Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund at Greater Twin Cities United Way

Greater Twin Cities United Way (United Way) is grateful to be one of the Otto Bremer Trust’s (OBT) intermediary partners across OBT’s 4 state region. In 2026, United Way will administer $5.5M from the Otto Bremer Trust Community Responsive Fund.

This page will provide information on United Way’s process to administer these funds, including the requirements set by Otto Bremer Trust.

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for OBT Community Responsive grants through United Way are:

Criteria

Organizations are a 501c3, are not fiscally sponsored, must be headquartered in Twin Cities. Partnerships and coalitions of nonprofit organizations are not eligible.
Located and doing work in 9-county metro area; a majority of people served by the organization must live in the Twin Cities region
Organization has at least five (5) years of successful operations during which they have continuously held 501c3 status
Organization's last fiscal year’s actual expenses must be a minimum of $3 million
Organization does not have a current OBT strategic grant

Grant Terms

Maximum grant award is $75,000
Grants cannot be more than 10% of organization’s philanthropic revenue (revenue less government funding, earned income, investment gains, fee for service, and in-kind contributions)
Funds will be restricted to activities within the focus area. Up to 10% is permitted for administrative costs
Grant period is anticipated to start October 1st, 2026 for a period of one year

Focus Areas

Otto Bremer Trust sets the focus areas for the OBT Community Responsive Fund on an annual basis, and permits Greater Twin Cities United Way to utilize a process that aligns this funding opportunity to GTCUW’s focus areas. Greater Twin Cities United Way will fund organizations in the following 2026 Focus Areas:

Food. Organizations and programs that directly operate meal sites and food shelves to meet basic daily needs. (Large, region- and state-wide food bank activities are not eligible).
Shelter. Organizations and programs that provide short-term and emergency shelter beds for people who are experiencing homelessness.
Low-income healthcare clinics. Organizations and programs that primarily provide affordable medical, dental, and mental health services to people with limited financial resources or who are uninsured or underinsured.
Disability services. Organizations and programs that support people with physical/cognitive disabilities.
- To align with GTCUW’s focus on preventing and ending homelessness, applications will only be accepted from organizations providing supportive housing and services to households with physical or cognitive disabilities who have experienced long-term or chronic homelessness.
School-based mental health. Organizations and programs that provide clinical school-based mental health services (therapy or group therapy) provided by licensed mental health professionals.

Grantmaking process

Intermediaries are permitted by OBT to use a variety of grantmaking processes that best meet the needs of their organization's strategy and community to distribute funds, including invite-only processes, competitive grant processes, or blending funds into existing grant programs. United Way is determining the process for distributing funds in 2026, and will update this page once that information is publicly available. To be sure you are notified of all future funding opportunities, sign up for our email list.

More Information from United Way

For questions regarding Otto Bremer’s Community Responsive Fund at Greater Twin Cities Way, please contact us at partners@gtcuw.org.

For a list of currently available grant opportunities, visit our nonprofit portal. For notifications of future funding opportunities, sign up for our email list.