About Dorsey & Whitney Foundation
Formed in 1982 by partners of Dorsey & Whitney LLP to support charitable causes in the communities where Dorsey attorneys and their families live and work. The Foundation supports a wide variety of organizations, programs and projects that contribute to the cultural, civic, educational and social welfare of communities, with particular emphasis on organizations that provide legal services to the disadvantaged and organizations in which Dorsey attorneys participate actively as board members and volunteers.
Focus Areas
legal services for the disadvantagedarts and cultureeducationcommunity servicesgeneral operating supportmatching gifts
Who They Fund
nonprofit organizations (unspecified)individual scholarship recipients / students
Funding Style
general operating / unrestricted support
About Dorsey & Whitney Foundation
The Dorsey & Whitney Foundation gives through a law-firm-linked model that favors organizations where Dorsey attorneys are actively involved. Its direct grants emphasize general operating support, with special consideration for established arts, cultural, legal, and community service organizations, and the matching-gift programs extend that same relationship-based approach to attorney-supported charities. In the recent grants list, that pattern appears in sizable general support awards to The Children’s Theatre Company and St David’s Center Child & Family Develop, alongside repeated support for Simpson Housing Services and Jeremiah Program. Legal services also sit near the center of the foundation’s identity, reflecting a stated emphasis on organizations that provide legal services to disadvantaged people. Recent grants to Fund for the Legal Aid Society, Advocates for Human Rights, and Lawyers Co for Civil Rights Under Law show that priority in practice. The foundation also funds cultural and educational organizations, including Guthrie Theater and University of Minnesota Foundation, while continuing to support community-service groups such as Greater Twin Cities United Way and Small Sums.
What Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Funds
Arts and culture are a visible part of the foundation’s giving. The Children’s Theatre Company received $510,000 in 2023 for general support, and Guthrie Theater and Guthrie Theater Foundation each received $20,000 grants in 2025, 2024, and 2023 for general support. Legal aid is another clear priority: Fund for the Legal Aid Society received $80,690 in 2025, after earlier grants of $75,730 in 2023 and $75,660 in 2024, all for general support. Advocacy-focused legal work appears as well, with Advocates for Human Rights receiving $30,120 in 2023 and $30,000 in 2025. Education-related giving includes a $20,000 scholarship grant to University of Minnesota Foundation in 2023 and another $20,000 scholarship fund grant in 2025, alongside a $21,000 general-support grant in 2024.
How Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster around a modest institutional range: p25 is $7,500, median is $10,000, and p75 is $12,000. The recent grant list also shows larger general-support awards, but the foundation’s day-to-day giving is centered well below those amounts. Recipients recur across multiple years, including Simpson Housing Services, Greater Twin Cities United Way, Guthrie Theater Foundation, and Fund for the Legal Aid Society, which points to ongoing relationships rather than one-off awards. The foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it does not fund individuals or PRIs. It accepts unsolicited applications for its direct grants and foundation grants, while the attorney matching gift program is tied to qualifying personal contributions.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$726K
Total Assets
$324K
Total Revenue
$1M
Total Expenses
$1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $8K and $12K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$12K
Geographic Reach
National14 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
Theresa Mielke
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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