Long before the debate over policing hit the Minneapolis ballot, the McKnight Foundation and other prominent Minnesota foundations gave money to little-known groups for general operations and equity programs.
Now, some of those groups have jumped onto the front lines in the battle over whether to replace the Minneapolis Police Department.
Several influential Minnesota foundations are suddenly finding themselves tied to both sides of the hotly debated public safety reform movement that arose after George Floyd was killed by police.
Foundations don't usually seek to get in the middle of public disputes, but it's not unusual for them to give grants to organizations that advocate for hot-button issues, such as reproductive rights or mining. Leaders say it's part of supporting the community.
"Foundations are funding for the civic infrastructure in our community ... and community does not always agree," said Trista Harris, former president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations. "They're supporting their core work, and there always will be cases of that work that will probably be politicized ... the intention isn't to support activist organizations that are pushing specific policy."
Community and private foundations can't give money to political candidates, according to federal tax laws. But community foundations are allowed to take positions on ballot and legislative measures. The Minneapolis Foundation in 2012 publicly opposed a state voting photo ID amendment and gave grants to those organizing against that measure, for instance.
In the past three years, the Minneapolis Foundation, McKnight Foundation and the St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation — among three of the largest foundations in the state — have given grants to TakeAction Minnesota Education Fund, the fiscal agent for Black Visions and Reclaim the Block. Both of those groups are part of the coalition behind Yes 4 Minneapolis, which this year proposed the ballot question seeking to replace the Police Department with a Department of Public Safety.
The foundations have also funded nonprofits now part of coalitions opposing the amendment. But in both cases, philanthropic dollars went to nonprofits' operations or efforts such as fighting climate change, not to campaigns for or against the ballot measure.