· Private foundation
Wem Foundation
Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2023.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2023
- Under $10k14 grants · $56k
- $10k–50k13 grants · $265k
- $50k–250k22 grants · $2.7M
- $250k+86 grants · $356M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION | $75,165,000 |
| MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART | $25,050,000 |
| THE LEARNING ALLIANCE | $20,000,000 |
| WILLIAMS COLLEGE | $15,000,000 |
| RIVERSIDE THEATRE | $10,050,000 |
| VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART | $10,030,000 |
| ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION | $10,000,000 |
| MINNEAPOLIS PARKS FOUNDATION | $10,000,000 |
| GUTHRIE THEATER | $8,225,000 |
| PROJECT SUCCESS | $7,100,000 |
| NORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE | $6,250,000 |
| NATURE CONSERVANCY | $6,100,000 |
| GROVES ACADEMY | $5,255,000 |
| CRISTO REY JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL | $5,150,000 |
| MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY | $5,100,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY20–23, $20.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
124 repeat relationships: 94 still active in FY2023, 30 since wound down; 37 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $48M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION4× · 2020–2023 · $75M · revenue +22%- DCDUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY4× · 2020–2023 · $31M · revenue +42% · 47% of their budget
- MSMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS4× · 2020–2023 · $27M · revenue +73% · 39% of their budget
Funded once
- YUYALE UNIVERSITYone grant, 2020 · $13M
- MSMontana State University Foundation Incgraduatedone grant, 2022 · $10M · revenue +114%
- MOMUSEUM OF THE ROCKIES - MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITYone grant, 2022 · $6.5M
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.
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.
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…
To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.
MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.
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…
Move minnesota leads the movement for an equitable and sustainable transportation system that puts people first. we are passionate about connecting communities, ending the climate crisis, expanding access to jobs and resources, and…
Mity's mission is to inspire and challenge intellectually curious students to pursue their passions within a diverse, inclusive community and empower them by building skills and relationships for lifelong success.
Creating powerful advocacy to enhance economic vitality in the minneapolis-st. paul region.
Mn community measurement empowers stakeholders with meaningful information to drive improvement.
Led by minnesota state university students, we are the inclusive voice for all future, current, and former students. we actively work to represent and support minnesota state university students and advocate at a campus, state, and federal…
United way of northeastern minnesota invests in nonprofits, programs, and collaborations that equip and empower, creating opportunities for people to thrive in our communities.
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…
Breakthrough Twin Cities supports students on their journey to college by fostering a community of mutual learning with the next generation of educators so they both can collaborate, grow, and thrive.
How this is measured
153 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. 153 of the 209 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
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
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 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ↗
- Who funds DUNWOODY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
- Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
- Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
- Who funds MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds THE LEARNING ALLIANCE INC ↗
- Who funds ABBOTT NORTHWESTERN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SECOND HARVEST HEARTLAND ↗
- Who funds VERO BEACH MUSEUM OF ART INC ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds RIVERSIDE THEATRE INC ↗
- Who funds Minneapolis Parks Foundation ↗
- Who funds Montana State University Foundation Inc ↗
- Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT NORTH ↗
- Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds GREAT MN SCHOOLS ↗
- Who funds PROJECT SUCCESS ↗
- Who funds HOPE ACADEMY INC ↗
- Who funds NORTHSIDE ACHIEVEMENT ZONE ↗
- Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
- Who funds GROVES ACADEMY ↗
- Who funds WAY TO GROW ↗
- Who funds MCKEE BOTANICAL GARDEN INC ↗
- Who funds URBAN VENTURES LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SUMMIT ACADEMY OIC ↗
- Who funds PRODEO ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL #4213 ↗
- Who funds MACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC ↗
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.
Open a dossier: The Minneapolis Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · The Walser Foundation · Joyful Noise Charitable Foundation · Mortenson Family Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The Sauer Family Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Ch Robinson Worldwide Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · Ciresi Walburn Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Wem Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wem Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Wild Salmon Center: 49% of income from government
- National History Day Inc: 13% of income from government
- Yale University: 12% of income from government
- United Way of Indian River County Inc: 1% of income from government
- Yale New Haven Hospital: 0% of income from government
- Indian River Land Trust Inc: 0% of income from government
- The Learning Alliance Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Wem Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Wem 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.
Play a game based on Wem’s filings →