Fiscal Year Highlights
Following you will find some of the highlights of this past fiscal year, July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024. They reflect the efforts of many individuals and partners, both funders and people in communities, working every day to move their communities and our entire region forward.
Overall
- Raised and managed $13.6 million – 96% from outside the region – for the fiscal year to fund grantmaking, business services, programming, and special initiatives. See Funding Partners for details.
- Charged with distributing $19 million in State of Minnesota funding over two years as grants and low-interest loans to support small business and main street recovery and expansion, child care access, housing development, and more, in our rural region.
- Awarded 265 grants in all, totaling over $7.6 million to nonprofit organizations, Tribal nations, school districts, Native American individuals, and small businesses to help people and communities move forward together.
Grant Summary
| Category | Amount | # Given |
|---|---|---|
| State of MN Canadian Border Counties Economic Relief | $1,865,000 | 44 |
| State of MN Main Street Economic Revitalization | $1,841,055 | 22 |
| Integrated Rural Community Aging | $1,200,000 | 14 |
| Basic Needs | $947,248 | 35 |
| Child Care Start-up, Sustainability & Expansion | $869,620 | 59 |
| Out-Of-School Time Services | $271,500 | 11 |
| Domestic Violence & Abuse Prevention/Intervention | $211,000 | 6 |
| Early Care & Education | $159,541 | 22 |
| Belonging | $147,110 | 4 |
| Maada’ooking | $49,029 | 17 |
| Youth In Philanthropy | $27,794 | 13 |
| Other Critical Needs | $20,000 | 1 |
Total:
$7,608,897
265 Grants
Details of all grants awarded last fiscal year can be found on the Recent Grants page of our website.
Small Business
- Closed 15 loans totaling nearly $4.2 million to help finance 6 business expansions and 8 start-ups in northeast Minnesota, which assisted borrowers to leverage an additional $25.5 million in other investments.
- Hosted the Northland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) which provided over 4,000 hours of technical assistance in FY24 to more than 900 small business clients who, with SBDC help, raised $40 million in capital and started 73 new businesses.
- Piloted a low-interest construction & rehabilitation loan program, financing 8 projects with $950,000 to increase property values, expand jobs, improve energy efficiency, and support economic vitality.
- Awarded 22 Main Street Economic Revitalization Program grants totaling over $1.4 million, with funding approved by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Walz, to aid commercial corridors in the region.
- Administered $1.86 million in grants to 44 businesses located in counties and Tribal nation lands along the Canadian border, through a State of Minnesota initiative to bolster recovery of small businesses that lost revenue during the pandemic due to the border and BWCA closures.
Child Care Quality and Access
- Made almost $870,000 in grants to help licensed child care programs with start-up, expansion, workforce solutions, and sustainability with funding support from St. Louis County, the State of Minnesota, and the Duluth 1200 Fund.
- Expanded the Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) Program, working with a total of 13 partner organizations in the region that held 60 Play & Learn opportunities in local communities for 516 FFN caregivers and 612 young children.
- Administered $3.7 million in Minnesota Department of Education Early Learning Scholarships to help families of young children in our service region afford high-quality early care and education.
- Engaged 750 child care providers in 37 professional development trainings and assisted 28 licensed child care programs with financial incentives, to support them with Parent Aware quality ratings.
Belonging Work
- Awarded $740,000 in grants to Tribal nations and organizations led by Black people, Native Americans, and people of color serving people and communities in our region, in alignment with Northland Foundation’s values and priorities.
- Supported young people to learn about philanthropy and community service through our Youth In Philanthropy Program, a regional advisory board of students and adult mentors who last year awarded $27,775 in grants to 30 youth-developed projects.
- Utilized Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Emerging Entrepreneur loan funding, providing $247,500 to 4 businesses majority-owned by women, veterans, Black people, Native Americans, other people of color, or low-income entrepreneurs.
- Supported 17 projects led by Native American individuals or groups, awarding $49,029 in Maada’ookiing grants approved by the Maada’ookiing Advisory Board including a special $10,000 grant funded by the Tiwahe Foundation.
- Injected fresh energy and resources into 13 AGE to age sites through our Community Engagement Project with listening sessions, regional gatherings, peer learning, and $185,000 in funding awards, thanks to key support from the Wallace Foundation’s Advancing Adolescent Opportunities and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation’s Building Healthy Connections.
- Refreshed our website to make it more easily accessible for people and organizations to find helpful information on funding opportunities, small business supports, special programs, and other resources.