# Minneapolis Foundation *Minnesota community foundation, founded 1915, EIN 41-6029402.* The Minneapolis Foundation is a Minnesota [[Community foundation]] founded in 1915 under EIN 41-6029402. A validated 2026 record names it, with the [[Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation]], as one of the state's two largest community foundations.[^1] The Foundation's total assets were $1,185,664,206 for the fiscal year ending March 2025, a figure the record takes from its Form 990 filings.[^1][^2] The record documents the Foundation in three roles. It administers donor-advised funds and a tier of Signature Funds. In 1998 it received a gift of up to $30 million that was funded by Minnesota tobacco-litigation legal fees. In 2025 it sued the [[Environmental justice|]]EPA over terminated grantmaker funds.[^4][^7][^9] On June 17, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland found the EPA's termination of the Foundation's Environmental Justice grantmaker award arbitrary and capricious. The judge ordered $180 million restored across three grantmakers.[^9][^10] ## History The Foundation's legal form is the [[Cleveland Foundation Model]]. [[Frederick Goff]] devised that model at the [[Cleveland Trust Company]] on January 2, 1914. It reached Minnesota as a product line of bank trust departments. Twelve community foundations were founded in 1915, the year of the Foundation's founding. In 1920 the [[American Bankers Association]]'s Trust Company Section created a permanent Committee on Community Trusts.[^3] The record does not establish which banks served as the Foundation's founding trustees. The merged master lists that question as unresolved.[^1] On October 6, 1998, the law firm Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi announced a gift of up to $30 million to the Foundation. The firm's release describes the gift as "funded by Minnesota tobacco-litigation legal fees" and quotes the Foundation calling it "the largest we've ever received." The gift was made through a supporting organization bearing the firm's name, the [[RKMC Foundation for Children]].[^4] Hennepin County Administrator Vargas became the Foundation's chief executive in 2007. Minneapolis Mayor Rybak became chief executive in 2016 and was still serving as of June 2026.[^5] The Foundation's FY2017 Form 990 lists "(25) PEGGY FLANAGAN, TRUSTEE." [[Peggy Flanagan]] was then a sitting state representative, and she was elected Lieutenant Governor in November 2018.[^5][^6] ## Funds and governance The Foundation's 2025 Donor Advised Fund Policies cover funds whose gifts are described as "irrevocable." The policies state that the Foundation holds "exclusive legal control" over those funds.[^7] Above the donor-advised funds sits a tier of Signature Funds of $1 million or more. In the policy's words, these funds are "registered as assumed names of the Minneapolis Foundation, allowing grants to be issued in the name of the Signature Fund without reference to the Minneapolis Foundation."[^7] The record also contains two figures on donor-advised giving. A former board chair of the Foundation put an "80% DAF" figure on the record (Civic Caucus, 2016). Donor-advised funds are exempt from the 5% payout floor that binds private foundations.[^7] Federal law requires a [[Variance power]]. Treasury Regulation 26 C.F.R. §1.170A-9(f)(11) conditions community-foundation tax treatment on that power. Under it, the governing body may modify a restriction on the distribution of funds if the restriction becomes, in its sole judgment, "unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment, or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community." The Foundation's 2025 policies carry the regulation's three conditions nearly verbatim.[^8] The merged master records that community foundations fall outside the Legislative Auditor's jurisdiction and that their only audits are self-procured.[^1] The Foundation publishes its audited financial statements and Forms 990, including an FY2011 audit and Forms 990 for FY2023 and FY2025.[^11][^12][^2] ## Public programs The record documents the Foundation administering public programs at three levels of government:[^9] - **City.** It ran the [[35W disaster fund]], which the mayor requested. - **State.** It co-administered the [[Main Street Economic Revitalization appropriation]] with LISC, Meda and [[Propel Nonprofits]]. It also documented a "small grants → large public-dollar outcomes" leverage strategy, which credited about $238 million in appropriations. - **Federal.** In December 2023 it took on an EPA Environmental Justice grantmaker role for Region 5. ## Active matters **[[Minneapolis Foundation et al. v. EPA (Environmental Justice grantmaker terminations)]]** (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland; filed April 2025). - **Termination.** The EPA terminated the Region 5 Environmental Justice grantmaker funds in early 2025. - **Suit.** The Foundation and two co-grantmakers sued in April 2025. - **Ruling.** On June 17, 2025, the court found the termination arbitrary and capricious and ordered $180 million restored across the three grantmakers.[^9] The Foundation announced the ruling as a decision in favor of the regional grantmakers.[^10] The record gives three figures for the Foundation's share of the award: $50 million announced in December 2023, $52 million on the Foundation's own program page, and $60 million at litigation. The merged master reconciles the last figure as $180 million divided among three recipients.[^9] The Star Tribune reported that the EPA must unfreeze $60 million awarded to the Foundation.[^13] The filed court documents are not in the record, so the case's status is stated as of June 17, 2025. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The Foundation is one of two community foundations named as Minnesota's largest; the other is the [[Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation]].[^1] - It has had at least two chief executives who came from public office: Vargas in 2007 and Rybak in 2016.[^5] - Its FY2017 Form 990 lists Peggy Flanagan as a trustee.[^6] ### What - The Foundation administers donor-advised funds and Signature Funds of $1 million or more, under its 2025 Donor Advised Fund Policies.[^7] ### When - The Foundation was founded in 1915.[^1] - The Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi gift was announced on October 6, 1998.[^4] - The Foundation took on the EPA grantmaker role in December 2023.[^9] - The EPA terminated the funds in early 2025, and the Foundation sued in April 2025.[^9] - The court ruled on June 17, 2025.[^9] ### Why - Federal regulation (26 C.F.R. §1.170A-9(f)(11)) conditions community-foundation tax treatment on the variance power.[^8] ### How - Signature Fund grants may be issued in the fund's name without reference to the Foundation.[^7] ### How much - Total assets were $1,185,664,206 for the fiscal year ending March 2025.[^1][^2] - The two largest community foundations together hold about $3.1 billion on the stewardship basis. Their EIN-level Forms 990 show about $2.8 billion; the difference is partner-foundation assets under management.[^1] - The 1998 gift was up to $30 million.[^4] ### How many - The Foundation and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation together grant about $230 million a year.[^1] ## See also - [[Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation]] - [[Cleveland Foundation Model]] - [[Signature Fund]] - [[Otto Bremer Trust]] ## Notes [^1]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (validated June 10–12, 2026) — the Foundation's EIN 41-6029402, its 1915 founding and its standing as one of Minnesota's two largest community foundations; total assets of $1,185,664,206 for the fiscal year ending March 2025, taken from Forms 990; the $3.1B stewardship-basis and $2.8B EIN-basis combined figures; $230 million in combined annual grants; community foundations outside Legislative Auditor jurisdiction; founding trustee banks listed as an open item. [^2]: Minneapolis Foundation, *TMF FY2025 IRS Form 990 (Public)* (2026) — the Foundation's filed return for FY2025. https://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TMF-FY2025-IRS-Form-990-Public.pdf [^3]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (2026) — the Cleveland Foundation Model (Goff, Cleveland Trust Co., January 2, 1914); twelve community foundations founded in 1915; the ABA Trust Company Section's Committee on Community Trusts in 1920. [^4]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (2026), citing the Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi release of October 6, 1998 — the gift of up to $30 million funded by Minnesota tobacco-litigation fees, the RKMC Foundation for Children, and "the largest we've ever received." [^5]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (2026) — Vargas as CEO from 2007; Rybak as CEO from 2016 and still serving in June 2026; Flanagan as trustee on the FY2017 Form 990, then a state representative, elected Lieutenant Governor in November 2018. [^6]: Minneapolis Foundation, *TMF FY2017 Form 990* (2017) — Peggy Flanagan listed as trustee. http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/TMF_FY2017_Form990.pdf [^7]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (2026), quoting the Minneapolis Foundation's *2025 Donor Advised Fund Policies* (verified verbatim against the policy PDF) — gifts "irrevocable"; "exclusive legal control"; Signature Fund assumed-name language; the "80% DAF" figure (Civic Caucus, 2016); the exemption of donor-advised funds from the 5% payout. [^8]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (2026) — the text of 26 C.F.R. §1.170A-9(f)(11) (verified against eCFR) and the 2025 policies' tracking of its three conditions. [^9]: How Minnesota Got Here (merged master, footnoted), *How Minnesota Got Here* (2026) — the 35W disaster fund; Main Street Economic Revitalization co-administration; the December 2023 EPA Region 5 role; the early-2025 termination; the April 2025 suit (D. Md.); the June 17, 2025 ruling ordering $180 million restored; the $50M/$52M/$60M award reconciliation. [^10]: Minneapolis Foundation, *Federal court rules in favor of regional grantmakers* — the Foundation's announcement of the ruling. https://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/stories/climate/federal-court-rules-in-favor-of-regional-grantmakers/ [^11]: Minneapolis Foundation, *TMF FY2011 Audit* — the Foundation's audited statements for FY2011. https://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/TMF_FY2011_Audit.pdf [^12]: Minneapolis Foundation, *TMF FY2023 IRS Form 990 (Public)* (2024) — the Foundation's filed return for FY2023. http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/TMF-FY2023-IRS-Form-990-Public.pdf [^13]: Star Tribune, *EPA must unfreeze $60 million awarded to Minneapolis Foundation, judge rules* (2025) — news report of the $60 million figure. https://www.startribune.com/epa-must-unfreeze-60-million-awarded-to-minneapolis-foundation-judge-rules/601375267