Minnesota · Nonprofit
FairVote Minnesota
FairVote Minnesota (Minnesota) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,926,000 to it, the largest being Article IV ($1,190,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $831k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $23k
What FairVote Minnesota does
Mission
Organizes and advocates for local and state policy change to improve voting methods in public elections.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Legislative Advocacy 2023 was a year of meaningful progress and strategic groundwork at the legislative level. While our ultimate goal-statewide ranked choice voting (RCV)-remains ahead, we celebrated several key milestones. A legislative study was approved that included exploring statewide RCV. We also laid the foundation for the RCV Local Options bill, which will be a top priority in the upcoming session. This bill would empower more Minnesota communities to adopt RCV, advancing our vision of a more representative democracy. Public engagement was strong, with hundreds of volunteers attending committee hearings and contacting legislators in support of RCV. Our legislative efforts received notable media coverage, including a featured article in Politico on April 13, 2023. Electoral Program FairVote Minnesota participated in the special election for House District 52B, awarding our "Democracy Badge" to candidates who publicly supported RCV. The seat was ultimately won by RCV supporter Bianca Virnig. Minnetonka Repeal Defense A major highlight of 2023 was the successful defense of RCV in Minnetonka. Despite a well-funded repeal campaign, local organizers, volunteers, and community…
$1,025,003 spentof which $60 as grants78% of program spendingPublic Outreach and Engagement Events To raise awareness and build legislative momentum, we hosted six "Rank Your Brew" events with legislative co-sponsors across the Twin Cities metro and in Greater Minnesota (Mankato and Rochester), engaging over 150 participants. We also convened a roundtable with prominent Minnesota business leaders, resulting in a public letter of support for RCV legislation signed by several CEOs. Digital Engagement Our social media presence continued to grow across platforms. In 2023: Twitter (X) posts earned nearly 750,000 impressions, Facebook activity reached nearly 218,000 users, Instagram, a newer platform for us, reached over 115,000 users Fundraising We launched several online fundraising campaigns, hosted a successful summer event with RCV legislative champions, and held a donor briefing during the legislative session to update supporters on our progress. ________________________________________ C3 - Education and Outreach Community Education Events FairVote Minnesota educated voters and public officials about RCV at numerous community events, including the Minnehaha Art Fair, Minnesota State Fair, League of Minnesota Cities Annual Conference, Twin…
$285,330 spent22% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,310,333.
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 2021 to 2022, from $7k to $581k (+8441%).
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 FairVote 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. 2 of the last 7 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
Jeanne Massey
Executive Director
Board chair
Maureen Reed
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income rose $11k → $690k.
1 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 FairVote 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
FairVote Minnesota leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 FairVote Minnesota.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 75% · 2019 50% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 98% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
25% of FairVote Minnesota's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
FairVote Minnesota draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23k 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
FairVote Minnesota runs a healthier operating margin than half 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 FairVote 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.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- FairVote Minnesota Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FairVote 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 FairVote Minnesota?
- FairVote Minnesota (Minnesota) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,926,000 to it, the largest being Article IV ($1,190,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FairVote Minnesota have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $1,926,000 in grants to FairVote Minnesota, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FairVote Minnesota?
- Article IV is the largest funder on record, with $1,190,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FairVote 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.
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 8 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