Purpose

The Bush Foundation got its start in 1953 by Archibald (Archie) and Edyth Bush. Archie grew up in Granite Falls, Minnesota, and later started his career as a bookkeeper with a small company based in Duluth. His roles and wealth grew as his employer grew, becoming the company it is today: 3M.

With no one to inherit their estate, Archie and Edyth established the Bush Foundation with an original investment of 3M stock. They left very simple instructions for future staff and board members: Do the most possible good for the community.

Our purpose today is what ties all of our work together

We work to inspire and support creative problem solving—within and across sectors—to make our region better for everyone.

Our tagline also is our strategy to advance our purpose

We invest in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share this geography.

Through our open grantmaking:

We fund the development and spread of great ideas. We make grants for ideas as varied as reimagining agricultural finance, Indigenizing tourism and adapting telehealth for people experiencing homelessness. We removed funding caps on our biggest grantmaking program, Community Innovation, and make large commitments to ensure that great ideas get the support needed for success. We tripled our grantmaking through community grant partners to make sure programs are designed with the communities served.

We invest directly in people. We know that change only happens when people make it happen. We invest in individuals through our Bush Fellowship program and by supporting amazing programs that help entrepreneurs thrive in rural areas and grows the next generation of Native leaders and leadership approaches. We also funded the creation of programs that help build generational wealth and support sabbaticals for leaders who are creating and nurturing community change.

We support organizations that support problem solvers. We offer flexible funding to organizations that we hear are the most highly valued by problem solvers in the region. We know we can directly fund only a small fraction of the great efforts happening in our region. And yet we can be even more helpful by supporting the work of organizations that others turn to for help in their own problem-solving efforts. We do this through Ecosystem grants and the Bush Prizes that are operated by our community grant partners.