Minnesota · Nonprofit
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (Minnesota) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,200 to it, the largest being CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION ($28,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.5M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $55k
- Net assets
- $6.4M
What Agricultural Utilization Research Institute does
Mission
Accelerate the expansion of the agricultural economy by empowering expanded uses and markets of agriculturally derived products.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
During the reporting period, the organization did not introduce new program services or discontinue existing ones. The descriptions of program services were expanded to more fully describe the scope and impact of activities that were already in place.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Commercialization Services Program:The Commercialization Services Program provides technical assistance and research and development support to businesses utilizing Minnesota agricultural products to develop and commercialize value-added products and technologies. Services include staff expertise, laboratory and pilot plant resources, and cost-shared research funding when specialized capabilities beyond AURI's internal resources are needed. The program also provides support to entrepreneurs through assistance in pursuing grant funding and access to AURI laboratory facilities. These services help businesses advance innovative ideas, improve product development, and bring new agricultural products and technologies to the marketplace.
$1,298,458 spentof which $4,700 as grants$171,369 earned by the program33% of program spendingResearch Projects:The Research Projects program supports a limited number of internal research and development initiatives designed to develop technical knowledge, processes, and intellectual property that benefit Minnesota's agricultural industry. Through these projects, AURI staff explore early-stage concepts and innovations that may increase utilization of Minnesota agricultural commodities or improve industry practices. When technologies developed through these efforts demonstrate commercial potential, AURI may transfer or license the technology to third-party entities for commercialization, which can generate additional industry opportunities and support AURI's long-term financial sustainability.
$38,651 spent1% of program spendingInitiatives Program:The Initiatives Program supports collaborative partnerships, applied research, and technology transfer efforts that add value to Minnesota agricultural products or improve efficiencies in agricultural processing. Initiatives may originate internally or be identified by stakeholders, industry partners, or researchers and often address broader industry challenges or opportunities. The results of these initiatives are publicly disseminated through research publications, outreach, and industry engagement activities. These efforts connect businesses, commodity groups, academic institutions, and other stakeholders to advance innovation and strengthen Minnesota's value-added agricultural economy.
$2,599,632 spent$216,690 earned by the program66% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,936,741.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $6.7M to $8.9M (+33%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2018 90% · 2019 88% · 2020 79% · 2021 95% · 2022 87% · 2023 79% · 2024 86% · 2025 82%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of Agricultural Utilization Research Institute’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (94% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Shannon Schlecht
Executive Director
Board chair
Federico Tripodi
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $10k → $28k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Agricultural Utilization Research Institute’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Agricultural Utilization Research Institute.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2022 100% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 2 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 605 food & nutrition nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 605 food & nutrition nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Agricultural Utilization Research Institute receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.1M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$3.1M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Agricultural Utilization Research Institute: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Agricultural Utilization Research Institute?
- Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (Minnesota) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,200 to it, the largest being CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION ($28,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Agricultural Utilization Research Institute have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $55,200 in grants to Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Agricultural Utilization Research Institute?
- CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $28,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Agricultural Utilization Research Institute find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing