The ongoing social and economic impacts of the pandemic and structural racism have created new, or amplified existing, issues within our community. To respond to these needs, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation are exploring how, as grantmaking organizations, we can best disperse our community resources to address these issues and better realize the goals of each of our organizations.

The grantmaking redesign impacts funding priorities and processes for:

• Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation's Building Community Capacity grant program
• F. R. Bigelow Foundation’s application-based grant program
• Mardag Foundation’s application-based grant program

You can view detailed priorities for each Foundation in the grant program summaries on this webpage.

This redesign is focused only on our application-based grantmaking for the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation (formerly known as the Building Community Capacity grant program), F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation.

Other Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation grant programs such as Community Sharing Fund, Management Improvement Fund and Bush Foundation grants will continue using their guidelines and processes as stated on the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation website.

The grant redesign will not affect current grantees with multi-year grants. Those grants will continue to be paid out according to the terms in your terms of grant agreement.

As many organizations know, in 2025 the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation will partner with 3M for its local grantmaking in Arts, Housing, Food and Youth. We know that organizations that have recently received funding from both the Foundation and 3M have questions about eligibility and overlap of grant terms. We are reviewing the list of overlapping grantees and will communicate eligibility and instructions in early December.

Beginning in 2026, the funding priorities for each Foundation's new grant programs will be:

Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s Community Solutions Grants

Our Community Solutions Grant Program will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives serving the East Metro doing work in:

• Community & Economic Development
• Health & Human Services
• Youth & Education

Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s System-level Grants

Our system-level grantmaking will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives serving the East Metro and Greater Minnesota working to:

• Advance an Equitable Democracy
• Strengthen the Arts & Culture Ecosystem
• Increase Access to Housing (through the Housing Grant Program)

F. R. Bigelow Foundation's Community Solutions Grants

Our Community Solutions Grant Program will focus on organizations, programs or initiatives in or serving the East Metro doing work in:

• Arts & Culture
• Community & Economic Development
• Health
• Human Services
• Youth & Education 

F. R. Bigelow Foundation’s Systems Change Grants and BIPOC Leadership Grants

Our system-level grantmaking will address root causes of any issue impacting the East Metro (including, but not limited to, the five funding priorities in our Community Solutions grantmaking).

Currently F. R. Bigelow Foundation advances its BIPOC Leadership funding priority through a long-term partnership with LinkingLeaders – a coalition of African American Leadership Forum, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Latino LEAD and Tiwahe Foundation.

Mardag Foundation’s Community Emergency Grants

Our Community Emergency grants will be for Food Access or Housing organizations that serve low-income children, youth, families and/or older adults in the East Metro or Greater Minnesota. Grants will support unexpected expenses related to:

• Natural, environmental and/or civic disasters
• Unexpected maintenance or repairs for buildings, vehicles, technology and/or equipment

One-third of Mardag’s emergency grant funding will go to the East Metro and two-thirds will go to Greater Minnesota each calendar year.

Mardag Foundation’s Food Access Grants

• Systems change and/or direct service work to eliminate barriers and increase access to culturally relevant, healthy, affordable food for low-income immigrant/refugee or Native American/Indigenous children, youth and families in the East Metro (one-third of funding) and Greater Minnesota (two-thirds of funding)

Beginning in 2026, Mardag Foundation will move away from its Arts & Culture priority. For more information, please reach out to Sharon DeMark at Sharon.DeMark@spmcf.org.

Housing Grant Program

All three Foundations support systems change and/or direct service work to eliminate barriers and increase access to equitable housing opportunities through a shared grant program.

Detailed guidelines and application information were made available in November 2025. Some grant programs will begin accepting applications in January 2026, while the Housing Grant Program will open later in 2026.

Detailed guidelines and application information, including application questions, are now available. Visit each Foundation’s Grant Opportunities webpage to see grant guidelines, eligibility and timing information.

Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation Grant Programs

F. R. Bigelow Foundation Grant Programs

Mardag Foundation Grant Programs

This work was informed by a nine-person Community Council. In addition to the guidance provided by the Community Council, we also sourced input from five community feedback sessions held in September 2024. The input and guidance we received from the Community Council and grantees, and supplemental research into the current and emerging issues facing our sector, informed each Foundation’s updated processes and funding priorities.

We’d like to thank our Community Council, made up of representatives from our local and statewide community, for their insights and guidance in this work.

We will provide updates as we have them via our enewsletter and on this page. For any immediate questions not addressed on the website or in the FAQs, you can email CommunityImpact@spmcf.org.