C K Blandin Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismMakes PRIsFunds Individuals
GRAND RAPIDS, MNWebsite
About C K Blandin Foundation
To connect, fund and advocate for ideas and people to inspire resourcefulness and move rural places forward.
Focus Areas
Rural community developmentCommunity wealth-buildingRural placemakingEducation / scholarships (Itasca area)Broadband access and digital inclusionRural researchForests / natural resources
Who They Fund
residents of Itasca County (rural county population)rural Minnesota communities and townsyoung children / early learners and local school systemslow-income renters / affordable housing seekerslocal small businesses and downtown commercial districts
About C K Blandin Foundation
A defining pattern in C K Blandin Foundation’s grantmaking is its long-term support for early learning in Itasca County. The Itasca Area Schools Collaborative appears repeatedly in the recent grants list, with project support for Invest Early program operations across multiple years and award amounts at $333,333 and $333,334. That continuity points to a funder willing to sustain local systems over time rather than rely only on one-time awards. The foundation also backs rural community infrastructure and place-based economic work. Recent grants include $350,000 to the Grand Rapids Economic Dev Authority to establish a downtown building improvement loan fund and $300,000 for a downtown entertainment fund, both tied to placemaking and community wealth building in Itasca County. Another $300,000 went to Itasca County Family YMCA Inc for organizational capacity building. Alongside those larger local commitments, the foundation supports rural public-interest services and community assets. It gave $250,000 to Northern Community Radio Kaxe for the Northern Community News Initiative, and $250,000 to Mississippi Headwaters Area Dental Health Center for the acquisition of the Park Rapids Dental Clinic.
What C K Blandin Foundation Funds
Community wealth-building is one of the foundation’s clearest themes. It gave $350,000 to Grand Rapids Economic Dev Authority for a downtown building improvement loan fund and $300,000 for a downtown entertainment fund, both in Itasca County. It also funds early childhood and school-linked programming. The Itasca Area Schools Collaborative received $333,333 and $333,334 awards for Invest Early program operations in Itasca County across several grant years, showing a long-running relationship around early learning. Rural public services and information access are another thread. The foundation awarded $250,000 to Northern Community Radio Kaxe for the Northern Community News Initiative in rural Minnesota, and it provided $250,000 to Mississippi Headwaters Area Dental Health Center to acquire the Park Rapids Dental Clinic. Capacity building shows up in local institutions as well. Itasca County Family YMCA Inc received $300,000 and $240,000 for organizational capacity building.
How C K Blandin Foundation Gives
Typical grant sizes are small relative to the foundation’s larger project awards: the stated p25 is $1,200, the median is $2,450, and the p75 is $2,950. At the other end of the range, recent grants include six-figure project, capital, and capacity-building awards. The grant record shows repeated support to the same organizations across multiple years, especially for Invest Early operations at the Itasca Area Schools Collaborative. The foundation also uses a mix of project support, capital support, and organizational capacity building. Its active programs include scholarship support, and the scholarship pages indicate unsolicited applications are accepted for those awards. For competitive rural grants, one program is described as accepting unsolicited applications, while another local grant round does not.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$11.1M
Total Assets
$506.3M
Total Revenue
$23.1M
Total Expenses
$19.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $1K and $3K, with a median of $2K.
25th Percentile
$1K
Median
$2K
75th Percentile
$3K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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