by 
(3/25/24)
3M Foundation has shut down. Future grants will be awarded through 3M’s corporate giving program.
The 3M Foundation was established 70 years ago. It was one of the first corporate foundations in the U.S. and very well respected in the corporate community. For the last 30+ years, 3M corporation has awarded philanthropic grants through both its foundation and a related corporate giving program.
Historically, the corporate giving program’s grants were more business influenced (STEM, colleges, employees), while the foundation was more focused on arts, human services, and community development.
In 2021, the corporation shifted the foundation’s giving to also focus on STEM and related fields. At the same time, the foundation announced it was no longer accepting unsolicited requests for funding. Then, when the foundation filed its most recent 990 PF (2022), it reported that it was filing its final report, ending operations and turning over its last year’s funding ($11.4 million) to the St Paul and Minnesota Foundation.
3M’s community website reports the company’s most recent total giving (2022) for both programs was $31 million ($11 million from the foundation and about $20 million from the corporate giving program). No word on 2023 giving yet. Please note there are also in-kind donations and other types of giving.
From now on, the corporation will award all its grants and scholarships only through the corporate giving program. We anticipate total 3M corporate giving will decrease in the near future and we wonder if the company may close its giving program for a while. That’s not surprising given the financial problems the corporation has been experiencing for the last few years.
The new 3M CEO, William Brown has experience with corporate giving programs and may want to reorganize the company’s giving programs. We’ll let you know.