Minnesota Grants for Nonprofits

Bell's Brewery Sponsorships and Donations

Sponsored events and donations play a key role within our Bell’s philosophy. Through these events, we are able to not only give back to the communities we sell our beer in, but also get to have a great time with our fans! We are always looking for new opportunities and welcome your suggestions and applications. Please keep in mind that while we would love to be able to participate in everything, we sometimes must respectfully decline.

We do have a few guidelines we follow for all sponsorships and donations, please read through them below before proceeding to our application.

• Requests must be submitted at least 8 weeks prior to the event start date or the date the donation is needed. Any events submitted with less than 8 weeks’ notice will automatically be declined. We want to give every event we are involved in the best chance for success, which means we need time to plan. While 8 weeks is our minimum time requirement, additional time is always appreciated, especially for larger events.
• We do very little traditional advertising, instead we focus our efforts on sponsorships. When we partner with an event or an organization, we like to be involved! That said, if your proposal only involves a logo placement, we will politely decline in favor of events that offer us a chance to interact with our fans.
• We’re an eccentric bunch here at Bell’s and love to be involved with events that reflect your community’s eccentricities, uniqueness and inclusivity.
• We are always happy to consider requests for donations of Bell’s swag for homebrew competitions, fundraisers and events! That said, due to Michigan state law, we are not legally allowed to donate beer to events in any state. We’re sorry, but we legally cannot make any exceptions.

Making community possible

At U.S. Bank, we are dedicated to supporting our communities through responsive and humbled actions focused on addressing racial and economic inequities and creating lasting change in our communities. Through our Community Possible Grant Program, we are partnering with organizations that focus on economic and workforce advancement, safe and affordable housing and communities connected through arts and culture.

The U.S. Bank Foundation is committed to making Community Possible through Work, Home and Play. We advance this work through collaborative grant making to bring equitable and lasting change through our focus on sustainable, high-impact funding with 501c3 nonprofit partners.

Home

Children and families are better positioned to thrive and succeed in a home that is safe and permanent. Access to sustainable low-income housing is increasingly challenging for low- to moderate-income families. In response, our giving supports efforts that connect individuals and families with sustainable housing opportunities.

Access to safe, affordable energy-efficient housing

We provide financial support to assist people in developing stability in their lives through access to safe, sustainable and accessible homes. Examples of grant support include:

• Organizations that preserve, rehabilitate, renovate or construct affordable housing developments for low- and moderate-income families, individuals, seniors, veterans, and special-needs populations
• Organizations that provide transitional housing as a direct stepping stone to permanent housing
• Organizations that focus on veterans housing and homeownership
• Construction of green homes for low- and moderate-income communities
• Clean energy retrofit programs for low- and moderate-income housing developments
• Organizations that provide access to renewable energy
• Improving waste management systems to include recycling and composting programs

Homeownership education

Owning and maintaining a home requires significant financial knowledge, tools and resources. We support programs that assist low- and moderate-income homebuyers and existing homeowners. Examples of grant support include:

• Homebuyer education
• Pre- and post-purchase counseling and coaching
• Homeownership-retention programs designed to provide foreclosure counseling

Work

We know that a strong small business environment and an educated workforce ensure the prosperity of our communities and reduce the expanding wealth gap for communities of color. We provide grant support to programs and organizations that help small businesses thrive, allow people to succeed in the workforce, provide pathways to higher education and gain greater financial literacy.

Investing in the workforce

We fund organizations that provide training for small business development, as well as programs that support individuals across all skill and experience levels, to ensure they have the capability to gain employment that supports individuals and their families. Examples of grant support include:

• Small business technical assistance programs
• Job skills, career readiness training programs with comprehensive placement services for low- and moderate-income individuals entering or reentering the labor force

Providing pathways for educational success

• To address the growing requirements for post-secondary education in securing competitive jobs in the workplace, we support:
• Organizations and programs that help low- and moderate-income and at-risk middle and high school students prepare for post-secondary education at a community college, university, trade or technical school and career readiness
• Programs and initiatives at post-secondary institutions that support access to career and educational opportunities for low- and moderate-income and diverse students

Teaching financial well-being for work and life

Financial well-being is not only critical for financial stability, it’s crucial in helping individuals be successful in the workplace. Examples of grant support include programs that positively impact:

• K-12 and college student financial literacy
• Adult and workforce financial literacy
• Senior financial fraud prevention
• Military service member and veteran financial literacy

Supporting the green economy through workforce development

The green economy is fast becoming an area of opportunity for workforce development programs. Funding support includes:

• Reskilling or retraining for jobs in renewable or clean energy
• Building and maintaining infrastructure to support renewable energy, including EV charging stations and bike/transportation programs

Play

Play brings joy, and it’s just as necessary for adults as it is for kids. But in low-income areas there are often limited spaces for play and fewer people attending arts and cultural events. That’s why we invest in community programming that supports ways for children and adults to play and create.

Access to artistic and cultural programming and arts education

Our investments ensure economic vitality and accessibility to the arts in local communities, as well as support for arts education. Examples of grant support include:

• Programs that provide access to cultural activities, visual and performing arts, zoos and aquariums and botanic gardens for individuals and families living in underserved communities
• Funding for local arts organizations that enhance the economic vitality of the community
• Programs that provide funding for arts-focused nonprofit organizations that bring visual and performing arts programming to low- and moderate-income K-12 schools and youth centers

Supporting learning through play

Many young people across the country do not have the resources or access to enjoy the benefits of active play. Supporting active play-based programs and projects for K-12 students located in or serving low- and moderate-income communities fosters innovation, creativity, and collaboration and impacts the overall vitality of the communities we serve. Funding support includes:

• Support for organizations that build or expand access to active play spaces and places that help K-12 students learn through play and improves the health, safety and unification of neighborhoods in low- and moderate-income communities
• Programs that focus on using active play to help young people develop cognitive, social and emotional learning skills to become vibrant and productive citizens in low- and moderate-income communities

Outdoor places to play

Environmental stewardship enhances and improves the livability of our communities. Supporting efforts to preserve, protect and enhance outdoor spaces is now part of our Play pillar of giving. Funding support includes:

• Cleanup efforts in community spaces, including (but not limited to) beaches, rivers, and streams
• Protecting green spaces within the community, including planting trees, mangroves and seagrass
• Programs that support community, native and/or pollinator gardens, including community composting

Our Mission

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Community and National Initiatives

Supporting successful, inclusive cities

What We Fund

Knight is a national foundation with deep local roots. We have offices in eight cities where the Knight brothers once published newspapers, and work through community foundations in 18 others. We work to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. 

Communities Program

Our work in community focuses on attracting and nurturing talent, enhancing opportunity, and fostering civic engagement. Rather than a single approach, we seek to support efforts authentic to each community. 

Cities with Knight Foundation offices

Learn more about our work in each of the communities where Knight has offices: 

• Akron, Ohio
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Detroit
• Macon, Georgia
• Miami
• Philadelphia
• San Jose, California
• St. Paul, Minnesota

In these cities, Knight program directors are your first point of contact. 

Community Foundations Program

Knight works in 18 small to mid-sized communities in partnership with local community foundations. Learn more about this program. 

• Aberdeen, South Dakota;
• Biloxi, Mississippi;
• Boulder, Colorado;
• Bradenton, Florida;
• Columbia, South Carolina;
• Columbus, Georgia;
• Duluth, Minnesota;
• Ft. Wayne, Indiana;
• Gary, Indiana;
• Grand Forks, North Dakota;
• Lexington, Kentucky;
• Long Beach, California;
• Milledgeville, Georgia;
• Myrtle Beach, South Carolina;
• Palm Beach County, Florida;
• State College, Pennsylvania;
• Tallahassee, Florida;
• Wichita, Kansas

If you are interested in receiving Knight funding in these 18 communities, please read more about our individual community strategies, and ask your local community foundation about the local Knight donor-advised fund.

National Initiatives

Our National Initiatives program seeks to accelerate and amplify the work we do in communities by identifying opportunities in common, and ideas that can be shared across communities. Current areas of focus include:

• Smart cities: Harnessing the growth of digital technology to improve how communities respond, connect to and engage with residents;
• Public Spaces: Investing in spaces such as parks, trails, libraries to engage and connect residents to each other and to the places where they live, such as through our multi-city initiative, Reimagining the Civic Commons.

In addition, our national program responds to opportunities that emerge from the 26 cities where we work. 

Note: If you have thoroughly reviewed the Foundation’s priorities and grantmaking activity on the website and you believe your organization is a good match for our mission, you can email our staff (lnffstaff at lairdnorton dot org) with a brief description of your work. Please be aware that we rarely make grants to organizations that we first learn about through these types of email inquiries, and have limited staff capacity to respond to every message. Our team will be in touch if there is an interest in learning more about your work, or if there are other resources we can connect you with for your work.

Laird Norton Family Foundation

The Laird Norton Family Foundation (LNFF) is a private family foundation in Seattle, Washington, with a mission to honor and reflect the family’s shared values through giving and engage the family in philanthropy as a platform for strengthening family connections. 

Programs

Arts in Education

The goal of the Arts in Education program is to increase arts education and to improve pre-K through grade 12 student learning through the arts. Funding will be directed toward programs that seek to enhance students’ educational outcomes rather than to simply increase participation in, or appreciation for, the arts.

The Arts in Education program will consider funding programs that:

Climate Change

Climate change poses a significant global threat, one which we are addressing by striving to ensure an equitable, resilient, habitable, and enjoyable world for current and future generations. While our work is focused on climate change, we believe in the value of ecosystems services and in the stability and resiliency of healthy natural systems. We also believe it is essential that the cost of externalities be incorporated into lifestyle, policy, and business considerations.

 We are focused on investing in regenerative biological systems that influence the carbon cycle (“biocarbon”) and reducing dependency on fossil fuels. We have chosen to focus our grantmaking on efforts to hasten the demise of coal and other fossil fuels and on work that increases the abilities of the forests, agricultural lands, and estuaries of the Pacific Northwest to sequester carbon.

Human Services

The goal of the Human Services program is to support, empower, uplift, and create opportunities for long-term success and a brighter future for unaccompanied youth and young adults (age 12-24) who are in crisis, have experienced trauma, or are aging out of the foster care system. We want to support these youth and young adults in their journey from surviving to thriving.

We will consider funding organizations or programs that provide support for youth/young adults suffering from trauma, mental illness, or addiction, with priority given to homeless youth and those impacted by the foster care system. While the full spectrum of services for youth in crisis is essential, we expect to do the bulk of our grantmaking in two areas:

Watershed Stewardship

Watersheds have social, ecological, and economic significance. The goal of the Watershed Stewardship program is to create enabling conditions for long-term social and ecological health and resilience in places of importance to the Laird Norton Family. Currently, we prioritize work in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as a few key watersheds in the Western United States, consistent with the Laird Norton family's priorities.

We take a long-term view on healthy watersheds and invest in organizational capacity with an eye to future resilience. We encourage our partners to focus not on single-species recovery or restoration to historical conditions as a primary end-goal, but to also consider the potential value of significantly altered — but functioning — ecosystems as we continue to face the impacts of climate change and other natural and human-caused changes into the future.

​We believe the wellbeing of the people who live in a place must be considered alongside ecological goals; understanding the diverse interests and values of a watershed’s human inhabitants is an important component of long-term success. ​

While we don’t specifically commit to a set term of investment in any watershed, we believe that investing in a place long enough to really understand the work is important, and we believe that sustained and flexible funding enables greater long-term success for our partners. Although we make grants on a one-year cycle, we take a partnership approach to our grantmaking and hold a long-term view on the work being done in the watersheds we prioritize, but we do move on when we no longer have a necessary role to play.

Mission & History

Investing in people, places, and opportunities in our region.

Our mission reflects the intent of our founder, Otto Bremer. His vision and longstanding commitment to communities during and after the Great Depression endure today through the Otto Bremer Trust.

OBT is structured to reflect the challenges and opportunities found throughout Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. We are mindful of Otto’s extraordinary legacy and our obligation to be faithful stewards of his vision for the Trust’s perpetual structure.

Otto Bremer’s commitment to helping people and communities provides the cornerstone of the Trust’s investment philosophy. He recognized then, as we do today, that Good Lives Here.

What Does OBT Fund?

OBT is a responsive grantmaker. In alignment with the vision of our founder, Otto Bremer, we provide general operating, program, and capital support to improve lives in our region. To explore OBT’s previous grantmaking, visit Grant & PRI Search.

Old National Bank Foundation

The Old National Bank Foundation makes contributions to nonprofit organizations to fund widespread community impact programs and/or projects. The Foundation is part of Old National's overall charitable giving initiative, which enables us to support programs that improve quality of life in areas of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin where our clients, associates and shareholders live and work.

Funding Priorities

Our funding targets innovative programs that enhance the quality of life within our communities in support of the following strategic initiatives: Affordable Housing, Economic Development, Workforce Development, Financial Literacy and Education Achievement. Priority consideration is given to programs that serve low- to moderate-income populations/communities and small businesses. As part of our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we also seek to support programs that focus specifically on enhancing opportunities for education, economic empowerment, mentorship and inclusion for underrepresented people and communities.

Examples of funding priorities with measurable outcome focus areas include:

Affordable Housing

• Increase homeownership opportunities
• Promote multi-family housing developments
• Enhance neighborhood stabilization and vitality through home revitalization and repairs

Economic Development

• Increase neighborhood revitalization initiatives
• Strengthen community resource infrastructure
• Increase business development and growth

Financial Literacy

• Our Real-Life Finance e-learning curriculum provides robust financial literacy training for community partners at no charge

Workforce Development

• Build skills/knowledge and improve achievement gain
• Increase entrepreneurship initiatives and business coaching/training
• Increase job creation, employment entry, and retention

Education Achievement

• Improve educational readiness and achievement
• Increase access to quality education
• Increase access to impactful mentoring programs

About Rachael Ray Foundation™

The Rachael Ray Foundation™ is funded by a portion of proceeds from each sale of Rachael's pet food, Nutrish®. The Foundation was launched by Rachael in 2016 to better support the causes she cares for most such as helping animals in need.

The Rachael Ray Foundation and Best Friends Animal Society are committed to helping Best Friends Network Partners increase lifesaving in their communities through impactful, innovative, and inclusive programming. Every year, there are two types of Rachael Ray grants for which partners can apply.   

Grants for Animal Rescue to Save More Lives: The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants

The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants fund projects to reduce the lifesaving gap of cats and dogs in U.S. shelters. We welcome project proposals from public and private shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare organizations that enable lifesaving in a community.  

The Rachael Ray Save Them All Grants fund projects that increase lifesaving of cats and dogs in U.S. shelters. We welcome project proposals from public and private shelters, as well as rescue groups and other animal welfare organizations focused on impacting lifesaving at shelters. 

Your organization can apply for a grant of up to $50,000, with the amount requested not exceeding 10% of your operating budget. The average grant awarded last year was just under $13,000, therefor granting may only cover partial funding needed for your project. 

Project Requirements

• Projects can be focused on just one event/program or can include multiple events/programs.   
• Proposed projects should align with regional priorities. Projects that satisfy these priorities will have the largest impact on lifesaving in each region.   
• We welcome project proposals from public and private shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare organizations that enable lifesaving.
• If the applicant that is applying is an organization that is already no-kill, their project needs to be impacting a shelter that has a lifesaving gap and has not achieved a 90% save rate.  
• If awarded, the applying organization will need to submit quarterly impact statistics of how many lives were impacted through the project.  
• The impacted shelter’s intake and outcome data will need to be submitted as well, in order to calculate the reduction in gap to 90%, which will measure success of the project.  
• Best Friends will make calculations for reduction in lifesaving gap after all data points are submitted. These two metrics (impacts and reduction number in lifesaving gap) will be used for grant accountability and measuring success.  

Regional Priorities

Before you begin an application, please review the priorities for your region to ensure that your project aligns. 

Southeast: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina 

South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas

Great Plains: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota

Mountain West: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming

Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington

Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Mid-Atlantic: District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia

Community Grants - American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation Grant Program

The American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Inc builds on our long-standing commitment and support of communities we serve by offering unrestricted, general operating grants to eligible non-profit 501(c)(3) partners.

Our approach to grantmaking is evolving. We are committed to using trust-based values to create meaningful, impactful relationships and reduce the inherent power imbalances of the traditional funding model. Like many of our community partners, we are also committed to learning, listening, and changing through collaboration and trust.

The Dreams Foundation grant funding priorities are Academic Achievement and Education, Healthy Youth Development, Economic Opportunity, and Community Resiliency (formerly Basic Needs). These priorities align with our organizational efforts to invest in and improve the communities where we live and serve.

Grant Priorities

Academic Achievement and Education

Programs and services that advance educational equity in learning and academic achievement through access to high quality education. Our grant making focus includes wrap-around educational programming from birth through college with an emphasis on the following:

• Early Childhood Education
• Academic Support and achievement
• STEAM
• Reading and literacy

Healthy Youth Development

Programs and services that support the ongoing needs of young people from birth through 25 including:

• Social-emotional learning
• Mental and behavioral health
• Reducing mental health stigma and discrimination

Economic Opportunity

Programs and services that increase employment access and opportunity, including:

• Job training
• Financial literacy
• Workforce and career readiness
• Reading and literacy

Additionally, within this grant priority, we also have an emphasis on organizations and programming that offer educational or workforce opportunities for incarcerated or previously incarcerated individuals.

Community Resiliency

Formerly our Basic Needs giving priority, these are programs and services that remove barriers to short and/or long-term needs of individuals and families. Specific areas of grantmaking include:

• Food Security through foodbanks and pantries, community gardens, and sustainable food sources
• Housing via emergency shelter, and transitional/long term stable housing
• Transportation and Daycare to pursue education and/or maintain employment

Communities of Focus

Within our grant priorities, the Foundation places an emphasis on supporting organizations that work with individuals and communities that include:

• Economically disadvantaged
• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
• Youth (birth through 25) and young families

Nordson Corporation Foundation

The Nordson Corporation Foundation awards grants to non-profits in our communities throughout the United States. Since 1989, the Foundation has awarded more than $60 million in grants to improve the quality of life in our communities, placing a special focus on causes related to education. Employees support the foundation by making donations during our annual A Time to Give Campaign, or by participating in a Community Affairs Committee (CAC). Committees review grant applications and vote to distribute Foundation funds to deserving local causes. During the last financial year, the Foundation gave out 362 grants totaling $6.3 million.

Nordson Foundation Giving Strategies

The geographic areas in which Nordson has major facilities determine the Nordson Foundation's giving priorities.

Within these geographic areas, granting priorities are driven by community needs. Although needs change quickly, our vision is long term. We pursue and support results-oriented opportunities that prepare individuals for full and equal participation in the economic and social mainstream. We believe these kinds of programs help improve the quality of life over the long term and produce stronger, more enlightened communities in which we live and work. We strive to fulfill these responsibilities in our communities through contributions to charitable activities with a focus on education. Other major giving categories that are supported are human welfare, civic affairs and arts and culture. 

Nordson Foundation Values 

In the spirit of our corporate founders, the Nordson Corporation Foundation continues to operate on the belief that business, as a corporate citizen, has a social responsibility to share its success with the communities where it operates and draws employees.  

The Nordson Foundation is dedicated to improving our communities by supporting the continuum of education from birth to adulthood in the belief that education is the key for individuals to become self-sufficient, productive members of society.  

To prepare individuals for economic independence, a variety of quality educational experiences are necessary. To be successful today, individuals not only need to master the basics, “reading, writing and arithmetic”, they must also know how to think critically and creatively. Strengthening the community’s human capital – through quality education – is crucial.  

The Nordson Foundation offers support to non-profit organizations that cultivate educational curriculum and experiences that foster self-sufficiency, job readiness and goals to aspire to higher education. The Foundation is well aware of the fact that for non-profit organizations to remain viable they must receive operating support. With this in mind, Nordson Corporation Foundation does invest in general operating support.  

As stewards of the Foundation assets, the directors feel strongly that the organizations that are supported by the Foundation be able to measure the effectiveness of their mission and programs. Quantitative and/or qualitative data allows for the Foundation to ensure that the organizations it supports are bringing about the desired outcomes in our communities.

Nordson Foundation Goals

The goals of the Nordson Corporation Foundation are to insure that:

• All children have access to and receive quality educational experiences from early childhood  
• All individuals have the opportunity to be self-sufficient members of society 
• There is a continuum of quality educational opportunities 
• Our communities are strengthened by the organizations we fund whether their focus is education, human welfare, civic or arts and culture

Nordson Foundation Funding Strategy

Through its grant-making, the Foundation supports organizations that directly or indirectly seek to maximize success before, during and beyond the traditional classroom years. Grants will be reviewed and considered on the basis of their enrichment to the communities where our employees live and work. Organizations and programs receiving grants will be expected to identify relevant, measurable outcomes to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programs.

Education

• Early Childhood Care and Education
• Maximizing Student Success
• Access to quality educational opportunities
• Innovative programs
• Partnerships/collaborations with school districts
• Funding gaps not covered by public monies
• Augmenting core curriculum
• Exposure to programs that expand on traditional education
• Workforce Preparation
• Initial preparation for the world of work
• Retraining for the new job market
• Strengthening our communities

Human Welfare

• Promote prevention and lifestyle maintenance programs and activities
• Promote crisis intervention
• Promote life transition opportunities
• Promote systemic change

Arts and Culture

• Actively seek to broaden the audience bases in Nordson communities
• Support the visual and performing arts
• Provide educational enrichment for students
• Motivation for at-risk youth
• Provide access to the arts for special needs audience
• Promote greater understanding among people via the arts

Civic

• Work to improve the physical or economic environment
• Provide cultural or historical preservation
• Strive to inform citizens and increase their participation in community improvement