Elmer & Kaya Berg Foundation No 2
Fargo, ND · EIN 36-3668256. Reported 186 grants totalling $838,750 to 61 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Elmer & Kaya Berg Foundation No 2 did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $44,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia College | Moorhead, MN | $149,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sanford Medical Foundation | Fargo, ND | $57,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nexus-Path Family Healing | Fargo, ND | $46,300 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Village Family Services | Fargo, ND | $40,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Oak Grove Lutheran School | Fargo, ND | $37,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Park Christian | Moorhead, MN | $37,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Luther Seminary | St Paul, MN | $27,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Churches United for the Homeless | Fargo, ND | $23,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nokomis Child Care Center | Fargo, ND | $21,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Boys and Girls Club of Detroit Lakes | Detroit Lakes, MN | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boys and Girls Club of Perham | Perham, MN | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| YWCA Cass & Clay Counties | Fargo, ND | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| New Life Center | Fargo, ND | $16,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation | Grand Forks, ND | $14,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jail Chaplains | Fargo, ND | $14,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Great Plains Food Bank | Fargo, ND | $13,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Detroit Lakes Community and Cultural Center | Detroit Lakes, MN | $12,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Historic Holmes Center | Detroit Lakes, MN | $12,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Lake Aggassiz Habitat for Humanity | Moorhead, MN | $12,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Rape and Abuse Crisis Center | Fargo, ND | $12,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| First Lutheran Church | Fargo, ND | $10,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ronald Mcdonald House | Fargo, ND | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Shanley High School | Fargo, ND | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Special Olympics-Mn | Minneapolis, MN | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Anne Carlson Center for Children | Jamestown, ND | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Red River Children's Advocacy Center | Fargo, ND | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Shanley Catholic School Network | Fargo, ND | $9,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Plains Art Museum | Fargo, ND | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Rosewood Home | Fargo, ND | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Tnt Kids Fitness | Fargo, MN | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Trollwood Performing Arts | Moorhead, MN | $8,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hospice of Red River Valley | Fargo, ND | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Daily Bread | Fargo, ND | $7,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Becker County Food Pantry | Detroit Lakes, MN | $6,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Benedictine St Catherine's | Wahpeton, ND | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley | Fargo, ND | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Concordia Langauge Villages | Moorhead, MN | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lss of Mn | Moorhead, MN | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| North Country Food Bank | East Grand Forks, MN | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Pathways | Bemidji, MN | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Red River Valley Veterans Concert Band | Fargo, ND | $6,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Red River Youth for Christ | Fargo, ND | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Special Olympics Cass County Nd | Fargo, ND | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Special Olympics North Dakota | Grand Forks, ND | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Unseen | Fargo, ND | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| American Red Cross of Red River Valley | Fargo, ND | $4,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Eternal Hope Unlimited Dl Jail Chaplains | Detroit Lakes, MN | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fraser Ltd | Fargo, ND | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Frasier Ltd | Fargo, ND | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Historic Holmes Theatre | Detroit Lakes, MN | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Smp Health - St Catherine North | Fargo, ND | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Refuge | Detroit Lakes, MN | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Dakota Boys Ranch | Minot, ND | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre | Fargo, ND | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hero | Fargo, ND | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Red Willow Bible Camp | Binford, ND | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Beginnings Childcare Center | West Fargo, ND | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Compassion House | Detroit Lakes, MN | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fargo Moorhead Area Foundation Womens Fund | Fargo, ND | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Young Life Castaway Club | Detroit Lakes, MN | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fellowship of Christian Athletes | Kindred, ND | $750 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
55 of 61 (90%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 80%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Concordia College
TO FUND SCHOLARSHIP ATNON PROFIT COLLEGE - Nexus-Path Family Healing
FOSTER CARE, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICESRESIDENTIAL TREATEMENT - Sanford Medical Foundation
TO PROVIDE FUNDINGFOR SUPPORT PROGRAMSAT SANFORD MEDICAL - Oak Grove Lutheran School
TO PROVIDE GENERALAND RELIGOUSEDUCATION - Park Christian
TO PROVIDE GENERAL AND RELIGOUS EDUCATION - Shanley High School
TO FUND OPERATIONSOF RELIGOUS SCHOOLING
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 62 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53 | $210,750 | $2,100 |
| 2022 | 55 | $214,750 | $2,500 |
| 2023 | 47 | $212,750 | $3,000 |
| 2024 | 31 | $200,500 | $4,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 57% of this one's giving went to organizations in North Dakota. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in North Dakota.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Elmer & Kaya Berg Foundation No 2's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: C/O Bell Bank Wealth Management 520, Fargo, ND, 58103. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 36-3668256 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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