CFDA#
None
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Funder Type
Corporate Foundation
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IT Classification
C - Funds little to no technology
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Authority
Otto Bremer Trust
Summary
The Otto Bremer Trust strives to effectively and efficiently deliver on its mission of investing in people, places, and opportunities in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Over the last several years, our world and the communities we serve have undergone tremendous change, and there is a growing need to support residents and services in local communities throughout our region. As these needs have increased, the philanthropic landscape has become more complex. Because of this, we are continually assessing and improving our processes to be more efficient and effective and to lessen the burden on prospective grantees. With these approaches to our giving, we can accomplish both goals while focusing our grantmaking where it is most needed, as was Otto Bremer's vision 80 years ago.
Our two-pronged approach to grantmaking includes:
- Strategic grants initiated and provided directly by OBT
- Community Responsive Fund grants administered through selected intermediaries
The Otto Bremer Trust's grantmaking model uses a two-pronged approach:
- Strategic grants. A new process replaced the open application process. Strategic grants are now awarded to selected organizations and activities that align with the Otto Bremer Trust's objectives and have demonstrated an impact that will be sustained and enhanced through further investments from OBT. OBT leverages internal knowledge, our robust funding history, engagement with external stakeholders including our intermediary partners, and research to identify strategic grant recipients.
- Community Responsive Fund grants through intermediaries. Community Responsive Fund grants leverage the intermediary partners' expertise and local insights to extend the reach of OBT's objectives. These grants are provided to organizations, projects, and services that will have the most significant impact and are most needed in their local communities and regions. The intermediaries regrant from the Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund to support OBT's priorities. These intermediaries will regrant from the Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund in areas aligned with OBT and approved by the trustees. See the 2025 Community Responsive Fund.
History of Funding
Previous award recipients can be viewed at https://ottobremer.org/news-publications/newsroom/
Additional Information
Strategic grants are awarded to selected organizations for activities that align with the Otto Bremer Trust's objectives and have demonstrated an impact that will be sustained and enhanced through further investments from OBT.
The Otto Bremer Trust appreciates your important work to improve the lives of people in your community. Because your time is valuable, OBT's strategic grantmaking approach streamlines the otherwise lengthy steps commonly found in grantmaking. We leverage internal knowledge, our robust funding history, engagement with external stakeholders, and research to identify strategic grant recipients.
Once we have identified a strategic grant candidate, we contact the organization to schedule an in-depth discussion and, in most cases, request some basic financial information. If a grant is awarded, we require a straightforward final report at the end of the grant period.
Strategic grants use the following as basic eligibility criteria.
- Beneficiaries of the grants must reside in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and/or Wisconsin.
- The organization must have a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS. (Government entities, including public schools, are not eligible. Non-public schools are eligible.)
- The organization must have at least five years of successful operations.
- The organization's last fiscal year's actual expenses must have been $2 million or more.
- The organization may not have an open OBT strategic grant.
Community Responsive Fund grants
The Otto Bremer Trust engages philanthropic intermediaries to administer grants to organizations for aligned activities through the Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund. This approach leverages the knowledge and trust of local, regional, and statewide organizations to advance the Trust's mission to invest in people, places, and opportunities in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Local context matters. It shapes a community's vision and informs how people respond to opportunities and challenges. With this in mind, we engage local experts in our Community Responsive Fund grantmaking process.
Each year, OBT selects intermediaries with knowledge and familiarity of the intersection of regional opportunities and challenges, community dynamics, and the spectrum of nonprofit service providers in their local communities. The intermediaries then use their knowledge and individual processes to administer grants to organizations, projects, and services that will have the most significant impact on their communities and regions.
The Otto Bremer Trust provides intermediaries with base eligibility criteria for grantees:
- Beneficiaries of the grants must reside in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and/or Wisconsin.
- The organization must have a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS. (Government entities, including public schools, are not eligible. Non-public schools are eligible.)
- The organization must have at least five years of successful operations.
- The organization's last fiscal year's actual expenses must have been $2 million or more. ($3 million for the Twin Cities metro area of Minnesota.)
- Grant funds are not to be used for work to influence public policy, annual events, event sponsorships, or fiscal sponsorships.
- Sometimes a community is outside the geographic scope of the selected intermediaries in a given year. As a result, during that year, organizations in that community will not be eligible for an OBT Community Responsive Fund grant.
Each year, the Otto Bremer Trust identifies focus areas for the Community Responsive Fund that honor the intentions of our founder, Otto Bremer. Intermediaries may implement some or all the focus areas. The 2025 focus areas are:
- Literacy. Organizations and programs advancing literacy.
- Adoption and foster care services. Organizations and programs that support adoption and foster care.
- Children's health. Organizations and programs that provide health-related access and services for children.
- Children's disability services. Organizations and programs focused on supporting children with physical/cognitive disabilities.
- Mental health. Organizations and programs that support access to and delivery of mental health services, with preference given to work that addresses the needs of children aged 5-15.
- Capital projects for hospitals and clinics. Activities supporting the maintenance of hospitals, construction of facilities, and purchase of medical equipment.