Our Goal
The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation seeks to strengthen quality of life in the East Metro and Greater Minnesota communities and support a vibrant Minnesota by supporting organizations, programs and initiatives that are informed by, formed by and benefit residents of the geography served.

Funding Priorities
To do this, our Responsive grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives serving the East Metro and Greater Minnesota doing work in:

• Community & Economic Development
• Health & Human Services
• Youth & Education

Type of Grants Offered

• Our Responsive grants can provide one of the following: General operating support, program/project support or capital support
• Grant amounts will be up to $50,000 per year for a period of one to three years

Eligibility

• 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
• Demonstrated commitment to the geography served

Our Goal

We seek to strengthen quality of life in the East Metro and Greater Minnesota and support a vibrant region by supporting organizations, programs and initiatives that:

• Adapt, transform and/or disrupt systems to achieve more equitable results
• Contribute to a sustainable, thriving and resilient arts ecosystem, or
• Contribute to a sustainable ecosystem that works to eliminate barriers and increase access to equitable, affordable, quality housing, and addresses homelessness

Funding Priorities
Organizations, programs or initiatives serving the East Metro and Greater Minnesota working to:

• Advance an Equitable Democracy
• Grow and Sustain an Inclusive Economy
• Support Community Resilience
• Strengthen the Arts & Culture Ecosystem
• Increase Access to Housing

Type of Grants Offered

• Grants will provide general operating support
• Grant amounts will be up to $100,000 per year for three to five years, for total grant amounts up to $500,000 per grantee

Eligibility

• 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
• Demonstrated commitment to the geography served

Our Goal
The goal of our Responsive grantmaking is to support solutions informed by, formed by and benefiting East Metro residents.

Funding Priorities
To do this, our responsive grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives in or serving, the East Metro (Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties) doing work in:

• Arts & Culture
• Housing
• Community & Economic Development
• Health
• Human Services
• Youth & Education

Type of Grants Offered

• Our Responsive grants can provide one of the following: General operating support, program/project support or capital support
• Grant amounts will be up to $50,000 per year for a period of one to two years

Eligibility

• 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
• Demonstrated commitment to the East Metro (Dakota, Ramsey and Washington counties)

Our Goal
Support BIPOC leaders in the East Metro to lead joyfully in culturally relevant ways and to have the resources to be creative, resilient, responsive and active in decision-making to increase their impact in the East Metro.

Funding Priorities

F. R. Bigelow Foundation advances its BIPOC leadership funding priority through a long-term partnership with LinkingLeaders – a coalition of African American Leadership Forum, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Latino LEAD and Tiwahe Foundation.

Through this partnership we advance BIPOC leadership through supporting leadership development, cohorts, training, networking, advocacy, efforts to incorporate culturally relevant practices into community leadership, and work to amplify BIPOC leaders in the region.

As our commitment to BIPOC leadership grows we will share opportunities for additional funding as they become available.

Our Goal

The goal of our System-level grantmaking is to support efforts to help systems adapt, transform and/or be disrupted to achieve more equitable results.

Funding Priorities
To do this we support organizations, programs or initiatives in or serving the East Metro working to:

• Address root causes of any issue impacting the East Metro (including, but not limited to, the six funding priorities of our Responsive grantmaking)
• This includes non-partisan activities such as advocacy, organizing, research, civic engagement, narrative change and/or storytelling, but does not include lobbying

Type of Grants Offered

System-level grants will offer general operating support grants of up to $500,000 per year for a one- to nine-year period.

Eligibility

• 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
• Demonstrated commitment to the geography served

Our Goal
The goal of our Responsive grantmaking is to support community-driven solutions to emergent needs in the East Metro and Greater Minnesota.

Funding Priorities
Food Access or Housing organizations that serve low-income children, youth, families and/or older adults from Native American/Indigenous or immigrant/refugee communities in the East Metro or Greater Minnesota, filling an unexpected emergency financial gap in response to:

• Natural, environmental and/or civic disasters
• Unexpected maintenance or repairs for buildings, vehicles, technology and/or equipment

Type of Grants Offered
Our Responsive Grants will offer one-time emergency support of $2,500 - $20,000 per grant depending on the need.

Eligibility

• An organization can only receive one Responsive emergency grant at a time from Mardag Foundation and must wait a full calendar year before being eligible for another
• Priority will be given to organizations that have not received a grant from this priority in the last 18 months
• 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
• Demonstrated commitment to the geography served with preference for organizations based in Minnesota

Beginning in 2026, Mardag Foundation will move away from its Arts & Culture funding priority. 2025 will be the last year of funding in this priority area. Beginning in 2026 organizations serving older adults will only be eligible in Mardag’s responsive grant process.

Our Goal

• Support organizations and programs that provide pathways to affordable, quality housing and/or are addressing homelessness
• Support organizations and programs that ensure access to food and address inequities in the food system

Funding Priorities

Systems change and/or direct service work to eliminate barriers and increase access to equitable housing opportunities for low-income immigrant/refugee or Native American/Indigenous children, youth and families in the East Metro and Greater Minnesota.

Systems change and/or direct service work to eliminate barriers and increase access to culturally relevant, healthy, affordable food for low-income immigrant/refugee or Native American/Indigenous children, youth and families in the East Metro and Greater Minnesota.

Type of Grants Offered

• Grants will be offered for general operating support or program support
• Grant amounts will be up to $100,000 per year for five years

Eligibility

• 501(c)3 nonprofits, government entities, educational institutions, groups working through an eligible fiscal sponsor
• Demonstrated commitment to the geography served with preference for organizations based in Minnesota

Beginning in 2026, Mardag Foundation will move away from its Arts & Culture funding priority. 2025 will be the last year of funding in this priority area. Beginning in 2026 organizations serving older adults will only be eligible in Mardag’s responsive grant process.

The ongoing social and economic impacts of the pandemic and structural racism have created new, or amplified existing, issues within our community. To respond to these needs, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation are exploring how, as grantmaking organizations, we can best disperse our community resources to address these issues and better realize the goals of each of our organizations.

The grantmaking redesign impacts funding priorities and processes for:

• Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation's Building Community Capacity grant program
• F. R. Bigelow Foundation’s application-based grant program
• Mardag Foundation’s application-based grant program

You can view detailed priorities for each Foundation in the grant program summaries on this webpage.

This redesign is focused only on our application-based grantmaking for the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s Building Community Capacity grant program, F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation.

Other Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation grant programs such as Community Sharing Fund, Management Improvement Fund and Bush Foundation grants will continue using their guidelines and processes as stated on the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation website.

Based on the input and guidance we received from community members and grantees, and supplemental research into the current and emerging issues facing our sector, beginning in 2026 each of the three Foundations will make grants using new application processes and updated funding priorities.

The New Processes

• Instead of one grant application process that happens twice each year, each Foundation’s new processes will offer two types of applications for grantseekers with a goal to provide more clarity, increased visibility into timelines and decision-making, and earlier insight into decisions.

• Each Foundation will no longer have just two grant rounds each year. Rather, the Foundations each have Responsive Grants, which is a rolling application process for specific funding priorities, and System-level Grants, which is an application process with set deadlines for other funding priorities.

• These new processes directly respond to perspectives provided by grantees and our Community Council, allowing us to lean into our organizational value of ‘Community is our compass.’

Updated Funding Priorities

• As is true now, each of the three Foundations will have distinct funding priorities for each application process. You can view the priorities and criteria for each Foundation on this webpage.

If you are a current grantee with a multi-year grant, those grants will continue to be paid out according to the terms in your terms of grant agreement.

While nothing about the funding priorities for any of the three Foundations will change in 2025, to create the capacity our staff needs to operationalize these changes, the three Foundations will each implement transitional grant rounds in 2025.

We encourage you to email a member of the Grants Team regarding your eligibility for a grant in 2025. If you have a general inquiry, please email CommunityImpact@spmcf.org.

The grant redesign will not affect current grantees with multi-year grants. Those grants will continue to be paid out according to the terms in your terms of grant agreement.

First, the Grants Team will review each Foundation’s applicants and grantees from 2022-2024 to determine how current grantees will be affected by the updated funding priorities, and work with identified organizations to submit simplified applications. These grants will be approved in May 2025.

Beginning in June, our team will conduct a review of ongoing or emerging needs and identify any additional organizations eligible for transitional grants. This round of grants will be approved in November 2025.

We will not have an open application round in 2025. Our new application processes and funding priorities will take effect in 2026, and we anticipate our next open application grant round will take place early that year.

For any immediate questions not addressed on the website or in the FAQs, you can email CommunityImpact@spmcf.org.

Beginning in 2026, the funding priorities for each application process for each Foundation will be:

Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s Responsive Grants

Our Responsive grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives serving the East Metro and Greater Minnesota doing work in:

• Community & Economic Development
• Health & Human Services
• Youth & Education

Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s System-level Grants

Our System-level grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives serving the East Metro and Greater Minnesota working to:

• Advance an Equitable Democracy
• Grow and Sustain an Inclusive Economy
• Support Community Resilience
• Strengthen the Arts & Culture Ecosystem
• Increase Access to Housing

F. R. Bigelow Foundation's Responsive Grants

Our Responsive grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives in or serving the East Metro doing work in:

• Arts & Culture
• Housing
• Community & Economic Development
• Health
• Human Services
• Youth & Education 

F. R. Bigelow Foundation’s System-level Grants

Our System-level grantmaking will address root causes of any issue impacting the East Metro (including, but not limited to, the six funding priorities in our Responsive grantmaking).

Currently F. R. Bigelow Foundation advances its BIPOC Leadership funding priority through a long-term partnership with LinkingLeaders – a coalition of African American Leadership Forum, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Latino LEAD and Tiwahe Foundation.

Mardag Foundation’s Responsive Grants

Our Responsive grants will be for Food Access or Housing organizations that serve low-income children, youth, families and/or older adults from Native American/Indigenous or immigrant/refugee communities in the East Metro or Greater Minnesota. Grants will support unexpected expenses related to:

• Natural, environmental and/or civic disasters
• Unexpected maintenance or repairs for buildings, vehicles, technology and/or equipment

One-third of Mardag’s emergency grant funding will go to the East Metro and two-thirds will go to Greater Minnesota each calendar year.

Mardag Foundation’s System-level Grants

• Systems change and/or direct service work to eliminate barriers and increase access to equitable housing opportunities for low-income immigrant/refugee or Native American/Indigenous children, youth and families in the East Metro (one-third of funding) and Greater Minnesota (two-thirds of funding)

• Systems change and/or direct service work to eliminate barriers and increase access to culturally relevant, healthy, affordable food for low-income immigrant/refugee or Native American/Indigenous children, youth and families in the East Metro (one-third of funding) and Greater Minnesota (two-thirds of funding)

Beginning in 2026, Mardag Foundation will move away from its Arts & Culture priority. 2025 will be the last year of funding in this priority area. Beginning in 2026 organizations serving older adults will only be eligible in Mardag’s Responsive grants process. For information on transitional grants for Arts & Culture organizations, please reach out to Sharon DeMark at Sharon.DeMark@spmcf.org.

Instead of one grant application process that happens twice each year, each Foundation’s new processes will offer two types of applications for grantseekers.

Clarifying our application processes and funding priorities will help our Grants Team provide more detailed instructions, earlier denials when applicable, and more specific and concrete criteria for grantseekers. It also allows our team to be more creative, flexible and responsive to community needs.

Work to build out our new application processes will begin in 2025. We anticipate posting detailed guidelines and application information late in 2025, with the first applications due and grants made using the updated processes and funding priorities in 2026.

We are committed to making this transition as transparent and smooth as possible. You can expect ongoing updates, with more insights on the application process and opportunities to engage via information sessions the closer we get to our new application processes going live. In the meantime, for the latest updates, sign up for our enews.

Each Foundation will no longer have just two grant rounds each year. Rather, the Foundations each have Responsive Grants, which is a rolling application process for specific funding priorities, and System-level Grants, which is an application process with set deadlines for separate funding priorities.

Responsive Grants

This rolling deadline process will provide grants within select funding priorities for each Foundation to support ongoing, urgent, emergent and timely community opportunities. We anticipate making decisions quarterly. We will share guidelines for these grants late in 2025 and will begin making Responsive grants in 2026.

System-level Grants

Each Foundation will allocate a percentage of their annual giving for fewer, but larger, general operating, one- to nine-year grants for select funding priorities. We anticipate opening a grant round for this type of process early in 2026. Given the nature and length of these grants we will return to conducting site visits and anticipate the first set of these multi-year grants will be approved late in 2026.

Work to build out our new application processes will begin in 2025. We anticipate posting detailed guidelines and application information late in 2025, with the first applications due and grants made using the new processes and updated funding priorities in 2026.

You can expect ongoing updates throughout this process, with more details the closer we get to any changes taking effect.

We anticipate posting detailed guidelines and application information late in 2025, with the first applications due and grants made using the new processes and updated funding priorities in 2026.

As many organizations know, in 2025 the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation will partner with 3M for its local grantmaking in Arts, Housing, Food and Youth. We know that organizations that have recently received funding from both the Foundation and 3M have questions about eligibility and overlap of grant terms. We are reviewing the list of overlapping grantees and will communicate eligibility and instructions in early December.

This work was informed by a nine-person Community Council. In addition to the guidance provided by the Community Council, we also sourced input from five community feedback sessions held in September 2024. The input and guidance we received from the Community Council and grantees, and supplemental research into the current and emerging issues facing our sector, informed each Foundation’s updated processes and funding priorities.

We’d like to thank our Community Council, made up of representatives from our local and statewide community, for their insights and guidance in this work.

We will provide updates as we have them via our enewsletter and on this page. For any immediate questions not addressed on the website or in the FAQs, you can email CommunityImpact@spmcf.org.