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Minnesota · Nonprofit

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY (Minnesota) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $508,429 to it, the largest being OTTO BREMER TRUST ($225,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$748k
Funders on record
12
Grants received
$508k
Net assets
$133k
5/12 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 27%
01What it does

What Connections Ministry does

Mission

Walking with individuals and families experiencing homelessness by extending a radical welcome that provides dignity, shelter, and community.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Connections shelter - low barrier shelter that operates from approx. October 1 to may 1. We have 48 beds and serve men, women and families. Guests apply for shelter via our website, go through an intake process and are given a bed for 30 days, along with an assigned navigator to assist with overcoming barriers to housing. We are open from 5pm to 8am, and we also provide a hot dinner each night, showers, hygiene items, clothing, etc. 2-3 paid staff are in the shelter during all operating hours.

    $317,835 spent
    61% of program spending
  2. General programs - expenses that apply to both programs, special events, administrative costs, etc.

    $171,022 spentof which $16 as grants
    33% of program spending
  3. Drop-in center - the drop-in center houses our executive offices, as well as serves as a place for guests to access basic needs and resources during the day. Guests can also meet with their assigned navigators during the day to help with housing and other resources.

    $21,735 spent
    4% of program spending
  4. Other programs: assistance and shelter church

    $8,326 spentof which $8,066 as grants
    2% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $518,918.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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.

100 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($130k) Expenses 100 ($81k) Net assets 100 ($100k)2020 Revenue 188 ($244k) Expenses 210 ($171k) Net assets 174 ($174k)2021 Revenue 192 ($249k) Expenses 374 ($304k) Net assets 119 ($120k)2022 Revenue 257 ($334k) Expenses 443 ($360k) Net assets 93 ($93k)2023 Revenue 394 ($512k) Expenses 594 ($484k) Net assets 121 ($121k)2024 Revenue 434 ($564k) Expenses 755 ($615k) Net assets 70 ($71k)2025 Revenue 576 ($748k) Expenses 842 ($685k) Net assets 133 ($133k)
2019202020212022202320242025
Revenue (576)Expenses (842)Net assets (133)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $103k to $185k (+80%).

$103k
$185k
$128k
$102k
$140k
$75k
$139k
2019202020212022202320242025
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 2% · 2023 11% · 2024 37% · 2025 28%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

101% of CONNECTIONS MINISTRY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (37% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 8,334 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$48k
’19
$74k
’20
−$55k
’21
−$26k
’22
$28k
’23
−$51k
’24
$63k
’25
2.1
months of
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

Jennifer Echevarria

Executive director

Board chair

Nancy Patterson

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

202020212022202320242025
Listed6109788
Joined·+5+2+3+3+2
No longer listed·13522
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $1k → $139k.

6 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 CONNECTIONS MINISTRY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 11 of 12 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

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

36% 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 CONNECTIONS MINISTRY.

44%
largest funder
88%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 85% · 2021 66% · 2022 72% · 2023 50% — 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

80% of CONNECTIONS MINISTRY's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 42% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

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

96% of CONNECTIONS MINISTRY's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.

MN
MO
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Minnesota out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $154k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

CONNECTIONS MINISTRY has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,980 housing & shelter nonprofits its size.

Operating margin8% · above the median
Months of reserve2.1mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)34% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,980 housing & shelter nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like CONNECTIONS MINISTRY

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

76% of spending goes to programs.

Program 76%Management 13%Fundraising 11%

Governance

7
board members
100%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

81%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MN

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CONNECTIONS MINISTRY: 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.

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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 CONNECTIONS MINISTRY?
CONNECTIONS MINISTRY (Minnesota) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $508,429 to it, the largest being OTTO BREMER TRUST ($225,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CONNECTIONS MINISTRY have?
IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $508,429 in grants to CONNECTIONS MINISTRY, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CONNECTIONS MINISTRY?
OTTO BREMER TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $225,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CONNECTIONS MINISTRY 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 2019–2025), and the filings of 12 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