Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jan 2007.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
86 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
12 people listed on the 990; $116K paid to officers and key staff.
John Harrington’s $29K as CEO is at the 27th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1264 $100K–1M philanthropy & grantmaking nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald H Samuels | — | — | — | $77,045 | $126,875 | — |
| Donald Samuels | — | — | — | — | — | $116,000 |
| John Harrington | $29,391 | $87,296 | $49,626 | — | — | — |
| Don Samuels | — | — | $85,500 | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Distributes microgrants to low-income individuals in the Twin Cities to help them achieve business, education, or transportation goals.
Questions for Microgrants
Your first name shows with your question. Microgrants answers here, for everyone.
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To spur economic self-sufficiency by giving strategic grants to low-income people of potential through partner agencies. By distributing grants that eliminate financial barriers to gainful employment, microgrants helps lift people out of poverty.
Lights on is a response to the unnecessary death of philando castile, who was pulled over for a broken light. Lights on replaces traffic tickets with repair vouchers, redeemed for free repairs, up to 250, at participating auto shops.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $704K | $1.7M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $717K | $1.7M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $36K | $53K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $681K | $1.6M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $994K | $994K | ||
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $387K | $246K | $5K | $137K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $349 | $349 | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $72K | $17K | $48K | $8K |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $285K | $242K | $3K | $39K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $53K | $38K | $10K | $5K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $14K | $3K | $9K | $1K |
| TravelLn 17 | $5K | $4K | $15 | $2K |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $1K | $1K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $147K | $141K | $527 | $5K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $2.0M | $1.7M | $77K | $197K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $779K | $811K | −$32K | $477K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $984K | $1.3M | −$305K | $509K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.9M | $2.3M | −$349K | $814K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $1.2M | $2.7M | −$1.5M | $1.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $3.8M | $2.8M | $1.0M | $2.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $2.9M | $2.0M | $928K | $1.6M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,887,040 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 11 of 11 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,887,040 across 4 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,959,097 across 10 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $1,661,550 assets, 10 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,608,912 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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