Funders › Minnesota

Kirsch Scholarship Fund

Eagan, MN · EIN 84-1800925. Reported 35 grants totalling $327,733 to 25 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$7,073median grant
$327,733granted, 2021-2025
25recipients, as named on its returns
23%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,485,399assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Kirsch Scholarship Fund did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $7,073. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,960 and $11,923; the smallest was $3,815 and the largest $30,516. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
8 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
16 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
9 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
2 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
University of Wisconsin PlattevilleChippewa Falls, WI$43,269222023
University of WisconsinMilwaukee, WI$30,516112025
Uw-PlattevillePlatteville, WI$29,906222024
Southwest Technical CollegeFennimore, WI$26,625332025
Clarke UniversityDubuque, IA$26,070222022
Southwest Wisconsin TechnicalFennimore, WI$23,840112024
Northeast Iowa Community CollegePeosta, IA$21,697332025
Kirkwood Community CollegeCedar Rapids, IA$13,035222022
Ne Iowa Community College FdnPeosta, IA$12,692112023
Uw WhitewaterWhitewater, WI$10,915222025
Capri CollegeDubuque, IA$9,775222025
Western Technical CollegeEl Paso, TX$7,629112025
Cornell CollegeMt Vernon, IA$7,073112021
Marian UniversityFond Du Lac, WI$7,073112021
Uw - LacrosseLa Crosse, WI$7,073112021
Lakeland UniversityPlymouth, WI$5,962112022
Madison Area Technical CollegeMadison, WI$5,962112022
Mount Mercy UniversityCedar Rapids, IA$5,962112022
Iowa State UniversityAmes, IA$5,960112024
University of Central ArkansasConway, AR$5,960112024
Dakota College at BottineauBottineau, ND$4,231112023
Southwest Wisconsin Technical CollegeFennimore, WI$4,231112023
University of DubuqueDubuque, IA$4,231112023
University of Wisconsin - La CrosseLa Crosse, WI$4,231112023
Creighton UniversityOmaha, NE$3,815112025

8 of 25 (32%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 23%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 12 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
12 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20218$68,611$7,073
20228$71,541$5,962
20236$55,000$4,231
20246$71,520$8,940
20257$61,061$3,842

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

61% of its giving went to organizations in Wisconsin. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Wisconsin
$200K
Iowa
$106K
Texas
$8K
Arkansas
$6K
North Dakota
$4K
Nebraska
$4K

Get funders for your state and cause by email

We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.

Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.

Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund12 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc11 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc9 shared recipientsAlliant Energy Foundation Inc8 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program8 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $7,073. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Wisconsin.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Kirsch Scholarship Fund's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 64193, Eagan, MN, 55164. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 84-1800925 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.