Minnesota · Nonprofit
Minneapolis Parks Foundation
Minneapolis Parks Foundation (Minnesota) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,063,354 to it, the largest being WEM FOUNDATION ($10,120,000). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.8M
- Funders on record
- 49
- Grants received
- $18M
- Net assets
- $4.9M
What Minneapolis Parks Foundation does
Mission
The Minneapolis Parks Foundation transforms human lives through parks and public spaces by aligning philanthropic investment and community vision.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Community Investment & Engagement: Great parks make great neighborhoods, and great neighborhoods weave together into great cities. The Foundation collaborated with the community and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to support projects and programs that increase enjoyment and opportunity across the entire Minneapolis parks system expanding the benefits of great parks to all Minneapolis residents and visitors.In 2025, we hosted three new Walk & Talks for more than 100 participants and published coordinating self-guided tours, engaged community at two Next Generation of Parks events at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Capri Theater for more than 350 attendees, and partnered with MN Run Series and Twin Cities Twilight Relays as the beneficiary for two Minneapolis running events around Lake Harriet and Bde Maka Ska.
$285,621 spentof which $6,555 as grants6% of program spendingTransforming North Commons Park: Through a long-range planning process a top priority for the North Minneapolis community, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the Minneapolis Parks Foundation. A transformative 23.5 million campaign will modernize the park with a new multi court field house, indoor track, community gathering spaces and new outdoor pools. Activities in 2025 included 1) securing additional funding; 2) planning and hosting engagement events with community partners 3) hosting donor tours and fundraising house parties; and 4) promoting engagement and advocacy and amplifying park and project awareness.
$3,711,555 spentof which $3,513,150 as grants78% of program spendingPeople for Parks Fund: Created in 2020 through our consolidation with People for Parks, this fund carries forward a 40-year legacy of grant making for small neighborhood-based projects and programs in Minneapolis Parks. In 2025, we (1) initiated the Fund's fifth grant cycle, distributing grants to local nonprofits and agencies; (2) documented the outcomes of 2025 grants with profiles on our blog; (3) hosted the Posters for Parks Show, a fundraising event with proceeds supporting the People for Parks Fund; (4) partnered with local businesses for dine-out nights and community runs with proceeds supporting the Fund; and (5) administered the Fund under guidance from the Advisory Committee, consisting of MPF Board Members and representatives from the community.Posters for Parks is an annual fundraising event that supports the People for Parks Fund. In 2025, 43 artists created original works of art which were sold at an in-person gallery event on October 11, followed by a week of online sales. Nearly 1,000 posters were sold, with half of each sale going to the artist and proceeds from the remaining half supporting the People for Parks Fund.
$119,179 spentof which $67,250 as grants2% of program spendingSpecial Park Initiatives: The Minneapolis Parks Foundation raises funds from individuals, foundations, corporations, and other partners to support special initiatives in partnership with the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board. In 2025, this included projects such as the renovation of the Theodore Wirth House, the Jim Lupient Waterpark, the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and more.
$660,362 spentof which $653,807 as grants14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,776,717.
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 2022 to 2023, from $2.9M to $14M (+378%).
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: 2019 0% · 2020 5% · 2021 9% · 2022 8% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Martin Wera
Executive Director
Board chair
Jasmine Russell
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $322k → $11M.
7 of 49 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $9.7M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Minneapolis Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money Minneapolis Parks Foundation raised.
From the IRS filings of Minneapolis Parks Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 49 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
Minneapolis Parks Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
28% 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 Minneapolis Parks Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 56% · 2019 31% · 2020 42% · 2021 21% · 2022 30% · 2023 95% — 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
55% of Minneapolis Parks Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
89% of Minneapolis Parks Foundation's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Minneapolis Parks Foundation runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,623 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,623 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Minneapolis Parks 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
39%
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 Minneapolis Parks 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.
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 Minneapolis Parks Foundation?
- Minneapolis Parks Foundation (Minnesota) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,063,354 to it, the largest being WEM FOUNDATION ($10,120,000). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Minneapolis Parks Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 49 organizations giving $18,063,354 in grants to Minneapolis Parks Foundation, 33 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Minneapolis Parks Foundation?
- WEM FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $10,120,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Minneapolis Parks 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 49 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