Community Grants Program

What does the Butler Family Foundation support through the Community Grants Program?

We fund 501(c)(3) organizations working in the following fields:
 
ARTS
We support community-based organizations that make the arts accessible to every resident of the Twin Cities, with a particular focus on multidisciplinary and visual arts. Our interest in community-based arts also includes organizations that do the following:
  • Make musical instrument instruction available to young people from low-income families
  • Create access to collections and programs of visual arts, natural history, and science museums for low-income and
    nontraditional audiences
ENVIRONMENT
We seek to promote the responsible stewardship of land and water resources in Minnesota by funding programs in land protection and sustainable land use; water quality protection and improvement; and efforts which integrate land and water protection strategies. We seek to educate Minnesota's young people about the importance of land and water resources by funding educational programs that focus on land protection, sustainable land use, and water quality protection and improvement.
 
HUMAN SERVICES
We support efforts to assist the most vulnerable members of our community, especially women and children. The Foundation has special concern for victims of sexual exploitation and supports the principles of the Nordic Model, which treats all prostituted people as victims of the crimes of paid rape and sexual assault by buyers of sexual services. We fund programs in the following five areas:
  • Prevention and intervention services for those experiencing domestic and family violence
  • Residential and community support for those with chemical addictions
  • Housing and services for adults, families, and youth who are homeless or who lack safe, stable, and affordable housing
  • Holistic intervention and rehabilitative services for prostituted people, and those at risk of being prostituted, guided by the principles of the Nordic Model.*
  • Initiatives that promote public understanding of the Nordic Model* principles.
*Nordic Model principles refer to anti-prostitution approaches that treat prostituted people as victims and shift responsibility to buyers and third-party facilitators of prostitution.
 

What types of support are available through Community Grants?

We award two-year Community Grants for either general operating support or program support. Minimum grant sizes are $30,000 per year for general operating support and $20,000 per year for program support.
 

Who is eligible to apply?

Community Grants are open to 501(c)(3) organizations working in our three priority areas. Organizations applying for grants in the arts or human services must work in the urban cores of St. Paul or Minneapolis or in the East Metropolitan suburbs. Organizations applying for grants in the environment may work anywhere in Minnesota.
 
Community Grant applicants must have annual budgets of at least $300,000. If applying for program support, that program must also have an annual budget of at least $80,000. Because of our emphasis on building ongoing relationships with grantees, we award grants to only a limited number of new organizations each year. Please contact JoAnne Peters if you have questions about eligibility.
 

What is the timeline to apply?

Because we award two-year grants, our funding priorities alternate annually. In 2024, we will award Community Grants in the arts and the environment.
 
Our online Community Grant application system will open on December 1, 2023. Our deadline for applications is 11:59 p.m. on April 1, 2024.
 

What is the review process for Community Grants?

After an initial review of your application, we may contact you for additional information or to schedule a site visit. Final decisions are made annually at the fall meeting of our Board of Trustees.
 

Click here to learn how to apply.

 

For more information, contact:

 
JoAnne Peters
Foundation Co-Director
Telephone: 651-222-2565 (ext. 113)