Minnesota · Nonprofit
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY (Minnesota) receives grants from 112 organizations whose IRS filings report $289,265,320 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($51,183,833). 77 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $42M
- Funders on record
- 112
- Grants received
- $289M
- Net assets
- $64M
What Borealis Philanthropy does
Mission
Borealis Philanthropy directs resources to people building powerful, thriving communities that serve all of us, with those most impacted by injustice leading the way. We invest in leaders, organizations, and movements using diverse and innovative strategies to pursue transformational change, and we work with donors to support movements in ways they may not be able to do on their own. Through our work with both funders and grantee partners, we aim to shift power and invest in communities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The black-led movement fund supports the movement for black lives (m4bl) and other politically aligned organizations to better shape policy agendas for black communities, create alternatives to institutions that have been harmful to black people, and build local black community power. 2023 highlights:$6.7m in general operating support grants$1.5m in rapid response grants61 grantee partners
$8,951,554 spentof which $8,237,500 as grants23% of program spendingThe communities transforming policing fund is dedicated to supporting small and emerging grassroots organizing groups led by people most impacted by policing to create collective narrative and energy to shift power and resources from police to communities to create safety for all.2023 highlights:$5.3m in grants85 grantee partners
$6,433,868 spentof which $5,358,500 as grants17% of program spendingThe racial equity in journalism fund invests in news organizations led by and for people of color. The fund bolsters a strong, diverse, and independent media sector that increases civic engagement for communities of color by reaching them with vital, relevant information.2023 highlights:$4.8m in grants58 grantee partners
$5,851,715 spentof which $4,871,271 as grants15% of program spendingThe disability inclusion fund supports u.s. Groups run by and for people with disabilities to lead transformational change. The fund is supported by the presidents' council on disability inclusion, which committed $20 million over the next five years to support disability inclusion as part of improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within philanthropy.
$5,465,531 spentof which $4,680,000 as grants14% of program spendingThe spark justice fund resources grassroots organizing groups that are ending money bail and unjust pretrial detention policies. Grantees' longer-term goals are to significantly reduce jail populations, decriminalize poverty, and reduce disparities for low-income communities of color, including for women of color and other marginalized people.
$3,139,777 spentof which $2,365,000 as grants8% of program spendingThe emerging lgbtq leaders of color fund* supports the role that young trans and queer leaders play to support pro-lgbtq, racial justice movements in becoming more connected, inclusive, and thus more powerful. The fund invests in leaders and organizations who understand that the issues like community safety, reproductive justice, immigrant rights, and others do not exist in isolation from each other, and who approach liberation work from a place of inclusion. These leaders envision and implement organizing strategies that address how these issues intersect.*formerly the transforming movements fund
$2,946,250 spentof which $2,431,290 as grants8% of program spendingThe racial equity to accelerate change fund is expanding the capacity of racial equity consultants to work with nonprofit organizations. The fund invests in practitioners to develop and scale tools and strategies for the benefit of the nonprofit sector.
$2,299,157 spentof which $1,975,706 as grants6% of program spendingThe fund for trans generations invests in trans-led organizing to support a future where transgender, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary people live with freedom, safety, and self-determination.
$2,019,134 spentof which $1,265,000 as grants5% of program spendingThe racial equity in philanthropy fund invests in philanthropy- serving organizations to inform, educate, and equip funders to integrate racial equity policies and practices into their grantmaking and programs. The fund seeks to normalize grantmaking strategies that prioritize structural change, with the ultimate aim of ending racial disparities.
$308,714 spent1% of program spendingMovement support services and other general program activities.
$1,532,317 spentof which $1,638,650 as grants4% of program spending
The 10 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $38,948,017.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 2020 to 2021, from $47M to $93M (+99%).
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.
97% of BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Board chair
Jennifer Ching
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 50 funders, grant income rose $7.3M → $36M.
25 of 112 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 112 funders by total. 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
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 32% · 2019 34% · 2020 14% · 2021 42% · 2022 17% · 2023 17% — diversifying over time.
“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.
How long its funders stay
49% of BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 20 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $68M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 states 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
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY: 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 BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY?
- BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY (Minnesota) receives grants from 112 organizations whose IRS filings report $289,265,320 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($51,183,833). 77 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY have?
- IRS filings report 112 organizations giving $289,265,320 in grants to BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY, 77 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY?
- THE FORD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $51,183,833 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 112 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing