Minnesota · Nonprofit
FAMILIES RISING
FAMILIES RISING (Minnesota) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,360,970 to it, the largest being DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION ($833,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.1M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What Families Rising does
Mission
To amplify the voices of those with lived experience, support adoptive, foster, and kinship families, educate child welfare professionals, and champion the well-being of children and families. Whether you are seeking guidance or working to drive change, we are here to walk alongside you in your adoption, foster care, and kinship care journey.we are driven by a deep commitment to ensuring every child in foster care has the opportunity to grow up in a loving family. We believe in the power of family, the importance of identity, and the role of supportive communities in creating lasting change. We prioritize keeping children connected to their families whenever possible and support adoption when reunification is not an option. We are equally committed to helping children develop a strong sense of cultural and personal identity, including affirming lgbtq children and families, while building community and advocating for policies that strengthen and sustain families.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2025 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Due to new federal administration priorities announced on december 8, 2025, cwel's funding was discontinued, resulting in staff layoffs and the cessation of all program activities.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
See schedule o.Families Rising minnesota -Families Rising minnesota continued to provide steady, relationship-based support to adoptive, foster, and kinship caregivers across the state in 2025. This year marked a period of both growth and stabilization, as we strengthened our staffing structure, expanded regional reach, and deepened the consistency of our programming. With the addition of two new team members serving northern and southern minnesota, we increased our ability to connect with families across geographic regions and respond more directly to local needs. This expansion allowed us to offer more in-person opportunities while maintaining strong virtual access points for caregivers statewide.throughout the year, Families Rising minnesota facilitated a mix of in-person and virtual support groups, including general caregiver groups, kinship-focused spaces, and transracial families support groups with a youth component. These groups remained a cornerstone of our work, providing caregivers with both practical strategies and meaningful connections. Caregivers consistently shared reflections such as, "I am not alone, and "met peers who are experiencing similar challenges,"…
$831,801 spent11% of program spendingSee schedule o.center for workforce excellence and leadership -in 2025, the center for workforce excellence & leadership (cwel), operated by Families Rising, advanced a comprehensive, multi-state approach to addressing the national child welfare workforce crisis through strategies focused on recruitment, retention, leadership development, and workforce well-being. Key initiatives included the clinical bridge, which developed pathways to clinical licensure and produced tools, workgroups, and evaluation frameworks to strengthen retention; and coachup, which delivered structured coaching and supervision support to agency leaders, resulting in high satisfaction and reported improvements in supervisory skills, staff engagement, and retention practices. Cwel also implemented riseup, a leadership development fellowship supporting organizational change projects, and launched the culture keepers fellowship, successfully recruiting and preparing a cohort of tribal child welfare leaders. Across all strategies, cwel emphasized culturally responsive, evidence-informed approaches and strong partnerships with state agencies, tribal nations, and national stakeholders.additionally, cwel…
$6,323,955 spentof which $3,605,745 as grants83% of program spendingSee schedule o.public education training and conference -in 2025, Families Rising continued to strengthen and expand its national training program, delivering approximately 28 training and coaching engagements across a diverse range of partners, including state agencies, universities, and child welfare organizations. These engagements included both virtual and in-person formats, as well as multi-session coaching and conference presentations, reflecting sustained demand for our expertise in caregiver support, workforce development, and child welfare practice.in addition to earned revenue, Families Rising secured a $41,625 grant from the o'shaughnessy foundation, which provided critical financial support to strengthen and expand training capacity. This funding contributed to key infrastructure investments and positioned the organization for future growth.a significant accomplishment in 2025 was the purchase and implementation of a learning management system (lms), marking a strategic shift toward scalable, technology-enabled training delivery. This investment enhances the organization's ability to offer on-demand learning, expand its national reach, and build a more sustainable and…
$340,931 spent$202,524 earned by the program4% of program spendingPublic policy and advocacy - the organization also provided letters of support for state advocates pursuing legislation to grant adoptees access to their original birth certificates. As a committed partner in voice for adoptiona coalition of national adoption organizationsFamilies Rising continues to educate and lobby congressional members on critical permanency issues affecting children and youth. In minnesota specifically, the organization advocated for enhanced support systems for children who achieve permanency before their 6th birthday. We were involved with efforts with other advocates to broaden the reach of the federal adoption tax credit. We helped the national indian child welfare association in explaining the unique and different ways that tribal nations will determine special needs for the children they are placing for adoption. We worked with other members of the adoption tax credit working group to help ensure that the new partial refundability of $5,000 per child will apply to adoptions finalized between 2020-2024. We participated in frequent calls with a broad coalition of national non-profit organizations watching for direct impacts to child welfare funding.…
$108,536 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,605,223.
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 2017 to 2018, from $387k to $1.0M (+166%).
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: 2017 21% · 2018 26% · 2019 24% · 2020 33% · 2021 36% · 2022 41% · 2023 50% · 2024 91% · 2025 94%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of FAMILIES RISING’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 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
Ligia Cushman
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $123k → $82k.
2 of 13 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 FAMILIES RISING’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 12 of 13 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
FAMILIES RISING leans on a few funders — its largest provides 61% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
63% 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 FAMILIES RISING.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 93% · 2018 56% · 2019 55% · 2020 53% · 2021 70% · 2022 92% · 2023 98% — 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
33% of FAMILIES RISING's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
FAMILIES RISING draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $12k 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
FAMILIES RISING has grown faster than three-quarters of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding FAMILIES RISING receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15.0M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$15.0M
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 FAMILIES RISING
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
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 17 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FAMILIES RISING: 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 FAMILIES RISING?
- FAMILIES RISING (Minnesota) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,360,970 to it, the largest being DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION ($833,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FAMILIES RISING have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,360,970 in grants to FAMILIES RISING, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FAMILIES RISING?
- DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION is the largest funder on record, with $833,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FAMILIES RISING 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 13 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