FundersMinnesota

Donaldson Foundation

Minneapolis, MN · EIN 41-6052950. Reported 75 grants totalling $1,368,160 to 75 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$1,368,160granted, 2021-2024
75organizations funded
$9,150,903assets, 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. Donaldson 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,500 and $20,000; the smallest was $350 and the largest $205,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
3 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
22 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
9 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
29 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
7 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant
$100,000 and Up
4 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
Greater Twin Cities United WayMinneapolis, MN$205,000112024
Special OlympicsSt Paul, MN$150,000112024
Scholarship AmericaMinneapolis, MN$133,000112024
Boys Girls Clubs TcSt Paul, MN$100,000112024
Science Museum of MnSt Paul, MN$50,000112024
Normandale Community College FoundationBloomington, MN$30,000112024
Pacer Center IncBloomington, MN$30,000112024
United Way of Clinton CountyClinton, IA$29,290112024
Greene Local Education Advancement FoundationGreeneville, TN$28,000112024
Dunwoody College of TechnologyMinneapolis, MN$25,000112024
JR Achieve East IowaCedar Rapids, IA$25,000112024
The WorksBloomington, MN$25,000112024
United Way of Portage CountyStevens Point, WI$24,162112024
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin CitiesMinneapolis, MN$23,000112024
Wallin Education PartnersSt Paul, MN$23,000112024
Cristo Rey High School TcMinneapolis, MN$20,000112024
Dixon Public SchoolsDixon, IL$20,000112024
Dress for Success Twin CitiesSt Paul, MN$20,000112024
Ja NorthSt Paul, MN$20,000112024
Minnesota Independence College and Community MiccRitchfield, MN$20,000112024
YWCA of MinneapolisMinneapolis, MN$20,000112024
Girls Who CodeNew York, NY$18,000112024
Jessamine Early Learning VillageNicholasville, KY$16,645112024
Banyan CommunityMinneapolis, MN$15,000112024
BestprepMinneapolis, MN$15,000112024
Boys and Girls Club of Portage CountyStevens Point, WI$15,000112024
Greene County United WayGreeneville, TN$15,000112024
Newgate SchoolMinneapolis, MN$15,000112024
Womens Initiative for Self Empowerment WiseSt Paul, MN$15,000112021
Northwestern Health Services UniversityBloomington, MN$13,000112021
School District of ElmwoodElmwood, WI$12,760112024
Ja of the HeartlandMoline, IL$12,500112024
Matching GiftsMinneapolis, MN$10,890112024
Apple Valley High SchoolApple Valley, MN$10,000112024
Athletes Committed to Educating Students AcesMinneapolis, MN$10,000112024
College PossibleSt Paul, MN$10,000112024
Groves Academy Dba Groves Learning OrganizationSt Louis Park, MN$10,000112024
High Tech KidsEagan, MN$10,000112024
St Louis Learning Disabilities AssocBaldwin, WI$10,000112024
Twin Cities PBSSt Paul, MN$10,000112024
YMCA of the NorthMinneapolis, MN$10,000112024
Amherst H Wilder FoundationSt Paul, MN$9,740112024
Ja of WisconsinWausau, WI$7,525112024
Ja of Northern CaliforniaWalnut Creek, CA$7,500112024
Women in Manufacturing Education FoundationCleveland, OH$7,500112024
United Way of Greene CountyGreeneville, TN$6,870112024
Minnesota Historical SocietySt Paul, MN$5,500112024
Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great LakesAppleton, WI$5,000112024
Greene County Imagination LibraryGreeneville, TN$5,000112024
The Bakken MuseumMinneapolis, MN$5,000112024
University of Minnesota Rocket TeamMinneapolis, MN$4,000112024
Howardwinneshiek Community School DistrictCresco, IA$2,698112024
Dunwoody Snowplow CompetitionMinneapolis, MN$2,500112024
Iowa State University Formula Sae TeamAmes, IA$2,500112024
United Way of St Croix ValleyHudson, WI$2,392112024
United Way of Lee CountyDixon, IL$1,836112024
Eagan Community Foundations TacodecatsEagan, MN$1,500112024
AccelmnInver Grove Heights, MN$1,000112024
Benildest MargaretsSt Louis Park, MN$1,000112024
Farmington High School Rogue Robotics LLCFarmingtpm, MN$1,000112024
Great River School Fnd 2491 Nomythic RoboticsSt Paul, MN$1,000112024
Hp Robotics Parent OrgSt Paul, MN$1,000112024
Isd 112 Community Education Lectric LemonsChaska, MN$1,000112024
Isd 138North Branch, MN$1,000112024
Msu Fsae Club Minnesota State University MankatoMankato, MN$1,000112024
Maple Grove Crimson Robotics Booster ClubMaple Grove, MN$1,000112024
Minneapolis Southwest Robotics Team 2129Minneapolis, MN$1,000112024
Minutebot BoostersSt Paul, MN$1,000112024
Sae International Student Chapter Iowa State University Baja TeamAmes, IA$1,000112024
South Dakota Mines Cara Baja TeamRapid City, SD$1,000112024
Two Rivers High School Lightning TurtlesMendota Heights, MN$1,000112024
Washburn MillerbotsMinneapolis, MN$1,000112024
Bjorg Boosters Robotics TeamBloomington, MN$952112024
United Way of San JoaquinStockton, CA$550112024
Society of Asian Scientists and EngineersMinneapolis, MN$350112024

0 of 75 (0%) received money in more than one year over the 2 years we hold.

Plus 128 grants to individuals totalling $3,550,076 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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.

Education
8 grants
Human Services
5 grants
Arts & Culture
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant
Employment
1 grant
Science & Technology
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20212$28,000$14,000
202473$1,340,160$10,000

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. 80% 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
$1.1M
Wisconsin
$77K
Iowa
$60K
Tennessee
$55K
Illinois
$34K
New York
$18K
Kentucky
$17K
California
$8K

Find more foundations like Donaldson Foundation

We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

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.

American Online Giving Foundation Inc25 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund23 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund23 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America19 shared recipientsThe Minneapolis Foundation19 shared recipientsSaint Paul & Minnesota Foundation18 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. 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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Donaldson 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: Po Box 1299, Minneapolis, MN, 55440. 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 41-6052950 · 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.