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Valley News Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Valley News 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.

$51k
Granted FY2025still arriving
43
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$7k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$96kHuman Services$57kPhilanthropy$49kArts & Culture$38kYouth Development$37kHealth$32kRecreation & Sports$23kHousing & Shelter$21kOther$0
02FY2025 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$700
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$7,000
Ronald McDonald House$4,800
Mankato Youth Place$4,500
Minnesota State University Foundation$3,000
Tee It Up For The Troops$2,700
B The Light Foundation (Breast Cancer)$2,694
Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota$2,500
Mankato Area United Way$2,500
Educare Foundation$1,500
Twin Rivers Council For The Arts$1,250
Kiwanis Holiday Lights$1,250
Feeding Our Communities Partners$1,000
Bethany Lutheran College & Seminary Inc$1,000
Junior Achievement$800
Best Christmas Ever$750
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, $41k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Wounded Warriors Project: $500 → 14%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Mankato Youth Place: $11k → 15%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Mankato Youth Place: $8k → 15%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Wounded Warriors Project: $250 → 14%Mankato Youth Place: $5k → 15%Mankato Family YMCA: $2k → 15%Mankato Family YMCA: $2k → 15%Mankato Family YMCA: $2k → 15%Mankato Youth Place: $1k → 15%Mankato Family YMCA: $1k → 15%Mankato Family YMCA: $1k → 15%Vine: $750 → 15%Vine: $750 → 15%Vine: $750 → 15%Mankato Youth Place: $750 → 15%Vine: $750 → 15%Vine: $750 → 15%Vine: $750 → 15%Vine: $500 → 15%Vine: $500 → 15%Vine: $500 → 15%Mankato Youth Place: $500 → 15%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
NY
CA
NE
DC
TX
FL
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.
$384k · 72 repeat orgs$22k to everyone else

72 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

72
15

Total granted

$384k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+167%

Still filing today

43%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k 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 ServicesHealthEducationRecreation & SportsYouth 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

  • MY
    MANKATO YOUTH PLACE INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $26k · revenue +146%
  • TI
    TEE IT UP FOR THE TROOPS INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $16k · revenue +104%
  • SC
    SOUTH CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $14k · revenue +66%

Funded once

  • OC
    ON COURSE FOUNDATION USAgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +167%
  • MA
    Mankato Area Rotary Assoc
    one grant, 2023 · $500
  • MO
    March of Dimes - MN Chapter
    one grant, 2017 · $500
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 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…

—
3
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
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 Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
6
Mn Community Measurement

Mn community measurement empowers stakeholders with meaningful information to drive improvement.

Health
7
Mill City Farmers Market Inc

Mission: to inspire and nurture a healthy community by building a local, sustainable, and organic food economy in a vibrant experiential marketplace.vision: to be a nationally recognized marketplace model that connects, educates, and…

—
8
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc

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

Philanthropy
9
Midwest Dairy Association

Midwest dairy works with others to give consumers an excellent dairy experience increasing sales, fostering innovation, and inspiring consumer confidence of dairy products and practices.

—
10
African Development Center

Grow businesses, build wealth and increase reinvestement in the african communities of minnesota

Human Services
11
Minnesota Land Trust

The minnesota land trust protects and restores minnesota's most vital natural lands in order to provide wildlife habitat, clean water, outdoor experiences and scenic beauty for generations to come.

Environment
12
Minnesota Valley Action Council Inc

Develop resources and opportunities which empower people and communities.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Committee Against Domestic Abuse Inc; the most unlike its peers is Lake Washington Fireworks Celebration. 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

38 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. 38 of the 96 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/38
Grantees still filing
27/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Minnesota State University Foundation: $51,570 · OtherMinnesota State University FoundationMankato Area United Way: $27,708 · OtherMankato Area United WaySOUTH CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $14,440 · OtherMinnesota State University: $14,150 · OtherMankato Area Foundation: $13,740 · OtherRonald McDonald House: $12,500 · OtherEDUCARE FOUNDATION INC: $11,800 · Other+68 more: $135,757 · Other+68 moreMANKATO YOUTH PLACE INC: $26,417 · Human ServicesMANKATO YOUT…ONE BRIGHT STAR: $6,600 · Human ServicesONE BRIGHT S…THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOC OF MANKATO INC: $6,500 · Human ServicesTHE YOUNG ME…VINE FAITH IN ACTION: $6,000 · Human ServicesVINE FAITH I…WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesTWIN RIVERS COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS: $17,500 · Arts & CultureTWIN RIVE…CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA: $11,105 · Arts & CultureCHILDRENS…BLUE EARTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 · Arts & CultureBLUE EART…MANKATO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $1,250 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureTEE IT UP FOR THE TROOPS INC: $16,107 · EducationBETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE INC: $10,500 · Education+1 more: $100 · EducationOPEN DOOR HEALTH CENTER: $5,750 · HealthHouse of Hope Inc: $4,500 · HealthAmerican Heart Association Inc: $1,650 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,500 · HealthPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $750 · HealthFeeding Our Communities Partners: $8,250 · Food & NutritionWACONIA UNITED FOOD SHELF: $400 · Food & NutritionCOMMITTEE AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE INC: $5,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$281,665Human Services$48,017Arts & Culture$35,855Education$26,707Health$14,150Food & Nutrition$8,650Crime & Legal$5,000

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 budgetMANKATO YOUTH PLACE INC: $26,417 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetTWIN RIVERS COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS: $17,500 over 9y, 3.5% of budgetTEE IT UP FOR THE TROOPS INC: $16,107 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTH CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $14,440 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetMankato Area Foundation: $13,740 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetEDUCARE FOUNDATION INC: $11,800 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetCHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA: $11,105 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetBETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE INC: $10,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding Our Communities Partners: $8,250 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetONE BRIGHT STAR: $6,600 over 8y, 2.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOC OF MANKATO INC: $6,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVINE FAITH IN ACTION: $6,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN DOOR HEALTH CENTER: $5,750 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMITTEE AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE INC: $5,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetBLUE EARTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetON COURSE FOUNDATION USA: $4,888 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPartners for Affordable Housing: $4,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHouse of Hope Inc: $4,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetEMERGENCY COMMUNITY HELP ORGANIZATION INC: $4,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMANKATO AREA HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $3,320 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetBLUE EARTH NICOLLET COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $3,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetKIWANIS HOLIDAY LIGHTS INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBEST CHRISTMAS EVER INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $1,650 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMANKATO AREA LACROSSE ASSOCIATION: $1,250 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetMANKATO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $1,250 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLAKE WASHINGTON FIREWORKS CELEBRATION: $1,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHE MANKATO CHILDRENS CHORUS: $1,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetBlueEarthCountyChptrMNPheasantsInc: $1,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLiving Earth Center: $500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGREATER MANKATO GROWTH INC: $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWACONIA UNITED FOOD SHELF: $400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMPLETELY KIDS: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA GROCERS EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.2% 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 MANKATO YOUTH PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds TWIN RIVERS COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds TEE IT UP FOR THE TROOPS INC ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH CENTRAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Mankato Area Foundation ↗
  • Who funds EDUCARE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF SOUTHERN MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds BETHANY LUTHERAN COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds Feeding Our Communities Partners ↗
  • Who funds ONE BRIGHT STAR ↗
  • Who funds THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOC OF MANKATO INC ↗
  • Who funds VINE FAITH IN ACTION ↗
  • Who funds OPEN DOOR HEALTH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds COMMITTEE AGAINST DOMESTIC ABUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds BLUE EARTH COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds ON COURSE FOUNDATION USA ↗
  • Who funds Partners for Affordable Housing ↗
  • Who funds House of Hope Inc ↗
  • Who funds EMERGENCY COMMUNITY HELP ORGANIZATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MANKATO AREA HOCKEY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds BLUE EARTH NICOLLET COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY 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.

Mankato Area Foundati…Glen a Taylor Foundat…Mayo Clinic Group Ret…L & N Andreas Foundat…Jones Page Jacobson F…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Otto Bremer TrustXcel Energy FoundationThe Olseth FoundationWynn and Ginnette Kea…Prairie Lakes Regiona…The Taylor Foundation
Mankato Area FoundationMN49.1× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mankato Area Foundation · Glen a Taylor Foundation · Mayo Clinic Group Return · L & N Andreas Foundation · Jones Page Jacobson Family Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Olseth Foundation · Wynn and Ginnette Kearney Foundation · Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council · The Taylor 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 Valley News Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Valley News Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 96 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 Valley News’ 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