Klick Foundation

The Klick Foundation is a small, family-run private foundation (EIN 26-0667487, founded 2008) based in Glenwood, Minnesota, governed entirely by members of the Klick and Bailey families — Stephen R. Klick, Jennifer R. Klick, Cole Klick, Brady J. Klick, Casey C. Klick, Jesse J. Klick, and Stephanie Bailey all serve as uncompensated directors. This is not a foundation that runs an open grants program: both its website and its IRS Form 990-PF explicitly state it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations" and does not accept unsolicited requests. Directors identify and approach recipients directly, typically through personal, civic, or faith-based relationships in and around Glenwood, Lake Minnewaska, and Pope County, Minnesota. For a first-time applicant, the realistic path is not a cold application but relationship-building: get known to the community organizations, schools, and civic groups the family already supports (Minnewaska Area Schools, Glacial Ridge Hospice, the Glenwood Lakes Area, Starbuck Heritage Days), or find a warm introduction to a board member. Of 67 recorded grants, only a small handful represent new or larger relationships (Minnesota State University Mankato Foundation, $333,334 across 2 grants; Minnesota PGA and Missionary Benedictine Sisters, $30,000 each) — the overwhelming majority (the DB shows an average grant size of $6,897, but the median recipient in the tracked data receives well under $1,000) are small, recurring local gifts under $1,000 to civic clubs, schools, and health/human-service nonprofits the family has supported for years. Any organization considered will need to satisfy a 2:1 matching requirement, meet with the board, and commit to annual reporting on fund use. This is fundamentally a legacy-giving vehicle for an established Minnesota family, not a competitive grants program, so applicants should calibrate expectations accordingly and pursue it only where an authentic local or personal connection already exists.

Across the tracked grant history (67 grants, $462,104 total, average $6,897), the size distribution is heavily skewed: a single outlier relationship — Minnesota State University Mankato Foundation — accounts for $333,334 (72% of tracked dollars) across just 2 grants, while the remaining 65 grants total roughly $128,770, averaging under $2,000 each. Beneath that outlier, the next tier is Minnesota PGA ($30,000/2 grants) and Missionary Benedictine Sisters ($30,000/3 grants), then Alex Technical & Community College ($18,000/2 grants) and Camphil Village Minnesota ($10,000/1 grant). Below $10,000, the pattern is dozens of small, recurring gifts of $200-$6,250 to hyper-local Pope County institutions: Centra Care Foundation ($6,250), Sharing and Caring Hands ($5,000), Minnewaska Lakers Foundation ($4,000-$6,000 combined across variant listings), and numerous $250-$1,000 gifts to fire departments, school proms, historical societies, and civic festivals in Glenwood and Starbuck. Geographically, giving is almost entirely intrastate: 60 of 67 tracked grants (90%) went to Minnesota organizations, with only 3 to California, 3 to Nebraska, and 1 to Oregon. All recorded grant purposes are coded "GENERAL" — the foundation does not appear to fund by program category or issue area, consistent with an informal, relationship-driven giving model rather than a structured RFP process. Annual giving (per IRS 990-PF filings) has ranged from $161,044 (2012) to $482,045 (2023), with $286,257 paid out in grants in 2023 and $227,130 in 2024 (per Instrumentl's 990 tracking) against a foundation with total assets of $3.58M-$5.18M over the past decade — assets have declined roughly 30% since a 2014 peak of $5.18M, and 2024 revenue was $244,227 against reported grants paid closer to $211,767-$286,257 in the two prior years, suggesting the foundation draws down principal in some years to sustain its giving level.

All five peers cluster within roughly $10,000 of Klick's $3,584,473 in assets and share its NTEE classification (Philanthropy & Grantmaking, general-purpose family foundations rather than program-specific funders). This tight clustering is characteristic of small, single-family private foundations nationwide: modest endowments (typically funded by one family's liquidity event or estate), no professional program staff, and a giving pattern driven by personal relationships rather than public RFPs. None of the peer foundations have published grant guidelines or portals in this dataset, reinforcing that this asset tier ($3.5-4M) is dominated by closed, invitation-only giving rather than competitive grantmaking — grant seekers should expect the same preselected posture from comparable foundations unless a foundation's own site explicitly states otherwise.

No foundation-specific press coverage, leadership changes, or new program announcements were found for the Klick Foundation in 2025 or 2026 — searches for "Klick Foundation" news returned only unrelated results for Klick Health (a large Toronto healthcare marketing agency undergoing a 2025 growth investment and 2026 Cannes Lions wins) and the unrelated Swiss KliK Foundation, neither of which is affiliated with this Glenwood, Minnesota family foundation. This absence of press activity is itself consistent with the foundation's profile: a small, family-governed, invitation-only grantmaker with no communications program, website news section, or social media presence. The most current verifiable activity comes from its IRS Form 990-PF filings: $227,130 distributed across 26 grants in fiscal year 2024 (the latest year with grants-paid data in this dataset), down from $286,257 across 23 grants in 2023. Total assets stood at $3,584,473 as of the 2024 filing, essentially flat versus $3,684,321 in 2023. The foundation's board composition (Stephen R., Jennifer R., Cole, Brady J., Casey C., and Jesse J. Klick, plus Stephanie Bailey, all uncompensated directors) also appears stable across the filings reviewed, with no reported turnover. Grant seekers should not expect a public announcement cadence from this funder and should instead track its IRS 990-PF filings (via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer or Instrumentl) for the most current data on giving levels and recipients.

Because the Klick Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications — a fact stated on its own website and checked as a box on its IRS Form 990-PF — the single most important "tip" is to not treat this as a normal grants prospect. There is no LOI form, online portal, or published deadline to target. Instead: (1) Focus on geography and relationship, not proposal quality — 90% of tracked grants (60 of 67) went to organizations in Minnesota, overwhelmingly in the Glenwood/Lake Minnewaska/Pope County area where the Klick family is based, so an organization outside that footprint has a materially lower chance of consideration absent a personal connection to a director. (2) Identify the actual decision-makers — the board is entirely family members (Stephen R., Jennifer R., Cole, Brady J., Casey C., and Jesse J. Klick, and Stephanie Bailey) with no outside program officer, so influence runs through personal introductions, not grant-writing. (3) If a relationship does open a door, prepare for the foundation's two hard requirements up front: a 2:1 matching-funds commitment (the organization must demonstrate it can raise $2 for every $1 the foundation grants) and a plan that avoids consulting fees or "soft money" costs, which the foundation explicitly will not fund. (4) Expect a board meeting or site visit as part of eligibility review before any commitment — this is described on the foundation's own site as a standard step, not an exception. (5) Once funded, budget staff time for an annual report proving how funds were used, since continued eligibility depends on this. (6) A common mistake to avoid: treating this like MSU Mankato Foundation's relationship (the largest tracked grantee at $333,334) — that scale of gift is the exception in a portfolio where most recipients receive under $1,000, so first-time prospects should calibrate expectations toward a modest introductory gift, not a transformational one. (7) There is no dedicated grants email or portal listed — the only contact channel found is the general foundation address (625 S Lakeshore Drive, Suite A-110, Glenwood, MN 56334) and phone number (360-732-0227) associated with contact "% Stephen R Klick."