Posted on August 11, 2011

Otto Bremer Foundation Announces $1 Million Challenge Grant for Community Endowment

The St. Paul-based Otto Bremer Foundation has announced a $1 million challenge grant to the North Dakota Community Foundation to establish a permanent community endowment for the Bismarck-Mandan metropolitan area.

The Bremer Opportunity Fund will match the first $1 million the community foundation raises over the next three years for Bismarck-Mandan. To help cover fundraising and administrative expenses for the endowment, the Bremer Foundation also will provide NDCF with a $50,000 grant.

The Bremer Foundation also is accepting applications for grants and program-related investments from nonprofit organizations that serve the Bismarck-Mandan area. With the opening of a Bremer Bank branch on Wednesday, Bismarck-Mandan became one of seventy-nine Bremer communities in North Dakota, Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. In 2010, the foundation awarded grants totaling $24.1 million to Bremer communities in the three-state region.

"We extend a warm welcome to Bismarck-Mandan as the newest member of the family of Bremer communities," said Bremer Foundation trustee William Lipschultz. "We are excited to be a part of building an ongoing endowment to strengthen the community, and we challenge community members to make the full $2 million fund a reality."