FundersMinnesota

Grotto Foundation Inc

Arden Hills, MN · EIN 41-6052604. Reported 94 grants totalling $3,801,900 to 55 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$35,000median grant
$3,801,900granted, 2021-2024
55organizations funded
32%of grantees funded again the next year
$32.3Massets, 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. Grotto Foundation Inc 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 $35,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $25,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $3,750 and the largest $100,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
2 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant
$10,000 - $25,000
15 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
40 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
32 grants
$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
Jeremiah ProgramMinneapolis, MN$205,000332024
Dunwoody College of TechnologyMinneapolis, MN$175,000332024
Wallin Education PartnersSt Paul, MN$175,000332024
Elpis EnterprisesSt Paul, MN$160,000332024
Appetite for ChangeMinneapolis, MN$150,000222024
Bolder OptionsMinneapolis, MN$140,000332024
Mobile HopeCorcoran, MN$135,000222024
Breakthrough Twin CitiesSt Paul, MN$125,000332024
Project SuccessMinneapolis, MN$125,000222023
Hill Museum & Manuscript LibraryCollegeville, MN$108,000332024
Big Ideas IncNew Ulm, MN$105,000332024
The Sanneh FoundationSt Paul, MN$105,000222024
Normandale Community College FoundationBloomington, MN$100,000112024
ONE2ONEMinneapolis, MN$100,000112022
Project for Pride in LivingSt Paul, MN$100,000222023
Foster AdvocatesSt Paul, MN$95,000222023
Community Partners With YouthNew Brighton, MN$93,000222023
All SquareMinneapolis, MN$90,000222022
The LinkMinneapolis, MN$90,000222023
KajoogMinneapolis, MN$80,000222022
Black Men TeachMinneapolis, MN$70,000332024
Women's Advocates IncSt Paul, MN$70,000222023
Friends of Saint Paul CollegeSt Paul, MN$65,000222023
Urban Boatbuilders IncSt Paul, MN$65,000222023
Neighborhood HouseSt Paul, MN$60,000222024
Tree TrustSt Paul, MN$60,000222024
Youth FarmMinneapolis, MN$60,000112021
Communities in SchoolsSt Paul, MN$50,000222024
Mentor MnMinneapolis, MN$50,000112024
Minnesota Military Appreciation FundGolden Valley, MN$50,000222023
Propel Nonprofits IncMinneapolis, MN$50,000222023
The BrandlabMinneapolis, MN$50,000112021
YouthlinkMinneapolis, MN$50,000112022
Goodwill IndustriesSt Paul, MN$43,900112021
IsuroonMinneapolis, MN$40,000112024
Ujamaa PlaceSt Paul, MN$40,000112024
Beyond WallsMinneapolis, MN$35,000222022
Jewish Family and Children's ServicesGolden Valley, MN$35,000112021
Reach for Resources IncMinnetonka, MN$35,000112024
Second HarvestSt Paul, MN$35,000112021
St Paul Urban TennisSt Paul, MN$30,000112023
The Urban Village IncSt Paul, MN$30,000112024
Urban Roots MnSt Paul, MN$30,000112023
Minnesota Parent UnionSt Paul, MN$25,000112022
Page Education FoundationMinneapolis, MN$25,000112022
Wildflyer CoffeeSt Paul, MN$25,000112023
Bravo Zulu HouseNew Richmond, MN$23,000112024
Gigi's PlayhouseSt Louis Park, MN$23,000112024
Big Brothersbig Sisters of the 7 RiversLa Crosse, WI$20,000112024
Carlson School of ManagementMinneapolis, MN$20,000112024
Mentor NorthDuluth, MN$20,000112024
Partnership for PermanenceSt Paul, MN$20,000112023
Minnesota Council on FoundationsMinneapolis, MN$16,000332024
JP4Vadnais Heights, MN$15,000112023
Mn Chiefs of Police FoundationNew Brighton, MN$10,000112024

29 of 55 (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 32%, 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 63 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
21 grants
Human Services
16 grants
Youth Development
8 grants
Community Improvement
5 grants
Housing & Shelter
5 grants
Recreation & Sports
2 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants
Religion
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202124$1,228,900$46,950
202220$917,500$50,000
202322$581,750$30,000
202428$1,073,750$37,500

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 99% 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
$3.8M
Wisconsin
$20K

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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.

The Minneapolis Foundation33 shared recipientsOtto Bremer Trust31 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc31 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund30 shared recipientsSaint Paul & Minnesota Foundation30 shared recipientsMightycause Charitable Foundation27 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $35,000. 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 Grotto Foundation Inc'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: 1315 Red Fox Road 100, Arden Hills, MN, 55112. 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 41-6052604 · 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.