Manitou Fund

The Manitou Fund is a McNeely family foundation that operates on an exclusively invitation-only, preselected basis since its 1966 founding. The foundation's own language is unambiguous: it 'only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.' No RFP, no application portal, and no formal submission process exist. For any organization considering pursuing this funder, this reality must shape every aspect of the strategy.

With approximately $738 million in assets and an annual grant budget of roughly $25-38 million (excluding the anomalous FY 2023 disbursement of $264M), the Manitou Fund is a significant private foundation — but one whose giving is governed entirely by family relationships rather than open competition. The foundation does not publish a website, strategic plan, or program guidelines.

Grantmaking authority rests with the McNeely family. Three family members hold Chief Program Officer titles — Greg McNeely, Kevin McNeely, and Nora McNeely Hurley — each earning $300,000-$350,000. President & CEO Oliver Din ($750,000 compensation) manages operations, but the family's programmatic preferences drive the portfolio.

Successful relationships at Manitou are built over years and decades. Examining the top-50 grantee history reveals deeply-rooted commitments: Franklin University Switzerland received $9.25 million across 7 grants; University of Minnesota Foundation $4.06 million across 6 grants; Century College Foundation $1.275 million across 4 grants. The foundation deepens partnerships rather than distributing broadly to new applicants.

The clearest pathways to consideration are: (1) organizations embedded in the Minnesota Catholic education ecosystem — College of St. Scholastica, St. Catherine University, and St. Rita's School are anchor institutions; (2) tennis and athletics organizations with national profiles; (3) environmental conservation organizations active in coastal California (especially Santa Barbara County) or in Minnesota advocacy; (4) arts and culture organizations in the Sonoma Valley/California wine country region; and (5) Native American community organizations in the Upper Midwest.

First-time applicants should realistically plan for a 1-2 year relationship cultivation timeline before any grant commitment, with success dependent entirely on a warm introduction from a current grantee.

Across 1,037 recorded grants totaling $131.5 million in the available grantee database, the Manitou Fund operates a clearly tiered giving structure. The median grant is $40,000, the average is $107,395, and the documented range spans $5,000 to $2.76 million — signaling willingness to make both modest programmatic grants and major capital investments to trusted partners.

Annual giving trends from 990-PF filings show steady growth followed by a significant anomaly: - FY 2019: $25.4M - FY 2020: $24.9M - FY 2021: $32.0M - FY 2022: $34.0M - FY 2023: $264.1M (outlier — likely one-time asset restructuring)

The FY 2023 spike coincided with total assets dropping from $986M to $739M — a $248M decline. This extraordinary disbursement, including a $14M general operating grant to the Khr Family Fund (likely a donor-advised fund or family subsidiary), suggests an internal financial restructuring rather than a permanent shift in grant capacity. The sustainable annual budget appears to be $25-38M.

Geographically, California dominates with 472 grants in the grantee database, followed by Minnesota (210), New York (105), DC (28), Massachusetts (26), South Dakota (17), Florida (14), Montana (12), and Oregon (11). California's prominence reflects the McNeely family's personal philanthropy in the Santa Barbara region: Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital ($1M), Santa Barbara International Film Festival ($600K), Santa Barbara Zoo ($630K), Heal the Ocean ($600K), and Dignity Moves ($650K) are all active regional relationships.

By sector, the portfolio distributes roughly across: Education and academic institutions (~35%), Arts and culture (~20%), Environment and conservation (~15%), Human services (~12%), Health (~8%), and Sports and recreation (~7%). Tennis receives outsized support — the USTA Foundation and related organizations have received over $4.1M total, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame received a $1.2M capital grant. Within education, the foundation strongly favors Catholic and independent colleges over public universities, with one notable exception: the University of Minnesota Foundation ($4.06M total).

The Manitou Fund occupies a distinctive position among Minnesota private foundations: substantial assets (~$738M), geographically split between Minnesota community grantmaking and California personal philanthropy, entirely closed to unsolicited applications, and governed by family discretion rather than published program guidelines.

The Manitou Fund is closest in annual giving scale to the Bush Foundation but operates with dramatically less transparency and no open access channels. Unlike McKnight, Otto Bremer Trust, or Blandin — which maintain professional grant staff, published funding priorities, and accessible LOI processes — Manitou's giving is entirely relationship-driven with no public-facing infrastructure.

For organizations that cannot secure a warm introduction to the McNeely family, the above peer foundations represent far more accessible entry points in the same geographic and thematic space. McKnight in particular has open rolling applications for environment and arts, covering many of the same issue areas as Manitou. Organizations should pursue McKnight, Bremer, Bush, and Blandin concurrently with any Manitou relationship-cultivation effort.

The most recently documented grant activity (2024-2025) shows Manitou deepening commitments to established partners rather than expanding to new organizations:

2025: Manitou Fund renewed the Katie Leadership Impact grant to St. Catherine University, a Catholic women's university in Saint Paul. Total cumulative giving to St. Catherine University has reached $1.25M. This renewal signals continued family investment in women's leadership development programming within Catholic higher education.

FY 2024 major awards (per public filings and third-party databases): $1M to the International Tennis Hall of Fame for the TeamFame Learning Center at Canfield House capital campaign; $915K to the University of Minnesota Foundation (CATSS mobile unit, raptor center, Voyageurs Wolf Project); $750K to Century College Foundation (Share the Music and Start Right programs); and $500K to multiple other grantees.

FY 2023 anomaly: Total grants paid reached $264.1M — a 677% increase over FY 2022's $34M — coinciding with a $248M decline in total assets. The largest single grant was $14M (general operating) to the Khr Family Fund. This extraordinary year appears to reflect an internal financial restructuring and does not represent a sustained increase in the foundation's grant budget.

No leadership changes or new program announcements were found in public sources for 2025-2026. Oliver Din has served as President & CEO across multiple consecutive years at $699,999-$750,000 compensation. The three McNeely family Chief Program Officers maintain consistent roles. The foundation continues to operate without a public website.

Because the Manitou Fund does not accept unsolicited applications, conventional grant-writing advice is largely irrelevant. The following tips reflect how this specific foundation actually operates:

Understand the gateway: No written proposal will substitute for a prior relationship. The foundation's policy of preselected-only funding is not a formality — it reflects how grants are genuinely awarded. Oliver Din and the McNeely family personally know their grantees.

Identify your introduction vector: Map board and leadership overlap between your organization and current Manitou grantees. College of St. Scholastica (Duluth), St. Catherine University (Saint Paul), Century College Foundation, Yosemite Foundation, The Nature Conservancy's California operations, and USTA Foundation are multi-year grantees whose leaders could potentially make an introduction.

Align with family passion areas, not generic categories: Generic 'education' or 'environment' alignment is insufficient. The specific interests are: Catholic women's colleges, tennis at all levels, Santa Barbara county coastal conservation, Sonoma Valley arts and film, Minnesota East Side community services, Swiss and Italian arts and cultural institutions, and Upper Midwest Native American programs. Surface-level mission alignment won't resonate — genuine thematic fit does.

Don't lead with a funding ask: If an introduction is secured, the first conversation should be about your organization's story and mission connection to the foundation's interests — not a specific grant request. The foundation funds relationships, not proposals.

Prepare a crisp one-page narrative: Rather than a formal grant proposal, have ready a one-page organizational overview: mission, key programs, geographic footprint, annual budget, and specific link to the foundation's known interests. Keep it conversational, not templated.

Think in multi-year terms: The foundation's largest relationships span 7-10+ years and multiple grants. Position your organization as a potential decade-long partner. Show track record, organizational stability, and a clear program pipeline.

Monitor annual 990-PF filings: Review each year's 990-PF (available via ProPublica or Candid) to track new grantees, funding shifts, and any expanded program interests. File timing is typically 12-18 months after the fiscal year end.