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William Boss Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

William Boss Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$509k
Granted FY2025still arriving
68
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$1.6MHuman Services$233kHealth$110kEducation$81kYouth Development$67kEnvironment$59kAnimals$30kEmployment$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 68 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k48 grants · $276k
  • $10k–50k20 grants · $233k
$6,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$6.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MINNESOTA OPERA COMPANY$18,000
COMPAS INC$18,000
PARK SQUARE THEATRE COMPANY$15,000
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE$15,000
ORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS$12,500
SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA SOCIETY$12,500
FAMILY MEANS$12,000
KEYSTONE COMMUNITY SERVICES$10,000
THE LOFT LITERARY CENTER$10,000
LAKESHORE PLAYERS INC$10,000
THE HISTORY THEATRE INC$10,000
THE ARTS PARTNERSHIP$10,000
TEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA$10,000
CHILDREN'S THEATRE COMPANY$10,000
PEOPLE INCORPORATED$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:

Its human-services grants (FY21–25, $73k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 31% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%FAMILY MEANS: $12k → 6%FAMILY MEANS: $11k → 6%FAMILY MEANS: $10k → 6%FAMILY MEANS: $9k → 6%FAMILY MEANS: $9k → 6%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $8k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $8k → 14%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $8k → 14%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 70 repeat orgs$74k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +13% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

70 repeat relationships: 61 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

70
8

Total granted

$2.2M
$42k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
+9%

Still filing today

93%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $32k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesEnvironmentOther
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

  • KC
    Keystone Community Services
    5× · 2021–2025 · $100k · revenue +30%
  • CI
    COMPAS INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $84k · revenue +82%
  • TS
    THE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $50k · revenue +113%

Funded once

  • SS
    STEPPING STONE THEATER CO
    one grant, 2021 · $8k · revenue -148%
  • MC
    MINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
    one grant, 2021 · $8k · revenue +9%
  • MD
    MINNESOTA DANCE THEATRE
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Theater Mu Incorporated

Theater mu produces great performances born of arts, equity, and justice from the heart of the asian american experience.

Arts & Culture
2
Vocalessence

Vocalessence champions choral music of all genres, celebrating the vocal experience through innovative performances commissioning of new music, and engaging with diverse constituencies.

Arts & Culture
3
Arts Midwest Incorporated

Arts Midwest works collaboratively with private and public arts supporters to support, inform, and celebrate arts organizations and creative communities across the Midwest. Our mission is to build unprecedented opportunity across the…

Arts & Culture
4
Theater Latte Da

The mission of theater latte' da is to create new connections between story, music, artist and audience by exploring and expanding the art of musical theater.

Arts & Culture
5
Minnetonka Center for the Arts

In the belief that the visual arts are indispensable to a healthy community, it is the mission of the minnetonka center for the arts to provide teaching excellence, quality exhibitions, and cultural enrichment for people of all ages,…

Arts & Culture
6
Artaria

Artaria centers on string quartet performance and education in minnesota. it is committed to presenting inspiring performances, to mentoring string players of all ages, and to illuminate the world's great repertoire of chamber music to a…

Arts & Culture
7
Minneapolis Downtown Council

To create an extraordinary downtown minneapolis, applying the core values of leadership, collaboration, advocacy and innovation.

—
8
Minnesota Youth Symphonies

Minnesota youth symphonies (mys) enriches and inspires talented k-12 orchestral musicians by providing professional, comprehensive educational experiences, and thrills audiences with outstanding performances of orchestral repertoire.

—
9
Mixed Blood Theatre Company

Mixed Blood Theatre Company uses theater to disrupt injustice. We are a social justice organization catalyzing action and change through art. Our work is guided by deep community engagement and rooted in radical hospitality.

—
10
Stages

Stages makes plays and tells stories that invite everyone to live more deeply and love more boldly.

Arts & Culture
11
Rochester Art Center

Rochester art center offers the opportunity for all people to understand and value the arts through innovative experiences with contemporary art. through world-class exhibitions and programs, we present a welcoming, integrated, and diverse…

Arts & Culture
12
Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts Dba Lundstrum Performing Arts

Lundstrum's mission is to cultivate a love and knowledge of the performing arts so that young people will discover their unique gifts, develop their depth of character and imagine new possibilities for their lives, ensuring access to all…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Minnesota Orchestral Association; the most unlike its peers is Breannas Gift. 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

78 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. 78 of the 85 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
77/78
Grantees still filing
50/78
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMPAS INC: $84,000 · Arts & CultureCOMPAS INCThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society: $60,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureThe Minnesota Opera: $50,000 · Arts & CultureThe Arts Partnership: $50,000 · Arts & CultureORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $47,500 · Arts & CultureChildren's Theatre Company and School: $46,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LOFT INC: $44,500 · Arts & Culture+38 more: $828,500 · Arts & Culture+38 moreKeystone Community Services: $100,000 · OtherKeystone Community ServicesPARK SQUARE THEATRE: $75,000 · OtherPARK SQUARE THEATREGREATER TWIN CITIES YOUTH SYMPHONIES: $38,000 · OtherGREATER TWIN CITIES YOUTH SYMP…THE FRIENDS OF THE SAINT PAUL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $38,000 · OtherTHE FRIENDS OF THE SAINT PAUL …ONE VOICE MIXED CHORUS: $35,000 · OtherONE VOICE MIXED CHORUSTHE COWLES CENTER FOR DANCE: $30,000 · OtherTHOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER: $28,500 · OtherMIDWEST SPECIAL SERVICES INC: $27,500 · OtherBIG BROTHERS & BIG SISTERS OF TWIN CITIES: $27,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherPEOPLE INCORPORATED: $25,000 · OtherLANDMARK CENTER: $25,000 · OtherCOMO FRIENDS: $25,000 · OtherMERRICK INC: $25,000 · Other+10 more: $82,000 · Other+10 moreTEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $50,000 · EducationBolder Options: $25,000 · EducationMINNESOTA PRIVATE COLLEGE FUND: $20,000 · EducationWALLIN EDUCATION PARTNERS: $10,000 · EducationMINNEAPOLIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $7,500 · EducationHOPE ACADEMY INC: $5,000 · EducationNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $60,000 · Community ImprovementWOMENVENTURE: $25,000 · Community ImprovementFAMILYMEANS: $50,000 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $22,500 · Human ServicesST DAVID'S CENTER: $37,500 · Youth DevelopmentCIRCUS OF THE STAR: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentTICKETS FOR KIDS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EnvironmentTHE SAINT PAUL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $5,000 · Environment
Arts & Culture$1,260,500Other$606,000Education$117,500Community Improvement$85,000Human Services$72,500Youth Development$57,500Environment$35,000

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 budgetKeystone Community Services: $100,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCOMPAS INC: $84,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetPARK SQUARE THEATRE: $75,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetThe Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society: $60,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $60,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $50,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetThe Minnesota Opera: $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFAMILYMEANS: $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetThe Arts Partnership: $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA: $50,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $47,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Theatre Company and School: $46,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LOFT INC: $44,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE HISTORY THEATRE INC: $42,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetCANTUS: $42,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetGUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION: $41,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $40,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER TWIN CITIES YOUTH SYMPHONIES: $38,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE FRIENDS OF THE SAINT PAUL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $38,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSCHUBERT CLUB THE: $37,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetST DAVID'S CENTER: $37,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $36,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetONE VOICE MIXED CHORUS: $35,000 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetMinnesota Children's Museum: $35,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION: $32,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $30,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER: $28,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMIDWEST SPECIAL SERVICES INC: $27,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOMO FRIENDS: $25,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetWOMENVENTURE: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWALKER ART CENTER: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBolder Options: $25,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMERRICK INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPEOPLE INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PLAYWRIGHTS' CENTER INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMIDWAY CONTEMPORARY ART: $25,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMINNESOTA CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS: $25,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetEAST SIDE ARTS COUNCIL: $25,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetBACH SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $23,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA: $22,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRAMSEY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $22,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetTHE BAKKEN: $20,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMINNESOTA PRIVATE COLLEGE FUND: $20,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMERRILL ARTS CENTER: $20,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetMINNESOTA BOYCHOIR: $20,000 over 5y, 0.9% 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 Keystone Community Services ↗
  • Who funds COMPAS INC ↗
  • Who funds PARK SQUARE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society ↗
  • Who funds NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds THE ST PAUL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds The Minnesota Opera ↗
  • Who funds FAMILYMEANS ↗
  • Who funds The Arts Partnership ↗
  • Who funds TEXTILE CENTER OF MINNESOTA ↗
  • Who funds ORDWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds Children's Theatre Company and School ↗
  • Who funds THE LOFT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HISTORY THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds CANTUS ↗
  • Who funds GUTHRIE THEATER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC ↗
  • Who funds TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER TWIN CITIES YOUTH SYMPHONIES ↗
  • Who funds THE FRIENDS OF THE SAINT PAUL PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds SCHUBERT CLUB THE ↗
  • Who funds ST DAVID'S CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA ↗
  • Who funds ONE VOICE MIXED CHORUS ↗
  • Who funds Minnesota Children's Museum ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA ORCHESTRAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA LANDSCAPE ARBORETUM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THOMAS IRVINE DODGE NATURE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MIDWEST SPECIAL SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds COMO FRIENDS ↗
  • Who funds MINNEAPOLIS SOCIETY OF FINE ARTS DBA MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS ↗
  • Who funds WOMENVENTURE ↗
  • Who funds WALKER ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Bolder Options ↗
  • Who funds MERRICK INC ↗
  • Who funds PEOPLE INCORPORATED ↗

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.

Saint Paul & Minnesot…Hardenbergh FoundationFr Bigelow FoundationXcel Energy FoundationThe McKnight Foundati…Mightycause Charitabl…Target FoundationFred C and Katherine …The Minneapolis Found…Hrk FoundationThe Hubbard Broadcast…Hugh J Andersen Found…
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN69.5× affinity42 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Hardenbergh Foundation · Fr Bigelow Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Target Foundation · Fred C and Katherine B Andersen Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Hrk Foundation · The Hubbard Broadcasting Foundation · Hugh J Andersen 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 William Boss Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from William Boss Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%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
    39report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to William Boss Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to William Boss 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.

    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 85 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 William Boss’ 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