The Initiative Foundation offers two grant opportunities designed to strengthen nonprofits serving Central Minnesota.
Donor Name: Initiative Foundation
State: Minnesota
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/27/2026
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Together, these grants support both immediate, short-term stabilization and urgent response, and long-term organizational strengthening and sustainability.
Tracks
- Track 1: Emerging Needs Grants
- Emerging Needs Grants provide flexible, rapid-response funding for nonprofits facing an unexpected challenge, sudden funding loss, or urgent community need. These grants help organizations stabilize quickly, adapt services, and continue meeting essential needs across Central Minnesota.
- Track 2: Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants
- Capacity Building Grants support strategic efforts that strengthen a nonprofit’s effectiveness and long-term sustainability. Capacity building focuses on long-term improvements rather than day-to-day service delivery.
Funding Priorities (Both Tracks)
- Demonstrate deep and meaningful impact for residents in the Initiative Foundation’s service region
- Serve communities often left out of traditional funding
- Align with one or more key service focus areas: basic needs, economic programs, support for individuals impacted by crime or discrimination, and non-clinical mental health/substance use services
- The Initiative Foundation works to award funding across the service region.
Funding Information
- Track 1: Emerging Needs Grants: Up to $5,000
- Track 2: Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants: Up to $10,000.
Service Region (Both Tracks)
Eligible organizations must operate in the Initiative Foundation service region: Benton, Cass, Chisago, Crow Wing, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, Wadena, and Wright counties, and the portions of the Native Nations of the Leech Lake and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe that lie within these counties.
Eligibility Criteria
- For Track 1: Emerging Needs Grants
- Must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (fiscal sponsorships are not eligible)
- Must currently work in the Initiative Foundation’s 14-county service region and eligible Native Nations areas
- Must have a minimum of three years of continuous programming
- Must have previous fiscal year actual expenses between $100,000 and $2 million.
- For Track 2: Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants
- Must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (government entities and public schools are not eligible; fiscal sponsorships are not eligible)
- Must currently work in the Initiative Foundation’s 14-county service region and eligible Native Nations areas
- Must have a minimum of three years of continuous programming
- Must have previous fiscal year actual expenses below $2 million
- Must provide services in basic needs, economic programs, support for individuals impacted by crime or discrimination, and/or non-clinical mental health and substance use services.
For more information, visit Initiative Foundation.
