Minnesota · Private foundation
Wenger Foundation
Its FY2023 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $284k
- Granted FY2022
- 19
- Grants FY2022
- 19
- Organizations funded FY2022
- 11%
- First-time grantees FY2022
Read this first · the figures below need context
99% of Wenger Foundation’s FY2023 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2023 names 3 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year Wenger Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 15 organizations, $284k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2022
- $10,000
- Largest grant, FY2022
- $35,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 19 to 37
- FY2018 to FY2022
- States reached, FY2022
- 4
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2022, 11% of the organizations Wenger Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 9% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2022, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2022 | 19 | $284k | 11% |
| FY2021 | 33 | $678k | 12% |
| FY2020 | 30 | $383k | 10% |
| FY2019 | 34 | $543k | 15% |
| FY2018 | 37 | $565k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2023.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2023, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bestprep | $165,000 | 5 | 2% |
| Owatonna Arts Center Foundation | $137,000 | 6 | 72% |
| Minnesota Private College Fund | $132,000 | 5 | 2% |
| The Minnesota Opera | $125,000 | 5 | 0% |
| Children's Theatre Company and School | $105,000 | 5 | 0% |
| The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society | $100,000 | 5 | 1% |
| Owatonna Foundation Inc | $100,000 | 1 | 6% |
| Vocalessence | $100,000 | 5 | 2% |
| Owatonna Area Chamber Foundation | $100,000 | 2 | 19% |
| Harry Wenger Marching Band Festival Inc | $96,000 | 4 | n/a |
Show all 41 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 11 recipients with no EIN on record ($350k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Wenger Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 36 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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 McKnight Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Anna M Heilmaier Charitable Fdn · William Boss Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Target Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · The Elizabeth C Quinlan Foundation · Ea Michelson Philanthropy Co Family Philanthropy Advisors · Hardenbergh Foundation · Fred C and Katherine B Andersen Foundation
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Wenger Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Wenger 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.
About Wenger Foundation
- How much does Wenger Foundation give?
- Wenger Foundation reported 19 grants totaling $284,000 in its FY2022 IRS filing. It funded between 19 and 37 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2022.
- What does Wenger Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2023, its largest causes are Philanthropy (83%), Arts & Culture (9%), Education (4%).
- Who are Wenger Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2023: Bestprep ($165k), Owatonna Arts Center Foundation ($137k), Minnesota Private College Fund ($132k).
- Does Wenger Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2022, 11% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Wenger Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Wenger Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The McKnight Foundation, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Anna M Heilmaier Charitable Fdn.
- Where is Wenger Foundation based?
- Wenger Foundation is based in MN.
Play a game based on Wenger’s filings →