Funders › Minnesota

Cremer Foundation

Eagan, MN · EIN 39-6086822. Reported 81 grants totalling $1,710,671 to 48 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$20,000median grant
$1,710,671granted, 2021-2025
48recipients, as named on its returns
37%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,541,976assets, 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. Cremer 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 $20,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $30,000; the smallest was $111 and the largest $50,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
1 grant
$5,000 - $10,000
12 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
28 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
34 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
5 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Bayview FoundationMadison, WI$150,000332025
Briarpatch Youth Services IncMadison, WI$136,000442025
The Salvation Army of Dane CountyMadison, WI$120,000442024
Sun Prairie East High SchoolSun Prairie, WI$113,250442025
Goodman Community CenterMadison, WI$100,000442025
Operation Fresh Start IncMadison, WI$85,000332024
The River Food PantryMadison, WI$85,000332025
Operation Fresh StartGrand Haven, MI$70,000222025
East Madison Community CenterMadison, WI$69,000442025
Madison College FoundationMadison, WI$60,000222023
One City Schools Foundation IncMadison, WI$50,000112022
The Colonial ClubSandoval, IL$50,000112021
Horizon High School of Madison IncMadison, WI$40,000442025
Meriter Foundation IncMadison, WI$40,000222023
YWCA MadisonMadison, WI$40,000112024
Goodman Community Center for GirlsMadison, WI$35,000112021
The Salvation ArmyAlexandria, VA$35,000112025
YWCAWashington, DC$35,000222025
Sun Prarie High SchoolSun Prarie, WI$31,500112021
Madison Area Technical CollegeMadison, WI$30,000112022
YWCAChicago, IL$30,000112021
YWCA USA IncWashington, DC$30,000112022
Sunshine PlaceSun Prairie, WI$25,000112025
Specialty Care Free ClinicMadison, WI$20,000222025
The River PantryRockford, IL$20,000112021
Sun Prairie East High School Cross CountSun Prairie, WI$18,250112023
Domestic Abuse Intervention ServicesMadison, WI$15,000222023
Gift to Unitypoint Health Meriter FoundaMadison, WI$15,000112025
The First Tee South Central WisconsinMadison, WI$15,000222025
Unitypoint Meriter Foundation Unitypoint Meriter FoundationMadison, WI$15,000112024
Personal Essentials Pantry AtwoodMadison, WI$10,500112024
Cremer Foundation IncMadison, WI$10,000112025
DaisMadison, WI$10,000112021
Lakeview Lutheran ChurchMadison, WI$10,000112024
Omega School IncMadison, WI$10,000222023
Planned Parenthood of Wi IncMilwaukee, WI$10,000112023
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsn IncMilwaukee, WI$10,000112022
Solace FriendsMadison, WI$10,000112024
The Foundation for Black Women's WellnMadison, WI$10,000112021
Madison School & Community RecreationMadison, WI$6,060112024
Foundation for Black Womens WellnessMadison, WI$6,000222023
Atwood PantryMadison, WI$5,000112023
Bsp Free Clinic IncChicago, IL$5,000112021
First Tee of South Central WisconsinMadison, WI$5,000112023
Specialty Free Care Clinic IncMadison, WI$5,000112022
Vera CourtMadison, WI$5,000112025
Wisconsin Council of Blind and VisuallyMadison, WI$5,000112025
AttCarol Stream, IL$111112025

18 of 48 (38%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 37%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 38 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Human Services
10 grants
Health Care
6 grants
Education
5 grants
Religion
4 grants
Food & Nutrition
3 grants
Crime & Legal
3 grants
Employment
3 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202116$370,500$27,500
202215$323,250$25,000
202318$320,750$13,250
202414$334,060$22,500
202518$362,111$17,500

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

84% of its giving went to organizations in Wisconsin. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Wisconsin
$1.4M
Illinois
$105K
Michigan
$70K
District of Columbia
$65K
Virginia
$35K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund20 shared recipientsMadison Community Foundation17 shared recipientsMadison Gas and Electric16 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc14 shared recipientsUnited Way of Dane County Inc13 shared recipientsThe Evjue Foundation Inc12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $20,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Wisconsin.
  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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Cremer Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 64193, Eagan, MN, 55164. 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 39-6086822 · 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.

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