Read the 2024 Annual Report
Better Communities for All Since 1944
Our Rochester Area Foundation
Rochester Area Foundation is a place where generous people from diverse backgrounds come together to make our communities better places.
As the Rochester area’s philanthropic leader, we award grants each year that are made possible by financial gifts from donors—people who care about the greater Rochester community and want to see it thrive. Our endowment relies on donor gifts and market growth for its success.
We lead by bringing people together to solve complicated community problems, realizing that for some issues there are no immediate solutions or simple answers.
Recent News
Rochester Area Foundation Awards $162,250 in Grants and Scholarships in May
ROCHESTER, MINN. - Rochester Area Foundation recently awarded $100,250 in grants to 13 community nonprofits from the Foundation’s Better Communities Endowment. Additionally, $62,000 was awarded to area high school students. We are privileged to work with families and...
Together Fund Grant Application Now Available for Local Nonprofits
TOGETHER, we are committed to strengthening our community during this uncertain time. The Together Fund partners know the COVID-19 pandemic is having an immediate impact on our community, and the nonprofits that so faithfully serve it. We are pleased to announce that...
It’s Census Day! Have you been counted?
By now many of you have received invitations in the mail to complete the 2020 Census. Your response shapes decisions about how more than $675 billion in federal funding is distributed annually to local communities, like ours, to support schools, fire and emergency...
TOGETHER: Greater Rochester Area COVID-19 Community Support Fund
Rochester Area Foundation, Mayo Clinic, and United Way of Olmsted County launched the Together Fund to support Rochester area nonprofits who are experiencing unforeseen challenges due to the ongoing pandemic and serve our region’s most vulnerable communities....
Rochester Area Foundation’s Response to COVID-19
For 75 years, Rochester Area Foundation has worked to build better communities for all. We continue that work now, as we come together to develop responses in this time of crisis that keep our community’s health and well-being at the forefront. We want you to know...
First Homes Purchases Center Street Village Apartments to Preserve Affordable Housing
On Wednesday, February 19, First Homes (doing business as Center Street Properties, LLC), a subsidiary of Rochester Area Foundation, closed on the purchase of Center Street Village Apartments to preserve the apartments as naturally occurring affordable housing. Center...
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