Wells Fargo Foundation

About Wells Fargo Foundation

The Wells Fargo Foundation’s recent record is defined by two extremely large grants to “See Attached List,” one in 2023 for $239,279,294 and one in 2024 for $217,611,092. Those awards account for the full $456.9 million shown in the dataset and point to a highly concentrated approach to grantmaking rather than a long tail of smaller awards. The recipients are listed as various organizations in Minnesota, and the purposes are recorded only as attached lists, so the record here reads more as large-scale commitment than as a set of narrowly described project grants. The foundation’s active programs help explain the kinds of organizations it supports: business growth, financial opportunity, housing affordability, and invitation-only community grantmaking. Across those areas, the common thread is support for programs that move capital, coaching, counseling, and other forms of assistance through nonprofit intermediaries. The latest filings also show a local giving pattern in Minnesota, with all grants in the dataset going to U.S. recipients. In that context, Wells Fargo Foundation appears as a funder that uses a small number of very large commitments to channel resources through major grantmaking vehicles and community support programs.

What Wells Fargo Foundation Funds

One visible focus is small business support. The Wells Fargo Foundation’s business growth program invests in organizations that provide capital, technical assistance, and networks of support for entrepreneurs, and the Open for Business Growth initiative is described as a $20 million effort to help small businesses scale through nonprofits delivering capital, coaching, and connections. Financial capability is another clear theme. Its financial opportunity program supports financial coaching, counseling, and credit-building loans designed to increase financial resilience, reduce debt, and grow savings for individuals and families. Housing also appears in the foundation’s stated priorities. The Wells Fargo & Wells Fargo Foundation Grantmaking program and the Community Grants program both list housing access and affordability among their strategic funding priorities, and the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is presented as a housing-focused challenge tied to affordable housing solutions across the U.S.

How Wells Fargo Foundation Gives