Funding search · EIN 411604640 · Minneapolis, MN

Wem Foundation

Name: Wem Foundation grants, 2022–2023
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

269
grants reported: $561.8M
total given: 2022–2023
filing years: $125,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2023. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

Arts and cultural institutions in Minneapolis, Washington DC, Vero Beach
K-12 school choice, literacy, and college-access programs in Twin Cities
Parks, botanical gardens, arboretums, and land conservation
Workforce training and North Minneapolis economic opportunity
Food security, hunger relief, and hospital foundations
Church-affiliated schools and congregations, including South African schools

Typical grant

Median grant is $125,000 and the middle half runs $35,000 to $1,500,000, so most of the portfolio is ordinary annual operating support. The money is wildly top-heavy: a single $75.165M gift to the Smithsonian plus $25M to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and $20M to The Learning Alliance account for a large share of the $561.8M total. With 269 grants to 148 recipients across two years, most grantees are repeats, and the odd amounts (for example $5,050,000, $10,030,000, $1,025,204) read as a routine annual grant stacked on top of a very large one-time capital or endowment gift.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“GENERAL”
“Twin Cities”
“Minnesota”
“Academy”
“Achievement”

Positioning adjacent work

Tie your work to their education pipeline: early childhood, literacy, charter and Catholic schools, college access.
Ask for general operating support, not project funds. Every single grant in the record is coded GENERAL.
Size a first request at $100,000 to $500,000 unless you already have a board-level relationship.
If your work is Vero Beach or Indian River County based, say so early. That is their second home base.

Worth knowing: This is a Minneapolis family foundation with a clear personal geography: 203 of 269 grants go to Minnesota, 23 to Vero Beach, Florida, and outliers land at Williams College, two Makhanda, South Africa schools, and Montana. The 2023 amounts are orders of magnitude above normal annual giving, which points to a terminal or near-terminal distribution to institutions the family already knew, so an organization with no existing relationship is unlikely to break in cold.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

Smithsonian Institution2 grants · $75.2M
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum4 grants · $30.1M
Dunwoody College of Technology2 grants · $30.0M
Mayo Clinic2 grants · $26.0M
Minneapolis Institute of Art3 grants · $25.9M
Minnesota Historical Society4 grants · $25.4M
The Learning Alliance3 grants · $21.0M
University of Minnesota Foundation - Bell Museum and Planetarium2 grants · $19.0M
Westminster Presbyterian Church4 grants · $15.1M
Williams College1 grant · $15.0M

Giving over time

$202.4M

2022

$359.5M

2023

Grant history

The 100 largest of 269 grants.

$75.2M
Smithsonian Institution · Washington, DC · 2023
General
$25.1M
Minneapolis Institute of Art · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$25.0M
Dunwoody College of Technology · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$25.0M
Mayo Clinic · Rochester, MN · 2022
General
$25.0M
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum · Chaska, MN · 2022
General
$20.0M
The Learning Alliance · Vero Beach, FL · 2023
General
$20.0M
Minnesota Historical Society · St Paul, MN · 2022
General
$18.0M
University of Minnesota Foundation - Bell Museum and Planetarium · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$15.0M
Williams College · Williamstown, ME · 2023
General
$10.1M
Riverside Theatre · Vero Beach, FL · 2023
General
$10.0M
Vero Beach Museum of Art · Vero Beach, FL · 2023
General
$10.0M
Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$10.0M
Minneapolis Parks Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$10.0M
Montana State University Alumni Foundation · Bozeman, MT · 2022
General
$10.0M
Westminster Presbyterian Church · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$9.0M
Second Harvest Heartland · Brooklyn Park, MN · 2022
General
$8.2M
Guthrie Theater · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$8.0M
Junior Achievement North · St Paul, MN · 2022
General
$7.1M
Project Success · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$6.3M
Northside Achievement Zone · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$6.1M
Nature Conservancy · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$6.0M
Hope Academy · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$5.3M
Groves Academy · St Louis Park, MN · 2023
General
$5.2M
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$5.1M
Great Mn Schools · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$5.1M
Minnesota Historical Society · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$5.1M
Second Harvest Heartland · Brooklyn Park, MN · 2023
General
$5.0M
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum · Chaska, MN · 2023
General
$5.0M
McKee Botanical Garden · Vero Beach, FL · 2023
General
$5.0M
Dunwoody College of Technology · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$5.0M
University of Minnesota Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$5.0M
Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$5.0M
Museum of the Rockies - Montana State University · Bozeman, MT · 2022
General
$5.0M
Twin Cities Public Television · St Paul, MN · 2022
General
$4.8M
Way To Grow · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$4.5M
Urban Ventures Leadership Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$4.5M
Lundstrum Performing Arts · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$4.2M
Church of the Ascension · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$4.2M
Summit Academy Oic · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$4.1M
Prodeo Academy · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$4.1M
Macphail Center for Music · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.5M
Project for Pride in Living · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.5M
St David'S Center for Child & Family Development · Minnetonka, MN · 2023
General
$3.5M
Minnesota Public Radio American Public Media · St Paul, MN · 2022
General
$3.3M
Ywca Minneapolis · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.2M
Youth Frontiers · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.1M
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$3.1M
Minnesota Council On Economic Education · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$3.1M
Think Small · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$3.0M
Westminster Presbyterian Church · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.0M
Children'S Theatre Company · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.0M
Northside Economic Opportunity Network · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$3.0M
Wallin Education Partners · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$3.0M
Blake School Annual Fund · Plymouth, MN · 2022
General
$3.0M
Friends of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology · Ithaca, NY · 2022
General
$2.5M
Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$2.0M
Kingswood College · 2023
General
$2.0M
Diocesan School for Girls · 2023
General
$2.0M
Producer Partnership · Livingston, MT · 2023
General
$2.0M
St Andrew'S College · 2023
General
$2.0M
University of Minnesota Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$2.0M
Westminster Presbyterian Church · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$1.9M
We Care Solar · Berkeley, CA · 2023
General
$1.7M
University of Minnesota Foundation · St Paul, MN · 2022
General
$1.5M
Every Meal · Roseville, MN · 2023
General
$1.5M
University of Minnesota Foundation · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$1.5M
Voyageur Outward Bound School · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$1.5M
Museum of Russian Art · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$1.5M
Museum of the Rockies - Montana State University · Bozeman, MT · 2022
General
$1.4M
First Tee - Minnesota · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$1.3M
Jeremiah Program · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$1.1M
Bestprep · Brooklyn Park, MN · 2023
General
$1.1M
Reading Partners · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$1.1M
Twin Cities Public Television · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$1.1M
Boys & Girls Clubs of Indian River County · Vero Beach, FL · 2023
General
$1.0M
Blake School Annual Fund · Plymouth, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
Bridging · Bloomington, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
Catholic Schools Center of Excellence · Edina, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
Mayo Clinic · Rochester, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
Minnesota Orchestra · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
National History Day · College Park, MD · 2023
General
$1.0M
Teach Minnesota · Arden Hills, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
V3 Sports · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$1.0M
Blake School Annual Fund · Plymouth, MN · 2022
General
$1.0M
The Learning Alliance · Vero Beach, FL · 2022
General
$1.0M
University of Minnesota Foundation - Bell Museum and Planetarium · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$1.0M
Vero Beach Museum of Art · Vero Beach, FL · 2022
General
$900,000
College Possible - Twin Cities · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$850,000
Good Grocer · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$800,000
Achieve Twin Cities · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$800,000
Minneapolis Institute of Art · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$750,000
Charter Source · Afton, MN · 2023
General
$750,000
Young Life · Colorado Springs, CO · 2023
General
$600,000
Great Mn Schools · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
General
$550,000
Teach for America - Twin Cities Region · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General
$515,000
Angel Foundation · Mendota Heights, MN · 2023
General
$500,000
Common Bond Communities · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$500,000
Franklin Center · Golden Valley, MN · 2023
General
$500,000
Science Museum of Minnesota · St Paul, MN · 2023
General
$500,000
The Food Group · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
General

View all 269 grants →

Who else funds this kind of work

Same state

Mayo Clinic Group Return834 grants · $5.43B
Educational Credit387 grants · $692.9M
Mayo Clinic775 grants · $1.77B

Similar grant size

The Ford Foundation10,731 grants · $2.35B
John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation (Consolidated)7,100 grants · $1.67B
Wk Kellogg Foundation7,234 grants · $1.30B

Grants already paid are the record; PaperOrbit reads your paper and finds the funders whose record matches it — then explains why.

Search funders like this one

Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.