The Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) today released its Giving in Minnesota, 2013 Edition research, the most comprehensive analysis of charitable giving in the state. The research shows that foundations and corporations granted $1.7 billion in 2011*, an increase of 14.7 percent over the prior year.
Total charitable giving by individuals, foundations and corporations in Minnesota reached $5.5 billion in 2011, a 3.4-percent rise from 2010. Individuals donated $3.8 billion, 70 percent of Minnesota’s overall charitable giving.
Grantmaking by Margaret A. Cargill Foundation Boosts Totals
“New giving by the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation accounted for much of the increase in foundation giving,” says Trista Harris, MCF president. “But even without that, Minnesota grantmaking rose 5 percent to an all-time high.”
Margaret A. Cargill Foundation grantmaking rose from $10 million in 2010 to $142 million in 2011. The unprecedented growth was due, in part, to the foundation paying out multi-year commitments to a large number of nonprofits, according to Sallie Gaines, Margaret A. Cargill spokesperson.
“A portion of the increase was due to this one-time satisfaction of multi-year pledges to about 475 grantees,” Gaines explains. Preliminary data show that Margaret A. Cargill Foundation grantmaking settled back to about $42 million in 2012.
Education Continues to Receive Largest Share of Grant Dollars
The one-time Margaret A. Cargill grantmaking dramatically boosted giving in six of eight subject areas in 2011, but overall subject area rankings did not change from the previous year.
Education continued to receive the largest share (28 percent), followed by human services (21 percent) and public affairs/society benefit (17 percent). Notes Harris, “Minnesota grantmakers are dedicated to supporting education, which is so critical at this time when our state is grappling with one of the largest racial achievement gaps in the nation.”
Half of Giving Stays in State
In 2011, 47 percent of Minnesota grantmaking dollars went to organizations and programs serving the state. A similar amount was distributed to groups serving other parts of the U.S., and 4 percent was given to support international causes.
“Seventy percent of corporate grant dollars went out of state, reflecting businesses’ goals of supporting their headquarters’ communities as well as other parts of the nation and world where they have facilities and customers,” explains Harris.
Corporate grantmaking is vital in Minnesota. In 2011, company foundations and giving programs comprised just 9 percent of the state’s 1,465 grantmakers, but they gave 43 percent of all grant dollars. By contrast, private foundations made up 85 percent of Minnesota’s grantmakers and gave 42 percent of all 2011 grant dollars. Community and public foundations accounted for the remaining 15 percent of giving.
*The 2011 research year, the most recent time period for which complete data are available, includes financial information from foundations and corporate giving programs with fiscal years ending between June 1, 2011, and May 31, 2012.
Additional Data Available
MCF determines trends in giving by subject area and geographies served by analyzing grants of $2,000 or more made by a sample of 100 of Minnesota’s largest grantmakers. In 2011, MCF coded 27,575 grants totaling $1.16 billion or about two-thirds of the state’s total philanthropic giving for the year.
A PDF summary of the Giving in Minnesota, 2013 Edition report is here. For additional details on subject areas, geographies, beneficiaries, type of support and long-term trends in the state’s charitable giving, view a PDF of the full Giving in Minnesota, 2013 Edition report. You’ll find it all at www.mcf.org/research/giving.
