Recent grants
Quarterly and Maada’ookiing grants
April through June Quarterly grants of $680,000 support region
Through the Quarterly Grant program, the Northland Foundation awarded $680,000 through its Quarterly Grant program from April 1 through June 30, 2025, wrapping up another fiscal year of grantmaking. Quarterly grants are generally $10,000 and up made to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, Tribal nations, and local governmental entities such as school districts.
Six of the 23 grants awarded went toward out-of-school-time activities and programs for children and youth across the region. The $185,000 in funding is helping grantees provide summertime and after-school supports for thousands of children and youth, from Itasca, Koochiching, and northern St. Louis Counties, as well as the sovereign Bois Forte Band of Chippewa nation.
“After-school and summer services for kids are something rural and underfunded school districts and small communities just don’t have the budget to cover on their own,” said Michelle Ufford, Vice President of Grantmaking.
“We know kids thrive when they can participate in healthy, enriching activities beyond the classroom, and those experiences have a long-term positive effect on their development,” Ufford added. “Out-of-school-time is an area where relatively modest funding can make an outsized impact to sustain these important programs.”
- Find the listing of April – June 2025 Quarterly grants HERE.
Typical application deadlines for Quarterly grants are January 5, April 1, July 1, and October 1. However, the Fall 2025 application deadline is delayed until November 1.
In spring round, 8 grantees receive $39,500 for Native-led projects
The Northland Foundation is pleased to share that eight individuals were awarded a total of $39,500 in Maada’ookiing grants last month.
Maada’ookiing (“the distribution” in Ojibwe) is a Native American-led program of the Northland Foundation. Grant funding up to $5,000 is offered three times per year to Tribal citizens, descendants, or those who have kinship ties or affiliation to Native American communities within the foundation’s geographic region. Maada’ookiing grants are considered and approved by the Maada’ookiing Advisory Board.
Since the Northland Foundation began making Maada’ookiing grants in 2021, over 110 grants and more than $330,000 have supported dozens of community- and culture-building activities across the region.
“Grantees are turning modest amounts of funding into widespread learning, healing, accomplishment, and joy,” said Cayla Bellanger DeGroat, Program Officer at the Northland Foundation. “Every successive round of funding only confirms that Maada’ookiing is a worthwhile investment in community well-being.”
- Find the list of the Spring 2025 grants HERE.
Application deadlines for Maada’ookiing grants are February 5, May 15, and September 15. PLEASE NOTE that the Fall 2025 application deadline is moved up to September 8.