Minnesota Council on Foundations Blog – Philanthropy Potluck

The latest Minnesota Council on Foundations Giving in Minnesota report shows that individuals, foundations and corporate giving programs gave $5.1 billion in 2005, up 2 percent from the previous year.

GIM looks at overall giving numbers, then looks in-depth at the 100 largest state grantmakers to analyze data by subject area, geographic area, intended beneficiary and support type, and makes comparisons to national giving. Key findings:

• Individuals gave 6.8 percent more in 2005, increasing to $4.1 billion.
• Foundation and corporate giving held relatively steady at $1.02 billion.
• Education remains a priority among Minnesota grantmakers, but for only the second time since 1984, it wasn’t the top subject area. Human services — which includes Public Protection: Crime and Delinquency Prevention, Legal Administration and Legal Services, Employment/Jobs, Food, Nutrition and Agriculture, Housing/Shelter, Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness and Relief, Youth Development, and Multipurpose Human Services — received 25 percent of Minnesota grantmaking dollars, while Education was second at 21 percent.
• In 2005, Minnesota was home to 1,378 active grantmakers, an increase of 2.8 percent from 1,341 in 2004.
• Foundation assets grew by 7.3 percent. Since growth in a foundation’s assets in one year can lead to an increase in that foundation’s grantmaking a year or more in the future, this increase could be an indication of higher grant dollars in a few years.
• Because of disaster relief funding, the Human Services category received the largest share of the state’s 2005 grant dollars at 25 percent.

The full report is available in HTML and PDF format. A six-page summary is also available as a PDF; printed copies are available for $5 each.

• More information
• Giving in Minnesota, 2007 Edition