Sauer Family Foundation Grant

The Sauer Family Foundation Grant focuses on enhancing the lives of at-risk children in Minnesota, particularly in the seven-county metro area. The foundation prioritizes funding for initiatives that promote family stability, emotional safety in schools, and educational success for children facing learning disabilities. With a commitment to community-based support, the foundation also emphasizes the importance of diverse workforce pathways, ensuring that programs are inclusive and equitable. Applications for new funding opportunities will be limited as the foundation approaches its planned sunset in 2027.

Background
We fund in the state of Minnesota with priority given to the seven-county metro area. We work in settings that serve children who are at-risk or experiencing abuse or neglect, exposed to toxic stress/trauma, or have challenges developing reading, writing and math skills. This includes schools and early childhood settings, non-profit and research organizations, government agencies, collaboratives, and networks.
Funding Areas
We fund direct service, research, field building, and systems change efforts in the following areas:

• Building Strong Family Relationships: Prevention and Intervention in Child Welfare

Supporting children and families with a whole family approach network of community-based initiatives towards preventing child abuse and neglect.Keeping children safe at home through parent support and family treatment services. When this is not possible, building connections through family-finding and natural support towards achieving relational permanence.Meeting the social emotional needs of foster children & youth and decreasing time to permanency, interrupting the exit to homeless youth services.
Increasing public awareness of the foster care experience through the elevation of experienced and informed foster youth voice.
Building Supportive Environments that Promote Emotional Safety for Children & Youth
Programs for preK-12 schools that promote the emotional safety of children and youth.
School-based small group interventions for children facing shared adverse experiences, e.g.; grief, separation from caregiver.
Programs that offer children and families tools to talk about emotional and mental health.
Professional development in trauma-responsive practices for professionals working with children; including resiliency to secondary trauma.
Building Educational Success for Children: Literacy Skills and Specific Learning Disabilities in Reading PreK – 12th Grade
As the Sauer Family Foundation approaches its planned sunset in 2027, we will continue to partner with current grantees on this important work.To ensure substantial investment in what has shown successful outcomes in this funding area, we will no longer accept unsolicited inquiries or applications for Educational Success funding.
Building a Workforce that Reflects the Diversity of Minnesota’s Children: Racially Equitable Career Pathways in our Funding Areas
As the Sauer Family Foundation approaches its planned sunset in 2027, we will continue to partner with current grantees on this important work.To ensure substantial investment in what has shown successful outcomes in this funding area, we will no longer accept unsolicited inquiries or applications for Diverse Workforce funding.

Eligibility

We fund in the state of Minnesota with priority given to the seven-county metro area.All applicants must comply with all Federal, State and local non-discrimination laws.

Ineligibility

The Sauer Family Foundation does not make grants to individuals, political and lobbying activities, endowments, deficit or debt reduction, fundraising activities or advertising.