Coborn Family Foundation

Coborn Family Foundation is a family-directed, relationship-based funder tied to the Coborn's grocery chain, based in Saint Cloud, MN. Established December 2015 by Coborn's Inc. and Coborn family members, it operates with an all-volunteer board — officer compensation is $0 in every filed year — composed of Chris, Mark, Duke, Becky (Coborn/Estby), and Emily (Coborn/Wright) rotating through President/Treasurer/Secretary roles, plus two non-family directors, Dave Meyer and Jim Shaw. This is hands-on family philanthropy without program officers; decisions run through the family board directly rather than a staffed review process.

Grantmaking is hyper-local and relationship-driven: 18 of 19 tracked grants (95%) went to Minnesota organizations, with the lone North Dakota exception a grocers' trade-association scholarship tied to Coborn's own industry. The foundation favors organizations with an existing tie to Coborn's operations, CentraCare's health network, or Catholic/Central Minnesota institutions rather than cold-call applicants — IRS data flags grants as preselected only even though accepting_applications is technically marked true. Recipients cluster around capital campaigns and multi-year pledges rather than one-off program grants: Centracare Foundation received 4 grants totaling $550,000 for cancer survivorship and wellness-center projects, and St. John's Boys Choir received 4 sponsorship grants totaling $50,000, suggesting the foundation prefers deepening a handful of existing relationships over funding many new grantees each cycle.

Typical grant sizing (foundation-reported range $5,000-$305,000, median $30,000, average $80,000) skews toward mid-size capital and program support rather than small operating grants. The clearest entry path for first-time applicants runs through Coborn's Cares, the corporate giving arm, which funds hunger relief, youth investment, and healthy-living programs with more than $3 million annually via a public online donation form. Organizations that build visibility there — or that already sit inside the CentraCare, Catholic Community Schools/Diocese of St. Cloud, or College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University networks — appear best positioned to eventually be considered for the family foundation's larger capital gifts, such as its 2025 matching challenge for Catholic Community Schools.

Total giving has been volatile year to year, consistent with a family foundation funding large lump capital gifts rather than a steady annual budget: $702,420 (2019) → $593,576 (2020) → $1,506,476 (2021) → $168,732 (2022) → $1,970,145 (2023), a more than 10x swing between the two most recent full years on record. FY2024 shows $462,433 in revenue and $7,544,758 in total assets, with total_giving not yet reported in available filings. Assets grew from $5,671,230 (2019) to $7,544,758 (2024), a 33% increase over five years, driven substantially by investment income and periodic large contributions (a $1,010,000 contribution inflow in 2020 alone) rather than by grantmaking pace.

Across 19 tracked grants totaling $1,076,360 (average $56,651/grant), giving is heavily concentrated: Centracare Foundation alone accounts for 51% of tracked dollars ($550,000 across 4 grants for cancer survivorship, the Long Prairie Wellness Center, and a pediatric center). The top three recipients — Centracare Foundation, Great Rivers Children's Museum ($200,000, one grant for a new-museum pledge), and Cathedral High School ($150,000 across 2 grants for 'The Campaign for Cathedral') — account for 84% of all tracked grant dollars ($900,000 of $1,076,360). The remaining five recipients (College of St. Benedict's University $100,000; St. John's Boys Choir $50,000 across 4 sponsorship grants; Pay It Forward Fund $19,360 across 4 grants; Firefighters For Healing $5,000 across 2 grants; and North Dakota Grocers Association $2,000 for a scholarship fund) split the balance.

By the foundation's own reported typical-grant-size data (n=7 sized grants), awards range from $5,000 to $305,000 with a $30,000 median and $80,000 average — a wide spread reflecting both small sponsorships and major capital commitments within the same portfolio. Geographically, 18 of 19 grants (94.7%) stayed in Minnesota, with the single North Dakota grant tied to Coborn's own grocery-industry trade association rather than a general geographic expansion. By program area, healthcare/cancer survivorship is the largest identifiable category (51% via CentraCare), followed by arts/culture and Catholic education capital campaigns (roughly 33% combined via the museum and Cathedral High School), with youth programming, public safety, and workforce/scholarship support making up the remainder.

All five listed peers sit within $2,000 of Coborn's $7,544,758 in assets and share its Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE classification, making them close asset-tier comparisons, but none has a listed website or public financial detail available in this data set — consistent with the broader pattern that most small family foundations near this asset size disclose only what is legally required on Form 990 and otherwise give through private, personal networks. Coborn stands out in this peer group for having an active public-facing website, a named, dated 2025 matching-gift campaign covered in local media, and a documented multi-year pattern of repeat institutional grants — a materially higher public profile than typical for a foundation this size.

The clearest recent signal is the foundation's May 2025 launch of a $1 million matching challenge for Catholic Community Schools' 'Deeply Rooted, Growing Stronger' capital campaign: the foundation matched every dollar donated up to $500,000 (total potential impact of $1 million) through May 30, 2025. The campaign itself is a three-year, $6 million effort covering three priorities — retiring $4 million of the $5 million remaining debt on the St. Cloud Cathedral High School expansion, replacing HVAC systems at Cathedral High and Middle School ($1 million), and upgrading systems at five elementary schools ($1 million). This builds directly on the foundation's own grant history: Cathedral High School already received $150,000 across two grants for 'The Campaign for Cathedral' in the foundation's tracked-grant data, showing a multi-year relationship rather than a one-time gift.

On the financial side, the foundation's most recent full-year filing (FY2023) showed total giving of $1,970,145, more than 10 times FY2022's $168,732 — a jump plausibly tied to completing its cumulative $550,000 CentraCare cancer-survivorship and wellness-center commitment. FY2024 data available in this snapshot shows $462,433 in revenue and $7,544,758 in assets, with a total_giving figure not yet reported, likely reflecting normal 990-processing lag rather than a funding pullback.

No leadership changes were identified: the same core Coborn/Estby/Wright family board, alongside independent directors Dave Meyer and Jim Shaw, appears consistently across observed filing years, with rotating officer titles suggesting internal family succession rather than external hires. No new program announcements, staff additions, or geographic expansion beyond the existing Minnesota (with incidental North Dakota) footprint were found in available sources.

There is no independent online application portal for the family foundation itself — IRS data lists application_form_url and application_deadline as null, and application_instructions literally reads '__none__'. The more reliable entry point is Coborn's Cares, the Coborn's Inc. corporate giving arm (coborns.com/for-our-guests/coborns-cares), which runs a public 'Coborn's, Inc. Donation Application' funding hunger relief, youth investment, and healthy-living initiatives with more than $3 million distributed annually — building a track record there, or an introduction through CentraCare, Catholic Community Schools/Diocese of St. Cloud, or College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University, appears to be how organizations move onto the family foundation's radar for larger capital gifts.

Given the preselected_only flag and the repeat-grantee pattern (4 of 8 top tracked recipients received 2-4 grants each rather than a single gift), cold unsolicited proposals to the family foundation face long odds; treat this as a warm-relationship funder, not an open-RFP funder. Because giving is concentrated in named capital projects and matching-challenge structures (as with the 2025 $1 million Catholic Community Schools match), organizations planning a capital campaign in the St. Cloud/Central Minnesota region should approach the foundation early — ideally 6-12 months before public launch — to explore a matching-gift or lead-gift role rather than approaching late as a gap-filler.

Scope requests realistically against the foundation's own reported range: $5,000 to $305,000, with a $30,000 median and $80,000 average across sized grants. Every top-tracked grant ties to a specific named project or purpose ('CSBU Athletics Field,' 'Annual Pledge for New Museum,' 'Pediatric Center') rather than general operating support, so proposals should lead with a concrete, named capital or program ask. A common mistake would be applying without any Minnesota (ideally Central Minnesota) presence or connection — 18 of 19 tracked grants stayed in-state, and the sole out-of-state grant went to a grocery-industry trade group tied to Coborn's own business.

Since the board is 100% volunteer with zero paid staff, there is no program officer to email — outreach should go to the foundation's listed contact (%Emily Coborn, 1921 Coborn Blvd, Saint Cloud, MN 56301-2100, (320) 534-2705) or, better, through a warm introduction via an already-funded partner such as CentraCare Foundation, Cathedral High School, or College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University.