Target tops Minnesota’s grantmaking list with $146 million in 2011

The Minnesota Council on Foundations is out with its annual list of top grantmakers, and the top three on the list all gave more than $100 million.

The rankings, which cover 2011 grants, show the top five:

• Target Foundation and Corp. ($146.1 million)
• The McKnight Foundation ($102.9 million)
• General Mills Foundation and Corp. ($102.7 million)
• The St. Paul Foundation and Minnesota Community Foundation ($70.3 million)
• Cargill and The Cargill Foundation ($63.0 million)

MCF officials said this is the first time the top three givers have each given over $100 million.

Bill King, MCF president, said: “And cash giving by the top 50 grantmakers totaled more than $1 billion, indicating that despite the slow economic recovery, philanthropy in Minnesota continues to be a significant and ongoing source of support for nonprofits and the community.”

Forty-four of the top 50 were on the 2010 list, and those 44 increased their giving by 10 percent.

“The 10-percent increase in grant dollars paid by top grantmakers is great news for our state’s nonprofits and its residents,” King said. “Since grantmakers tend to base grants paid on multi-year averages of previous asset levels, we can see the impact of the deep downturn in 2008 and 2009 starting to tail off.”

The group organized its rankings by:

• Top 50 Minnesota Grantmakers by Grants Paid (PDF)
• Top 50 Minnesota Grantmakers by Assets (PDF)
• Top 25 Minnesota Private Foundations (PDF)
• Top 25 Minnesota Corporate Grantmakers (PDF)
• Top 25 Minnesota Community/Public Foundations (PDF)
• Noncash Contributions by Corporate Grantmakers (PDF).