Central Minnesota Community Responsive Fund

Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund

The Initiative Foundation is pleased to serve as a 2025 intermediary for the Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) and its Community Responsive Fund. Through this partnership, the Initiative Foundation will award $750,000 in grants to organizations whose work aligns with one or more of the OBT Community Responsive Fund focus areas, including literacy; adoption and foster care services; children’s health and disability services; mental health support; and capital projects for hospitals and clinics.

This capacity-building program supports organizations directly responding to immediate challenges in their communities. Grants of up to $75,000 per organization are available. Are you a nonprofit from outside of the Initiative Foundation’s service area? Learn more about grant opportunities through our Minnesota Initiative Foundation partners.

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What to Know

View the grant guidelines to learn more.

Eligibility

The work must align with one or more OBT Community Responsive Fund focus areas (above).
The organization must have a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS. (Government entities, including public schools, are not eligible).
The organization’s last fiscal year’s actual expenses must have been $2 million or more.
The organization must have at least five years of operations.
The organization may not have an open OBT strategic grant.
The organization must have a physical location in* and serve the Initiative Foundation’s region: Benton, Cass, Chisago, Crow Wing, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd, Wadena and Wright counties, and the portions of the Native Nations of the Leech Lake and Mille Lacs Bands of Ojibwe which lay within these counties.
NOTE: *Preference will be given to organizations headquartered in our service region.