Guide to Grantmaking at the Otto Bremer Foundation

Thank you for considering the Otto Bremer Foundation as a source of support for your work. We hope this guide is helpful as you assess whether the Foundation is a good fit for your proposal. Please also review our Mission and Meaning statement.

Grantmaking Overview

The Otto Bremer Foundation is rooted in and committed to the communities that are homes and neighbors to Bremer banks, a network of financial institutions founded by Otto Bremer. We strive to help build healthy, vibrant communities--places where basic needs are met, mutual regard is prized and opportunities for economic, civic and social participation are within everyone's reach.

Funding Focus

Activities that move communities forward. Honoring the spirit of our founder, Otto Bremer, and the direction given by the trust he created, the Foundation funds a variety of work important to a community's future. We give highest priority to those opportunities with the potential to move a community forward in meaningful, powerful and broad-based ways. This broadness of vision is intentional in order to encourage innovative responses to community opportunities and challenges.

Twin Cities funding. A portion of our funding is devoted to support for the seven-county Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area. This Twin Cities area is densely populated, and is served by many other funders in addition to the Otto Bremer Foundation. To achieve the greatest impact with our resources in the Twin Cities, we focus more narrowly there. In 2011 and 2012, grants in the Twin Cities metro area will focus on programs that meet basic needs and build on community and individual assets to help people move out of poverty.

Activities we generally do not fund. We discourage proposals for funding the following activities, which generally fall outside the trust instrument or our strategic vision:

• Annual fund drives and benefit events
• Endowments other than for the development of community foundations
• Environmental or conservation projects
• Medical research
• Core education programs for kindergarten through 12th grade
• Projects that are primarily artistic in nature, including books, theatrical productions, film, video and other media projects
• Historical preservation, museums and interpretive centers
• Sporting events

Eligibility

Grants are made only to organizations whose beneficiaries are residents of Minnesota, North Dakota or Wisconsin, with priority given to communities that are homes and neighbors to Bremer banks. Grants are generally restricted to organizations described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and to governmental entities. The Foundation does not make grants to individuals.

The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status or national origin.

Grant Application and Review

Our grant application consists of three parts: a cover sheet, a narrative and attachments. The Foundation accepts applications on a continuous basis; previous Otto Bremer Foundation grant recipients should review our one-grant-at-a-time policy before submitting an application.

Foundation staff acknowledge receipt of grant applications within one week. If you have submitted an application and have not received an acknowledgment, please let us know by sending an email to apply@ottobremer.org or by calling 651-227-8036.

Foundation staff review each application carefully and frequently seek additional information through telephone conversations or in-person site visits. Following a preliminary screening process, complete applications are considered by the Foundation's trustees at six annual grantmaking meetings.

Please note: Proposals from the Twin Cities metro area are considered in two of the Foundation's six grant rounds a year; requests from all other Bremer communities are considered during the other four grant cycles. The following schedules apply for the remainder of 2011 through 2012:

For the Twin Cities Metro Area:

Complete proposals must be received by:	For consideration on:
Friday, December 2, 2011	Thursday, March 22, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012	Thursday, September 27, 2012
Friday, November 30, 2012	Thursday, March 21, 2013

For Bremer Communities in North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Greater Minnesota:

Complete proposals must be received by:	For consideration on:
Friday, October 14, 2011	Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012	Thursday, May 24, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012	Thursday, July 26, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012	Thursday, November 15, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012	Thursday, January 24, 2013

Applicants are generally notified of grant decisions approximately one week after the trustee meeting. Approved grant funds are generally disbursed within a month after a grantee returns a signed grant agreement to the Foundation.

Download a complete copy of Guide to Grantmaking at the Otto Bremer Foundation.

Download a copy of our complete Grant Application.