Community Sharing Fund
Grants That Change Lives
The Community Sharing Fund is how the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation responds to emergency needs in our community.
The Fund partners with more than 100 community organizations to identify families and individuals facing short-term financial setbacks. A small grant from the fund can prevent a tailspin that results in unemployment or homelessness.
2020 marked the 40th anniversary of this life-changing fund. Since 1980, the Fund has made more than 40,000 grants. It is a unique way for donors to have an immediate and direct impact that can stabilize a person’s life.
How Community Sharing Fund
Makes a Difference
Minnesota Compass reports that more than 22 percent of East Metro residents earn $35,000 or less, leaving many people unable to build emergency savings and unprepared to weather unexpected medical bills or job losses.
Community Sharing Fund is a unique emergency grant program that supports thousands of East Metro residents every year as they navigate financial setbacks. Through grants of up to $750, the Fund helps East Metro residents from all walks of life. Our clients are as diverse as the East Metro itself, and include individuals, families, young parents, retirees, homeowners, renters and employees from countless industries.
Apply Today
If you are a referring agency looking to apply for a grant from the Community Sharing Fund, visit our grant application page.
Donate Now
You can support this lifeline for Minnesotans by making a donation to the Community Sharing Fund. Donate today.
2023 Impact
Total granted into the community
Household members served
Average grant amount
Funded by the Community, for the Community
The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation underwrites the cost of all staff time associated with Community Sharing Fund. One hundred percent of outside foundation and individual support goes directly to the emergency grant pool and is distributed to individuals in need.
Corporate, foundation and other funding support comes from:
The Katherine B. Andersen Fund, F. R. Bigelow Foundation, The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation, Buuck Family Foundation, The Dawkins Family Fund, Ecolab Foundation, Edelstein Family Foundation, Donald and Patricia Garofalo, Hardenbergh Foundation, The John and Ruth Huss Fund, Mardag Foundation, Harold C. Meissner Fund, Otto Bremer Trust, Ramsey County Community Human Services, Securian Foundation, Ted and Ginnie Taylor Family Fund, The Paul Verret Community Sharing Fund Endowment, and many individual supporters
“A True Blessing”
Karen, a Community Sharing Fund grant recipient, said, “I live paycheck-to-paycheck raising my grandkids; their mother passed away. It’s hard and we struggle. I need my car to get to work because we aren’t on the bus line. When it broke down, I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. Getting a grant to fix it was the best thing in the world. I consider it a true blessing and appreciate it more than words can even say.”
You can support Minnesotans in need by making a donation to the Community Sharing Fund.