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Wilson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wilson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.0M
Granted FY2023
11
Grants FY2023
2
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

67% of Wilson Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to National Philanthropic Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 13 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Wilson Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $2M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

3
’22
9
’23
13
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Philanthropy$7.4MEnvironment$2.4MHousing & Shelter$2.2MEducation$1.2MEmployment$681kHuman Services$71kCommunity Improvement$36k
02FY2023 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $500k
  • $250k+6 grants · $1.5M
$250,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$88M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC$250,000
BEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE$250,000
GREAT PLAINS INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INC$250,000
CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT$250,000
YOUTHPRISE$250,000
FRESH ENERGY$250,000
HIRED$200,000
MINNESOTA HOMEOWNERSHIP CENTER$150,000
SUMMIT ACADEMY OIC$150,000
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST JP MORGAN CHARITABLE GIFT FUND - WILSON DAF$40,000
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST JP MORGAN CHARITABLE GIFT FUND - WILSON DAF$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 (FY22–24, $952k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING: $400k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $250k → 11%PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $250k → 11%AVIVO: $52k → 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.
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.5M · 8 repeat orgs$988k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2023, 0 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
11

Total granted

$5.5M
$988k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
0%

Still filing today

100%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $788k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EducationCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesEnvironmentEmploymentHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • GP
    GREAT PLAINS INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $900k · revenue +61%
  • Y
    Youthprise
    3× · 2022–2024 · $900k · revenue +11%
  • PF
    PROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $900k · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • TC
    TWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
    one grant, 2024 · $250k · revenue -26%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $150k
  • MH
    MINNESOTA HOME OWNERSHIP CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $150k · revenue +26%
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 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…

—
2
Minnesota Housing Partnership

Minnesota housing partnership (mhp) expands housing and community development opportunity by leading collaborative work to promote systems change and grow develoopment capacity.

—
3
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…

—
4
Minnesota Chamber Foundation

The organization's mission is to bring stakeholders together to promote prosperity and long-term growth of minnesota's economy.

Public Benefit
5
African Development Center

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

Human Services
6
St Paul Transportation Management Organization

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…

Environment
7
Minnesota Council on Foundations

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

—
8
Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce

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

—
9
Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services Inc

Strengthen central mn communities through leadership in workforce excellence.

—
10
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
11
Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership

The mission of the greater msp partnership is to accelerate regional competitiveness and inclusive economic growth through job creation, capital investment and execution of strategic initiatives. the partnership works to strengthen our…

Community Improvement
12
Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota

The citizens utility board (cub) of minnesota champions affordable, reliable, safe, and clean home energy for all minnesotans.

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hired; the most unlike its peers is Fresh Energy. 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

16 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. 16 of the 21 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
9/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $7,330,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTGREAT PLAINS INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INC: $900,000 · Community ImprovementGREAT PLAINS…BEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE: $650,000 · Community ImprovementBEACON INTER…+1 more: $36,000 · Community ImprovementFRESH ENERGY: $650,000 · EnvironmentFRESH ENER…CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT: $650,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR…Youthprise: $900,000 · EducationYouthpriseSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $310,000 · EducationSUMMIT ACA…+1 more: $39,000 · EducationPROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $900,000 · Human ServicesAVIVO: $52,000 · Human ServicesTWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $250,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $150,000 · OtherECOLIBRIUM3 - DULUTH: $100,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY ACTION DULUTH INC: $71,000 · OtherMN COUNCIL ON FOUNDATIONS: $50,000 · OtherNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST JP MORGAN CHARITABLE GIFT FUND - WILSON DAF: $50,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $36,000 · OtherHIRED: $566,000 · EmploymentSOUTHEAST MINNESOTA PRIVATE INDUSTRY COUNCIL INC: $40,000 · EmploymentMINNESOTA HOME OWNERSHIP CENTER: $150,000 · Housing & Shelter
Philanthropy$7,330,000Community Improvement$1,586,000Environment$1,300,000Education$1,249,000Human Services$952,000Other$707,000Employment$606,000Housing & Shelter$150,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $7,330,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREAT PLAINS INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INC: $900,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetYouthprise: $900,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetPROJECT FOR PRIDE IN LIVING INC: $900,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetBEACON INTERFAITH HOUSING COLLABORATIVE: $650,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetFRESH ENERGY: $650,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetCENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT: $650,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetHIRED: $566,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetSUMMIT ACADEMY OIC: $310,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTWIN CITIES HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $250,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMINNESOTA HOME OWNERSHIP CENTER: $150,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION DULUTH INC: $71,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetAVIVO: $52,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHEAST MINNESOTA PRIVATE INDUSTRY COUNCIL INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMINNESOTA TRAINING PARTNERSHIP INC: $39,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetINITIATIVE FOUNDATION: $36,000 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.

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…The Minneapolis Found…The McKnight Foundati…Otto Bremer TrustXcel Energy FoundationTarget FoundationThrivent Financial fo…Fr Bigelow FoundationThe K FoundationPohlad Family Foundat…Margaret a Cargill Fo…United States Energy …
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN22.8× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · Xcel Energy Foundation · Target Foundation · Thrivent Financial for Lutherans · Fr Bigelow Foundation · The K Foundation · Pohlad Family Foundation · Margaret a Cargill Foundation · United States Energy 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 Wilson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wilson 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%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 Wilson Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Wilson 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 21 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Wilson’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