In 2023, McKnight increased its giving. At the time, we didn’t make a big announcement. Here’s why we feel compelled to say more now.
Earlier today, McKnight shared how our Foundation is all in on mission and working to deploy many tools—from our grantmaking to mission investments and from our endowment to our physical headquarters—to directly benefit lives today and build a stronger future for people and planet. This includes increasing our charitable giving. 2024 was the highest grantmaking payout in the Foundation’s nearly 75-year history with our charitable payout exceeding 7 percent of our endowment. We are on track to have another near-record charitable payout year in 2025, and we anticipate it will remain above a 6 percent charitable payout for the remainder of this decade.
This all started back in 2023 when McKnight’s Board, recognizing the incredible opportunities before us, approved an increase of $200 million for grantmaking. They did this realizing we could accelerate our impact and help transform the lives of more people in our community. From more people buying their first homes, having good-paying jobs, and starting flourishing small businesses, to lowering household energy bills, helping farmers make their crops more resilient, and improving transportation—these individual transformations would add up to something much larger. They would also help create a state where everyone, regardless of their race, background, or upbringing, can achieve their aspirations, and help position the Midwest as the heartland of clean energy innovation and climate solutions.
At the time, we decided not to make a big, public announcement and instead were content to keep the focus on the work and our partners. Much has changed in our world since that moment, and we believe now is an important moment to share. Here’s why:
1. This moment requires us to step up and step together in support of the communities who need us.
We recognize now is an important moment for philanthropy to stand up and stand together and do more to address the serious threats facing our sector, society, and democracy. Alongside MacArthur President John Palfrey and Freedom Together Foundation President Deepak Bhargava, I shared in Nonprofit Quarterly that, “For those who can afford to increase their giving to address increased needs, let’s give more. The stakes for democracy are existential, and the price of inaction is our freedom.” In calling on others to increase their giving, we want to be clear about how we have done the same.
The etymology of the word philanthropy is the love of humanity. Now is the time to demonstrate that love in full. By sharing how McKnight has increased our giving and highlighting the many ways a foundation can support the people it serves, we have an opportunity to inspire others to act as well. We hope other foundations and charitable giving organizations will also explore and fully activate the many ways they can directly benefit the communities they serve.
2. We remain committed to responding to the moment ແລະ building for the future.
Earlier this year, we shared that McKnight is navigating this moment as we have many others over our 70-year history—by staying closely connected to the communities we support and deploying our resources to improve the lives of people today while building a future that is more just, creative, and abundant for all.
In addition to reaffirming our commitment to our mission, vision, and values, our goal has been to back those words up with action. We aim to show up purposefully for our partners today, and we will continue to proactively invest in approaches and strategies that grow, build, imagine, and construct—not just react.
Making long-term investments in our communities through both good times and bad has been part of McKnight’s DNA from the beginning. This includes creating the Minnesota Initiative Foundations in 1985 at a time of economic turmoil amidst the state’s farming crisis. It also includes supporting arts and culture organizations, many of which faced reduced funding or threats of closure, resulting in a vibrant ecosystem across the state that enriches communities and strengthens local economies.
This DNA was first imprinted on the Foundation by Virginia McKnight Binger, the daughter of McKnight’s founders. Virginia, or “Ginny” as she was known, led McKnight for many years, driven by a deep sense of service, generosity, and a community-based approach to philanthropy. Ginny “turned to the people in the community—staffs of local organizations and the people they served—to hear their thoughts about the problems they faced and how best to respond to them,” as detailed in this case study by the National Center for Family Philanthropy.
Over McKnight’s history, from the first $1 million endowment at the start of the Foundation in 1953, we have given away over $3.26 billion dollars to strengthen communities and economies from our backyard to places worldwide.
3. We refuse to let go of our positive vision for the future, and neither should you.
By sharing this information, we are publicly reaffirming our positive, hopeful vision for the future and how we are choosing to be an answer at McKnight. Despite emerging and complex challenges, the future is not finished. We are the ones to determine and shape it, and we need to act every day urgently as if we are being given a new opportunity to create that future.
At the end of last year, we recorded a video as a celebration of our partners and the courageous characters who work powerfully every day to improve lives and push us toward a stronger future. We decided to hold on releasing it earlier in the year; however, now feels like the right time to share it as a declaration that we are not giving up on our positive vision for the future, and neither should you.
I hope it reminds you of what we are working toward together and why McKnight is proud to support people working every day with courage, dedication, passion, and conviction. Community leaders, business owners, caregivers, artists, scientists, workers, investors, teachers, culture bearers, farmers, researchers, innovators: To you, we express our deep gratitude for the contributions you make to move inspiration into action.
In closing, I will share a message that I often share with the McKnight team. One of my favorite quotes of late is by Octavia Butler who once wrote in an essay ສໍາລັບ Essence magazine, “There’s no single answer that will solve all of our future problems. There’s no magic bullet. Instead, there are thousands of answers—at least, you can be one of them if you choose to be.”
Let us together choose to be those many answers that our world needs today.
