Minnesota · Nonprofit
POLLEN MIDWEST
POLLEN MIDWEST (Minnesota) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,299,683 to it, the largest being THE BUSH FOUNDATION ($597,500). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $129k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $0
What Pollen Midwest does
Mission
Pollen is a media arts organization that fosters empathy, encourages connection across differences, and inspires meaningful action by sharing stories of individuals who want to change our collective story for the better. Through our narrative experiences, Pollen grows a network of Pollenites who have an unwavering belief in equity, empathy, and our shared humanity. Our social enterprise, Pollen Studio, brings our narrative expertise to mission-driven organizations looking to tell their stories in new and engaging ways. Success will be found in the sum of all the connections and actions made by these organizations and by Pollenites, inspired by the platform, the space, and the hive that Pollen creates.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Pollen has ceased operations due to financial hardship.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Program Studio - A creative agency for mission-driven organizations, the purpose of which is to create a more just and vibrant future through social impact storytelling and engagement strategies.
$37,206 spent$32,727 earned by the program54% of program spendingProgram Stories - Share stories of people and events local to our community to inspire and connect those in its community for positive social impact.
$17,380 spent25% of program spendingProgram Engagement - Events and convenings that connect people in the community for positive social impact.
$13,850 spent$2,029 earned by the program20% of program spendingPollen Merchandise Sales - Products and promotional items that connect people and celebrate positive social impact.
$35 spent$105 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $68,471.
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.
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 $524k to $89k (−83%).
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: 2020 1% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 8 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $67k → $277k.
3 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 POLLEN MIDWEST’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
POLLEN MIDWEST leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 80% · 2018 100% · 2019 99% · 2020 91% · 2021 60% · 2022 40% · 2023 54% — 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
33% of POLLEN MIDWEST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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 POLLEN MIDWEST's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $57k 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.
Organizations like POLLEN MIDWEST
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
46% 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 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for POLLEN MIDWEST: 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 POLLEN MIDWEST?
- POLLEN MIDWEST (Minnesota) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,299,683 to it, the largest being THE BUSH FOUNDATION ($597,500). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does POLLEN MIDWEST have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $1,299,683 in grants to POLLEN MIDWEST, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of POLLEN MIDWEST?
- THE BUSH FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $597,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like POLLEN MIDWEST 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.
Play a game about who funds Pollen Midwest →
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 11 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