Minnesota · Nonprofit
THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL
THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL (Minnesota) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,695,515 to it, the largest being THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ($687,950). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $492k
What The Film Society of Minneapolis St Paul does
Mission
The mission of the film society of minneapolis st. Paul is to foster a knowledgeable and vibrant appreciation of the art of film and its power to inform and transform individuals and communities. Our mission is accomplished thorugh commitment to exhibiting the very best of new and classic local, domestic and international independent cinema. These notable award-winning films represent many perspectives and experiences and are, for the most part, simply not otherwise available to audiences in the region. And so, through the power of great cinema, we expose our audiences, in a unique way, to a rare mix of cultures, ideas, current affairs and notable filmmaking from around the world. Our mission is carried out through the annual minneapolis st. Paul international film festival, regular special themed series, and daily screenings of new releases and classics from around the globe.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The vision of the film society of minneapolis st. Paul is to present the best in international independent cinema, screening more than 600 independent new and historic, national and international documentary and narrative films to a growing audience of over 165,000 annually. The film society exhibits year-round on a daily basis, presents a number of multi-day film series and, each april, produces and presents its centerpiece, the annual two week minneapolis st. Paul international film festival, one of the largest cultural events in the region, now drawing nearly 50,000 attendees each year.programming includes many first-run premieres of international, art house and independent feature films. These award winning films from around the globe have great artistic and cultural value, represent many perspectives and experiences, are rarely available on other regional screens and play to avid, diverse and growing audiences who would not otherwise have the opportunity to see them. So, through the power of great cinema, we expose our audiences, in a unique way, to a rare mix of cultures, ideas, current affairs and notable filmmaking from around the world.
$2,496,385 spent$2,108,975 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,496,385.
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 $968k to $4.2M (+339%).
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 11% · 2018 13% · 2019 7% · 2020 13% · 2021 39% · 2022 56% · 2023 16% · 2024 4% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
32% of THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Susan Smoluchowski
Executive director
Board chair
Paola Nunez Obetz
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $25k → $481k.
6 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 48% 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 THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL’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
THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
56% 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 THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 94% · 2019 54% · 2020 42% · 2021 30% · 2022 62% · 2023 61% — 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
45% of THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 74% 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
91% of THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $817k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL has grown faster than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $105k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$105k
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 THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL
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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL: 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 THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL?
- THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL (Minnesota) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,695,515 to it, the largest being THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ($687,950). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $1,695,515 in grants to THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL?
- THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $687,950 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE FILM SOCIETY OF MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL 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 Film Society of Minneapolis St Paul →
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 19 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