Minnesota · Nonprofit
CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA
CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA (Minnesota) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $156,093 to it, the largest being SAINT PAUL & MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ($50,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $182k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $156k
- Net assets
- $91k
What Clean Elections Minnesota does
Mission
Clean Elections Minnesota is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that seeks an inclusive and healthy democracy for our state. We educate and advocate for expanded voter access, transparency, and reforms that limit the power of wealthy donors and special interests in our political process.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Outreach and communications: in 2023 Clean Elections Minnesota contracted with a strategic planning consultant, engaged democracy stakeholders, surveyed supporters and the board, held a retreat, and in april approved its first five-year strategic plan. It includes our statement of values, dei statement, goals, indicators and strategies. Our four goals are: increased transparency and limited impact of money in politics, fair and easy access to voting, informed and engaged electorate, and building cem's capacity to contribute toward achieving these goals.cem wrote weekly news updates that provided information on the latest developments in democracy news in minnesota and nationally, actions supporters can take and links articles for those who want to take a deeper dive. Every two months the board writes a newsletter. We have a 40-50% open rate. We post five days a week on social media platforms. Volunteers wrote articles or letters to the editor on campaign finance bills and the democracy for the people act that were published in the minnesota reformer and the star tribune. Our work was highlighted in the session daily, the star tribune, the duluth news tribune, and the walker pilot…
$34,449 spent71% of program spendingEducation forums: in 2023, Clean Elections Minnesota hosted three virtual educational forums that were very well attended by minnesotans.one was information about the national popular vote presented by the national leader of national popular vote, patrick rosenstiel. National popular vote is a proposed measure that would guarantee the president is elected by the candidate who received the most popular votes in all 50 states. This initiative is being debated in states around the country, including in minnesota. The virtual forum was attended by over 100 people.we hosted a discussion about the implementation of the restore the vote legislation with secretary of state steve simon and state senator bobby joe champion, one of the authors of the law. They discussed the new law and the importance of its implementation. It was cohosted by 14 organizations, all committed to helping get the word out about the new law to those impacted by it, and was attended by over 100 individuals. It served as the first major discussion about implantation of the bill among organizations interested in conveying the impact of the law to formerly incarcerated individuals.we also hosted an education forum…
$9,520 spent20% of program spendingLegislation and policy: Clean Elections Minnesota was part of a coalition of organizations that passed historic democracy legislation in 2023. We tracked campaign finance, election laws and laws that expanded or protected the right to vote. We testified 30 times with volunteers and staff this session. The bills:-made elections more inclusive by increasing the number of people who are eligible to vote, making it easier to register without compromising security, making voting more accessible.-closed dark money loopholes and reduced dependence on wealthy corporations.-paved the way to structural changes in the conduct of minnesota elections.-protected voters and election officials.defending the ban on foreign spending on elections by foreign corporations: Clean Elections Minnesota asked for court permission to join the legal battle to defend minnesota's recently passed ban on political spending by foreign influenced corporations. The minnesota chamber of commerce has sued to nullify the law.cem is working on the case with a national organization, free speech for people.
$4,501 spent9% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $48,470.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $78k to $91k (+17%).
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.
100% of CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (99% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Mary Hartnett
Executive director
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $25k → $30k.
3 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% 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 CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA’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
CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
84% 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 CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 68% — 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.
Where its funders are
73% of CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $42k that is directly attributable, 60% of it comes from Minnesota funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $114k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA has grown faster than three-quarters of the 1,798 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,798 civil rights nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA
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.
Public support
85%
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 CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA: 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 CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA?
- CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA (Minnesota) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $156,093 to it, the largest being SAINT PAUL & MINNESOTA FOUNDATION ($50,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $156,093 in grants to CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA?
- SAINT PAUL & MINNESOTA FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $50,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CLEAN ELECTIONS MINNESOTA 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.
Play a game about who funds Clean Elections Minnesota →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 5 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