Minnesota · Nonprofit
THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION
THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,852,543 to it, the largest being THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ($1,918,465). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $921k
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $5.9M
- Net assets
- $8.7M
What The Tiwahe Foundation does
Mission
Our mission is to strengthen indigenous leadership and cultural identity.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The american indian family empowerment program (aifep) creates pathways for american indians to reach their own goals on their own terms through microgrants ranging from $200 - $2,500 as well as resources to connect with other community members, cultural resources, and networks. This program is structured to invest in the strengths, dreams, and goals of our community through 1. Culture and language 2.education 3. Health and wellness 4. Economic independence. In 2024, we made $214,232 in grants to 108 individuals throughout the seven-county twin cities metro area. (continued on schedule o)we value reciprocity in all of our relationships and we support aifep recipients in growing their knowledge, resources, opportunities, and networks to achieve their goals. In kinship, aifep recipients share their stories with us and encourage their communities to pursue their dreams. Beginning in 2022, we began holding capacity building grant writing and application workshops for interested community members. Since its inception, aifep has given more than $3.5 million in grants to more than 2,000 individuals in pursuit of professional, educational, and cultural opportunities. Aifep is…
$390,378 spentof which $214,232 as grants51% of program spendingIn 2023-2024, we continued the programming for the partnership we started with the ozhigin fellows in 2022 (they were paid their fellowship stipends in 2022). The oyate leadership network (oln or 'oyate') originated over ten years ago as an outgrowth or next stage of tiwahe's existing aifep grantmaking program to connect and resource our community members and organizations to their next stages of growth through a cohort-style learning community to where they connect with other native leaders to learn from each other's strengths, unique experiences, and leadership practices. (continued on schedule o) unlike aifep, oyate (dakota for "the people or "nation") is statewide, and we have alumni representing most of the eleven tribal nations in minnesota, as well as other cities with large native populations like duluth and bemidji. Oln is to be the connective tissue for native leaders across generations and geographies within minnesota. Oyate has been revitalized to respond to the many widespread requests to do more as a keystone organization for native leadership within minnesota and help establish what "indigenous leadership" means with our communities, deepening avenues to reconnect…
$265,942 spent34% of program spendingTiwahe is one of four lead organizations in a partnership called linkingleaders, which brings together four networks of leaders of color in the indigenous, black, asian american, and latine communities. A shared effort for the african american leadership forum, coalition of asian american leaders, latinolead, and tiwahe foundation, linkingleaders focuses on strengthening connections across our networks in order to increase our shared leadership and solidarity practices so that we can advance powerful systems change work that aims to achieve racial justice and equity. (continued on schedule o) our mission is clear build bridges of cross-network solidarity, empowering bipoc leaders through culturally relevant leadership development opportunities aimed at growing solidarity in minnesota. We enhance connections, offer leadership tools, and create room for cross-cultural collaboration. Additionally, we foster cultural understanding and inity by faciliating learning communities across our different cultures and worldviews, allowing our networks to appreciate and support the unique perspectivecs of each community while standing together in solidarity to drive meaningful change. Beginning…
$106,965 spent14% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$7,738 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $771,023.
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 2019 to 2020, from $6.8M to $8.0M (+18%).
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: 2021 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
104% of THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Nikki Pieratos
Executive director
Board chair
Wakinyan Lapointe
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $341k → $974k.
9 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 50% 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 TIWAHE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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
THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 33% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
52% 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 TIWAHE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 44% · 2018 58% · 2019 54% · 2020 30% · 2021 46% · 2022 23% · 2023 26% — 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
41% of THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% 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
76% of THE TIWAHE 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. $2.9M 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
THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 21,616 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 21,616 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE TIWAHE 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
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
54%
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 TIWAHE 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 THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION?
- THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,852,543 to it, the largest being THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ($1,918,465). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $5,852,543 in grants to THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE TIWAHE FOUNDATION?
- THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,918,465 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE TIWAHE 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 33 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