FundersMinnesota

Caliber Foundation

Minneapolis, MN · EIN 41-1893491. Reported 59 grants totalling $162,150 to 32 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$162,150granted, 2021-2024
32organizations funded
50%of grantees funded again the next year
$310,324assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Caliber Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $3,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $10,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
2 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
48 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
7 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
2 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
American Civil Liberties UnionMinneapolis, MN$20,000442024
Minnesota Life CollegeRichfield, MN$15,000222022
Family PathwaysCambridge, MN$13,000442024
Minnesota Independence CollegeRichfield, MN$12,000222024
Isanti County Historical SocietyCambridge, MN$11,000442024
Urban VenturesMinneapolis, MN$9,000332023
Every MealRoseville, MN$6,500222024
Loaves and FishesMinneapolis, MN$6,000332023
Ferguson LibraryStamford, CT$5,000222024
Minnesota Historical SocietySt Paul, MN$5,000112021
Pacific HouseStamford, CT$5,000222022
Person to PersonDarien, CT$5,000222024
AeonMinneapolis, MN$4,000222024
Minnesota History TheatreSt Paul, MN$4,000112021
The Nature ConservancyMinneapolis, MN$4,000222024
PacerMinneapolis, MN$3,500222024
Mn Historical SocietySt Paul, MN$3,400222024
Minnesota State Fair FoundationFalcon Heights, MN$3,000332024
Scsu FoundationSt Cloud, MN$3,000332024
Camp to BelongLittleton, MA$2,500112021
Greenwich Spanish SchoolGreenwich, CT$2,500112023
Planned ParenthoodOverland Park, KS$2,500112021
San Jose Public SchoolSan Jose, CA$2,500112023
Second HarvestBrooklyn Park, MN$2,500112024
Wallin Education PartnersSt Paul, MN$2,250112021
Opportunity PartnersMinnetonka, MN$2,000112022
Success AcademyBloomington, MN$2,000112022
University of Minnesota - 4HSt Paul, MN$2,000112022
Micro GrantsMinneapolis, MN$1,000112021
Riverview SchoolBrooklyn Park, MN$1,000112021
Salvation ArmySaint Paul, MN$1,000112022
Westminster Town Hall ForumMinneapolis, MN$1,000112023

17 of 32 (53%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 50%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 30 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Education
5 grants
Civil Rights
4 grants
Housing & Shelter
4 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Food & Nutrition
2 grants
Employment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202114$39,750$2,500
202216$42,500$2,250
202315$40,700$2,500
202414$39,200$1,850

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 85% of this one's giving went to organizations in Minnesota. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Minnesota
$137K
Connecticut
$18K
California
$2K
Kansas
$2K
Massachusetts
$2K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc15 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund14 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund12 shared recipientsThe Minneapolis Foundation11 shared recipientsMightycause Charitable Foundation11 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Minnesota.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding education in ConnecticutEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Caliber Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 2900 Thomas Avenue South 2320, Minneapolis, MN, 55416. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 41-1893491 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.