Constellation Fund
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Fight poverty in the Twin Cities by raising the living standards of individuals living below the poverty line in our seven-county metropolitan area.
- Income
- $8.3 million
- Spending
- $7.6 million
- Spent on programs
- 85%
- Reserves
- 1.8 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 97%
- Employees
- 17
- Volunteers
- 49
- Highest pay
- $259,414, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 75 out of 100. Higher than 37% of charities in its peer group (philanthropy, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
10 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 1.8 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 9% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 59% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1585% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 6 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 65% of charities in its peer group (philanthropy, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2517 of 17 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $6.4 million spent. The Constellation Fund is built to harness the incisive power of modern analytics alongside on-the-ground insights to allocate precious philanthropic resources to the people and partners creating the most impact in the fight against poverty in the Twin Cities. We use quantitative metrics alongside qualitative analysis to select our grantee partners. Our metrics are built using the best available evidence to develop metrics that allow Constellation to reliably project the long-term quality-of-life impact of poverty-fighting services resulting in a benefit-cost ratio used to help objectively build a portfolio of the most impactful organizations across a broad spectrum of programs and interventions. In fiscal year 2025, this approach led Constellation to invest over $3.5 million into 26 poverty-fighting organizations working across four impact areas - education, employment, health, and housing. Constellation's evidence-driven analysis projects that these organizations will turn every dollar of that investment into an average of $8.02 of lifetime health and income improvements for individuals and families experiencing poverty in our community. The average projected impact of the organizations receiving Constellation funding last year was nearly four times greater than the average of $2.18-to-1 for all other organizations that we evaluated in FY2025.The Constellation Fund continues to expand the reach of our signature capacity building program, Beyond Dollars. Beyond Dollars creates best-in-class pro bono experiences through curated teams of volunteer employees from Fortune 500 corporations to mid-sized companies, who deliver unparalleled capacity-building services to our impactful partners.CoLab (Constellation Lab) aims to bolster upward mobility and thriving communities by funding and supporting actionable, longitudinal research on programs, practices, and their effects. Better data will support evidence-informed funding and community efforts to strengthen and scale solutions for children, youth, and families.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since November 2018.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.