As a trusted partner to the Otto Bremer Trust, Southwest Initiative Foundation will grant out a total of $400,000 to southwest Minnesota organizations from the Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive fund.
The Community Responsive Fund grant application will be available April 15 to May 22. For the full guidelines, please download the Request for Proposals PDF on this page.
Program Eligibility
In 2024, Southwest Initiative Foundation partnered with the Otto Bremer Trust for the first time to provide grants across four funding priority areas in southwest Minnesota. For 2025 the program has updated eligibility requirements and funding criteria. If you are interested in applying, it is essential to carefully review the revised guidelines to ensure you meet the new qualifications.
2025 Funding Priorities
- Literacy: Organization and programs advancing literacy.
- Adoption and foster care services: Organizations and programs that support adoption and foster care.
- Children’s health: Organizations and programs that provide health-related access and services for children.
- Children’s disability services: Organizations and programs focused on supporting children with physical/cognitive disabilities.
- Mental health: Organizations and programs that support access to and delivery of mental health services, with preference given to work that addresses the needs of children aged 5-15.
- Capital projects for hospitals and clinics: Activities supporting the maintenance of hospitals, construction of facilities, and purchase of medical equipment.
Eligible 501(c)(3) organizations may apply for grants of $10,000 to $75,000 to support operations, programming or capital projects.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations that apply for a Community Responsive Fund grant must have 501(c)(3) status. Government entities and public schools are not eligible; non-public schools are eligible. Other eligibility criteria include:
- Must have physical operations in the granting organization’s service area.
- Must have at least five years of operations.
- Must have had actual expenses of $2 million or more in the last fiscal year.
- May not have an open OBT strategic grant. NOTE: This is a grant directly through Otto Bremer Trust and does not include a 2024 Community Responsive Fund grant distributed through Southwest Initiative Foundation.
Funding Guidelines
- Grant requests may not exceed 10 percent of your organization’s previous fiscal year’s public philanthropic support.
- No more than 10 percent of grant funds may be used for administrative expenses.
- Funds may not be used for policy advocacy, sponsorships or annual events.
- No fiscal sponsorship.
Application Process
Before applying, you must complete a screening questionnaire. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you will be invited to submit a full application. This process is designed to ensure applicants don’t invest time in submitting a full application unless they meet the eligibility criteria.
About the Otto Bremer Trust and Community Responsive Fund
The Otto Bremer Trust launched the Community Responsive Fund in 2024 to engage philanthropic intermediaries to administer grants to organizations in accordance with the Trust’s giving priorities.
This strategy leverages the knowledge and trust of local, regional, and statewide organizations to advance the Trust’s mission to invest in people, places, and opportunities in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The Initiative Foundation was chosen as one of seven intermediaries for this work due to its knowledge and familiarity with the intersection of regional challenges and opportunities, community dynamics, and its experience working with organizations and programs in rural Minnesota that address immediate needs and opportunities.
The Otto Bremer Trust is a private charitable trust based in St. Paul, investing more than $1 billion in its giving region since its founding in 1944. Otto Bremer structured a charitable trust to fulfill his philanthropic vision and appointed Trustees to carry out his wishes in perpetuity. OBT has operated this way for more than 80 years. Today, the Trustees — Caroline Johnson, Francis Miley, and Daniel Reardon — manage, operate, and maintain all aspects of the Trust. They have a fiduciary obligation and are empowered to ensure that all OBT activities are for charitable purposes.
