MN Forward Pooled Fund Grant Program
Grants from the MN Forward Pooled Fund will emphasize efforts created and led by communities impacted by the short- and long-term effects brought on by federal shifts.
Program Overview
This new grant program for organizations and coalitions with annual or program budgets of $3 million or less will accept applications from Monday, May 5 at 12 p.m. — Thursday, May 22 at 4 p.m.
Grants will be a set amount of $50,000 per grantee. Grants are available in two categories:
Fortify Grants
Fortify Grants will support the strategic planning and response efforts of organizations and coalitions/collaboratives as they address effects brought on by federal shifts.
Fortify Grants will support*:
- Multi-stakeholder planning or strategy development
- Scenario planning
- Ecosystem mapping
- Training, cohorts, leadership development
- Merger, acquisition, closure, entity creation exploration and planning
- Convening & collaboration
- Planning community safety & security
- Growing digital/technological resiliency
- Rest, care, healing for impacted leaders
* Fortify Grants do NOT need to be for brand new work that has only recently emerged; however, the fund seeks to support work that is explicitly focused on Minnesotans directly impacted by effects brought on by federal shifts since January of 2025. For example, your group may already conduct leadership development cohorts, and you have recently shifted program content to focus on effects of recent federal shifts.
Futuring Grants
Futuring Grants will support organizations and coalitions/collaboratives building for futures beyond the current moment with 10-, 20-, and 30-year visions where impacted communities are leading and thriving.
Future Planning Grants will support:
- Protecting current civil liberties, documenting/archiving current democratic practices for future use and/or growing efforts that advance a multiracial participatory democracy
- Systems change, building alternative structures and imagining/co-creating the future of civil society and/or community care infrastructure
- Developing, experimenting, growing, maintaining and/or returning to culturally specific practices/ways of being
Grant Guidelines
Eligibility
Grants are available for Minnesota-based, Minnesota-serving organizations and/or coalitions/collaboratives with an annual budget of $3 million or less. (For coalitions/collaboratives this refers to the budget of the collaborative effort not the total budgets of all participating groups.)
Eligible organization types include 501c3, 501c4 and 501c6 organizations, LLCs that provide services to nonprofits, groups with a fiscal sponsor, and tribal government programs with program budgets of $3 million or less.
Not eligible
- Religious organizations for expressly religious purposes
- Efforts that are duplicative of work funded by MN Legal Fund hosted by Minnesota Council on Foundations and MN LEAD hosted by the Black Collective Foundation MN
- Proposals to fill budget gaps/replace government grants due to federal changes
Priorities
The MN Forward Pooled Fund will emphasize efforts created and led by communities impacted by the short- and long-term effects brought on by federal shifts.
Priority for groups supporting multiple organizations or leaders. Emphasis placed on applications that demonstrate impacted communities and geographies are in leadership, have informed and formed the process and solution, will benefit from the effort being funded.
Grants are available to groups working across many disciplines including but not limited to:
- Advocacy
- Organizing
- Services
- Capacity building
- Training/facilitation
- Arts & culture
- Healing
Geography
Grants from the MN Forward Pooled Fund are for Minnesota-based efforts created by and for Minnesotans impacted by effects brought on by current federal shifts. At least 30% of grants awarded will be for proposals led by rural communities.
Grant Size
$50,000 per grantee
Grant Terms
At present the pooled fund has at least $1 million available for funding this round. We expect grants will be paid in June of 2025. Grant duration is flexible based on proposed work.
Contact
Nikki Finley and Anaïs Deal-Marquez
communityimpact@spmcf.org
Accessibility
Interpreter services can be made available on request. Team members are available to take a limited number of applications over the phone. Groups interested in submitting verbally in English over the phone should schedule with Nikki Finley by emailing communityimpact@spmcf.org no later than May 20.
Application Process
There are three steps to apply for a grant from the MN Forward Pooled Fund. Download a preview of the application.
1. Answer the pre-qualifying questions to determine eligibility.
- Your group is led by and serving communities directly impacted by effects brought on by current federal shifts
- Your group has a current operating budget of $3 million or less (for collaboratives/coalitions: this is your collaboration budget, not the sum of all participating groups’ budgets. For tribal governments: this refers to the program’s budget, not the entire tribal government’s budget)
- Your group is based in Minnesota and/or the Native Nations that share the same geography, focused on Minnesota, at least 50% community served in Minnesota and/or the Native Nations that share the same geography
2. If all are Yes, then select the target community you’re applying within.
You may only select one target community from the following: Twin Cities Metro, Greater Minnesota or Native-led and Native-serving organizations. If an organization is in multiple locations, you should choose the target community that most closely reflects the community or impact associated with your proposal.
- Twin Cities Metro - Organizations located within the seven counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington
- Greater Minnesota - Organizations located outside the 7-County Metro Area
- Native-led, Native-serving Organizations - Native-led organizations or tribal governments that serve Native communities within Minnesota and the 11 Native Nations that share the same geography. Organizations must have at least 51% of the Board of Directors and Senior Leadership identifying as Native to be considered Native-led
3. After you’ve confirmed your eligibility and identified your target community, you can move on to the application questions.
- Group Name
- Group Type
- EIN or Tax ID Number
- Fiscal Sponsor Name and EIN or Tax ID Number (if applicable)
- Applicant Contact Information
- Organization Mailing Address
- Which grant category are you applying for? (Fortify Grant or Futuring Grant)
- Describe the focus of the proposed work. Describe what you're hoping to achieve through this funding. (2000 character max)
- Describe how this effort came to be (we are particularly interested in who was consulted/engaged, how decisions are made, and how you're considering implications of the decisions, including who is affected and how they're affected). (2000 character max)
- Date by which you plan to use funds (all funds must be used by Dec. 31, 2026)
- Please add me to the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation email list to receive updates about other programs and resources (yes, no)
- MN Forward Pooled Fund applicant information will be shared with institutional donors to facilitate coordination (check to confirm)
- MN Forward will ask grantees to participate in post-grant reflection to document our shared learning. This may be a short/simple written narrative, or a survey, or an interview, or a facilitated group gathering. Details will be determined in collaboration with grantees before decisions are made on the exact approach. (check to confirm)
Timeline
Applications Open at 12 p.m.
Applications Close at 4 p.m.
Grant Recipients Selected
All applicants will be notified of status by late June
Selection Process
Grantees will be selected using the following process:
- We will initially screen all applications for eligibility. Staff will review submitted applications to ensure alignment with program purpose, eligibility requirements, priorities and geographic requirements. Those that do not meet purpose, eligibility, priorities and geography will not move forward.
*Applicants with a fiscal sponsor that are identified to move forward in the process will be contacted to request a Fiscal Sponsor Agreement form be filled out and returned. - All applications that meet purpose, eligibility, priorities and geography review will be sorted into groupings based on Target Community and Grant Type. Example: All the Greater Minnesota Fortify grants will be grouped together.
- To facilitate fairness in the selection process, we will use a randomizer tool to select 40-50 applications, accounting for Target Community and Grant Type. This pool of applications will be further reviewed by MN Forward members to ensure 20-30 grantees represent a diversity of geographies, communities, issues and organization types.
- Staff will conduct due diligence (a check on the entity or fiscal sponsor’s tax status).
- All applicants will be notified of status by email by the end of June.
Allocation Example
This chart shows an example of how $1 million could be allocated to 20 grantees across Target Communities and Grant Types.
Twin Cities | Greater Minnesota | Native-led/Native-serving | |
Fortify Grants Goal: 60% of dollars | $300,000 6 grantees at $50,000 each | $150,000 3 grantees at $50,000 each | $150,000 3 grantees at $50,000 each |
Futuring Grants Goal: 40% of dollars | $200,000 4 grantees at $50,000 each | $100,000 2 grantees at $50,000 each | $100,000 2 grantees at $50,000 each |
About the MN Forward Pooled Fund
The MN Forward Pooled Fund is a collaborative fund with contributions from several contributing members focused on supporting near-term & long-term responses led by impacted communities.
Contributing Members
- Bush Foundation
- F. R. Bigelow Foundation
- Greater Twin Cities United Way
- Mardag Foundation
- McKnight Foundation
- Minneapolis Foundation
- Margaret A. Cargill Foundation Donor Advised Fund of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation
- Mortenson Family Foundation
- Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation
- Several Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation fundholders
Pooled funds are housed with the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and the grant program is staffed by the Foundation’s Grants Team.