $121,721 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFamilyWise Services: $117,041 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetURBAN ARTS ACADEMY: $115,380 over 2y, 12% of budgetPERSPECTIVES INC: $114,650 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetSOUTHSIDE FAMILY NURTURING CENTER: $110,764 over 2y, 5.9% of budgetCOMO EARLY LEARNING CENTER KATIE JOHNSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: $110,026 over 6y, 3.4% of budgetNORTHERN VOICES: $106,637 over 5y, 5.6% of budgetPRODEO ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL #4213: $102,630 over 3y, 0.5% 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 PARENTS IN COMMUNITY ACTION INC ↗
  • Who funds Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties ↗
  • Who funds LACRECHE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE NORTH ↗
  • Who funds YWCA OF MINNEAPOLIS ↗
  • Who funds Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ↗
  • Who funds BABY'S SPACE A PLACE TO GROW ↗
  • Who funds The Family Partnership ↗
  • Who funds Phyllis Wheatley Community Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds ANEW DIMENSION CHILD ENRICHMENT CENTER ↗
  • Who funds AMHERST H WILDER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Close To My Heart ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA WILDFLOWER MONTESSORI SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds EXCELL ACADEMY FOR HIGHER LEARNING INC ↗
  • Who funds CREEKSIDE MONTESSORI SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE 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.

First Children's Fina…Minnesota Child Care …Minnesota State High …The Sheltering Arms F…Greater Twin Cities U…The Sauer Family Foun…Catholic Schools Cent…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Medica FoundationMinnesota Community F…The Walser FoundationCatholic Community Fo…
First Children's FinanceMN112.4× affinity159 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: First Children's Finance · Minnesota Child Care Resource and Referral Network · Minnesota State High School League Foundation · The Sheltering Arms Foundation · Greater Twin Cities United Way · The Sauer Family Foundation · Catholic Schools Center of Excellence (Cscoe) · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Medica Foundation · Minnesota Community Foundation · The Walser Foundation · Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota

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 Think Small funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Think Small. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%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
    0get no government money at all
    36report 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 606 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 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 Think Small’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