Bush Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Bush Foundation supports community improvement, capacity building, human services, public benefit, arts and culture, education, environment, health, and media and communication in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

IP TAKE: The Bush Foundation has “embraced a power-sharing model” where “community partners” take the lead in designing grant programs, evaluate applicants and regrant dollars. This strategy has led to increased transparency, something in evidence on the foundation’s website, where grantseekers can find detailed breakdowns of grants and opportunities and a searchable database of previous grantees. Deadlines and guidelines vary by program, so new grantseekers will want to read over their program’s description carefully before applying.

Notably, the foundation has declared its commitment to Native nations in the Upper Midwest and takes an equity approach to its grantmaking. This is an accessible funder that provides several different avenues of contact.

PROFILE: Established in 1953, the Bush Foundation is a private foundation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. This is the foundation of Archibald and Edyth Bush, who had no children and created the foundation to inherit their $300 million estate. Archibald Bush was a top executive of the 3M company, and the foundation’s income is largely derived from 3M stock. The foundation aims to “inspire and support creative problem solving, within and across sectors, to make our region better for everyone.” It funds local efforts for community improvement, capacity building, human services, public benefit, arts and culture, education, environment, health, media and communication, and other community needs.

Grants for BIPOC, Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights, and Community Development

The Bush Foundation focuses its grantmaking around two main topics: community innovation and leadership. Overall, this foundation has an equity mission and looks to prioritize diversity and inclusion. Grants typically support projects that address community issues in a way that is inclusive, collaborative, and resourceful.

The foundation’s four key grant programs seek to “develop, test and spread great ideas that will make the region better for everyone; and inspire, equip and connect people to more effectively lead change,” and they include:

  • Bush Prize is the foundation’s signature program, operated by four partner organizations. It awards grants that “are up to 25% of an organization’s most recent fiscal year expenses, with a maximum of $500,000.”

  • Community Innovation grants work to make a transformative impact on local communities. Grant amounts start at $20,000, with no upward limit.

  • Bush Fellowship provide up to $100,000 of support for up to 24 community leaders annually.  

  • Ecosystem Grants provide up to $450,000 over three years in operating support to established organizations that are “recognized in their communities as helpful resources.”

In addition to these four core programs, the foundation also provides several further grant opportunities that are operated and administered through partner organizations, a strategy that tries “to meet the partner where they are without imposing [the Bush Foundation’s] perspective.” These grants and opportunities include:

  • Beyond Idea Grants give between $5,000 to $10,000 to projects that “demonstrate meaningful investment and engagement in South Dakota communities.”

  • Change Networks supports community leaders in the Dakotas with cohort-based training, coaching and mentorship. They also receive $5,000 to go toward projects which impact “the individual’s organization in positive and significant ways.”

  • Collective Abundance Fund awards are for $25,000 to $50,000 and go to Indigenous individuals and families in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota to help rebuild Indigenous wealth.

  • Creative Community Leadership Institute is “a cohort-based learning space for artists, culture bearers, community organizers, and other leaders who want to deepen their impact through creative community building.” Institute participants receive training and $500 to put toward a “micro-project.”

  • Creative Community Solutions supports North Dakota leaders with up to $300,000 over 6 years to put toward projects serving and solving problems for the local community.

  • FINNOVATION Fellowship supports Minnesota entrepreneurs with training and support, dedicated space at FINN Lab, a $50,000 stipend, and $3,000 towards health care.

  • Initiators Fellowship provides “early-stage” Minnesota entrepreneurs with individual and cohort-based training, and mentoring and guidance. Fellows receive a $30,000 annual stipend.

  • Media Sponsorships program provides nonprofit media organizations with $5,000 to $50,000 to support community problem solving in the region.

  • Partnership Fund offers grants up to $150,000 to address unusual situations not covered by other programs, such as maximizing “efforts that help attract resources to the region” or responding “to important community needs.”

  • Good Relatives Collaborative Grants provide Native-led or Native-serving organizations in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota with flexible, responsive grants of $20,000 to $60,000. Grantees must have operating budgets under $500,000. 

  • Open Road Fund provides $50,000 grants to “descendants of the Atlantic Slave Trade” to help build generational wealth. Applicants must reside in Minnesota, North Dakota or South Dakota.

The foundation has a $100 million Community Trust Fund that works to advance racial equity and address wealth disparity in Black and Native American communities across the region.

Bush also engages in impact investing and supports business and community development in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native nations in the area. The foundation considers its investments as a way to complement its grantmaking and “to preserve and create jobs and build wealth in [the] region.”

Important Grant Details

Grants typically range between about $500 and $500,000. Learn more about this funder’s local giving on the searchable Grants Database page of the funder’s website. Grantmaking focuses on Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native nations “that share the same geography.”

This foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits. Application deadlines vary by program and can range from year-round acceptance to deadlines of only few weeks. The selection process involves an initial review and a finalist review phase. Direct general questions to the staff at staff@bushfoundation.org or 651-227-0891.

PEOPLE:

Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).

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