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Minnesota · Nonprofit

METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION

METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,237,507 to it, the largest being The Carter Family Foundation ($2,230,214). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.9M
Funders on record
42
Grants received
$5.2M
Net assets
$13M
20/42 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 69%
01What it does

What Metropolitan State University Foundation does

Mission

To generate public and private support and awareness for metropolitan state university.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. To provide support to the various university academic programs and special initiatives, enabling the further strengthening of these programs. Significant programs developed and assisted were the urban education program, the library program and the travelers program.

    $405,896 spentof which $405,896 as grants
    34% of program spending
  2. To provide support to students with financial need through the foundation's privately funded scholarship program. Approximately 500 scholarships were awarded this year

    $680,808 spentof which $680,808 as grants
    57% of program spending
  3. The alumni association is to generate maximum public awareness for the university, to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of alumni and faculty, inspire prospective students to attend the university, collaborate with the university in its effort to build relationships with alumni and constituency, and help students foster a lifelong relationship with the university.

    $83,283 spent
    7% of program spending
  4. To provide support to operate the foundation including fundraising support and discretionary funds to assist the university in meeting obligations.

    $22,905 spent
    2% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,192,892.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($2.9M) Expenses 100 ($848k) Net assets 100 ($6.9M)2018 Revenue 53 ($1.5M) Expenses 104 ($881k) Net assets 114 ($7.9M)2019 Revenue 27 ($777k) Expenses 161 ($1.4M) Net assets 109 ($7.5M)2020 Revenue 56 ($1.6M) Expenses 92 ($783k) Net assets 120 ($8.3M)2021 Revenue 46 ($1.3M) Expenses 80 ($675k) Net assets 155 ($11M)2022 Revenue 68 ($2.0M) Expenses 125 ($1.1M) Net assets 148 ($10M)2023 Revenue 52 ($1.5M) Expenses 130 ($1.1M) Net assets 162 ($11M)2024 Revenue 46 ($1.3M) Expenses 158 ($1.3M) Net assets 174 ($12M)2025 Revenue 65 ($1.9M) Expenses 176 ($1.5M) Net assets 193 ($13M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (65)Expenses (176)Net assets (193)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 2020 to 2021, from $8.3M to $11M (+29%).

$7.0M
$8.0M
$7.7M
$8.3M
$11M
$10M
$11M
$12M
$13M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

70% of METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 12,360 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$2.0M
’17
$664k
’18
−$588k
’19
$847k
’20
$651k
’21
$910k
’22
$383k
’23
−$5k
’24
$376k
’25
2.9
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.

Board chair

Jeanette Augustson

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed201717181818171614
Joined·+2+3+3+4+2+1+2+3
No longer listed·53242235
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 14 funders, grant income fell $667k → $616k.

8 of 42 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 42 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

METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 56%; half comes from just 3 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

33% 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 METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION.

43%
largest funder
56%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 58% · 2019 59% · 2020 28% · 2021 55% · 2022 36% · 2023 44% — 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

40% of METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y

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

94% of METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.

MN
WI
WY
RI
NE
MO
MD
KS
NC
FL

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Minnesota out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $713k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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

METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin20% · top quartile
Months of reserve2.9mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−5% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION

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

80% of spending goes to programs.

Program 80%Management 13%Fundraising 7%

Governance

13
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

62%

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

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Metropolitan State University · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION?
METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,237,507 to it, the largest being The Carter Family Foundation ($2,230,214). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 42 organizations giving $5,237,507 in grants to METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION?
The Carter Family Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $2,230,214 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION 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 42 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