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Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP)

Website:

macphilanthropies.org
Location:

Eden Prairie, MN
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Type:

Grantmaking Foundation
Founded:

2006
Director:

Heather Kukla
Budget (2020):

Expenditures $231,983,050

Assets $7,969,009,911

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Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) is a grantmaking organization based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It includes two subordinate entities: the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation and the Anne Ray Foundation. The MACP endowment primarily comes from the fortune of agricultural business heiress Margaret Anne Cargill, who engaged in extensive philanthropic activity throughout her life, usually through anonymous or otherwise discrete channels. She died in 2006, having bequeathed her assets to what would eventually become MACP. The organization’s grantmaking was relatively limited until 2011, when it launched an initiative to expand its scope. By 2015, the Cargill and Anne Ray foundations collectively reached $1 billion in cumulative gifts, and by 2019, the total reached $2 billion. That year, MACP also reached 100 employees. 1

MACP grants target a number of issues ranging from animal welfare to natural habitat protection to education. 2 The organization’s support for healthcare programs in the third world has included funding for abortion and contraception. MACP claims that these are necessary components of a healthcare system based on “respect, equity, and dignity.” 3 In 2021, MACP announced that it would be reworking its processes and practices in order to prioritize the interests of minority groups, both inside the organization and among grant recipients. 4

History

Margaret Anne Cargill, who died in 2006, was one of the inheritors of the Cargill family fortune, which was created from the international agricultural commodities trading corporation of the same name. According to the Los Angeles Times, her own net worth was approximately $1.8 billion as of 2005. Prior to her death and the subsequent establishment of the Cargill Foundation, she mostly supported popular non-political institutions such as the American Red Cross, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Salvation Army, as well as a Catholic cathedral in San Diego, California. Cargill was born in 1920 in Los Angeles, California, but grew up in the upper Midwest and attended the University of Minnesota before moving back to her home state. 5

The foundation, officially established in 2006, is part of Cargill Philanthropies, which also includes the Anne Ray Charitable Trust, founded in 1996 and later rebranded as the Anne Ray Foundation. Until 2017, the collective also included the California-based Akaloa Resource Foundation, which was Margaret Cargill’s original grantmaking organization; that year, the philanthropies completed a process of redistributing their resources among Cargill Philanthropies and Anne Ray Charitable Trust. 6

Cargill Incorporated, from which the Cargill Foundation and family made their money, is one of the largest corporations in the United States and one of the most powerful players in the international agriculture business. Originally founded as a grain trading firm, it later expanded its operations to include wheat, corn, soybean, cocoa, beef, poultry, and other food staple processing. The company has endorsed left-of-center priorities on gender, race, business corporate structure, and other areas, going so far as to note its executive team “nearly reaching gender parity” with the number of women on its executive team. 7

Initiatives and Impact

Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies divides its grantmaking into seven issue areas: animal welfare, arts and culture, disaster relief, environmental causes, health, education, and projects in the Upper Midwest and Southern California, regions to which the organization’s founder Margaret Cargill had personal attachment. 8 The organization openly states that its selection process for these region-based grants is biased toward projects that prioritize the interests of ethnic minority groups. 9

In 2021, MACP awarded grants totaling at least $275 million to more than 300 recipients. Since the organization’s founding in 2006, it has distributed more than $2.5 billion overall. 10 In November 2022, outgoing MACP president Paul Busch claimed that the organization’s total gifts were approaching the $3 billion mark. 11

While much of the organization’s money goes to non-political causes, its website highlights a specific “DEIJ Vision” which lays out how it intends to “remove systemic barriers” which it says hold minorities back from success. MACP says this vision is being implemented internally as well as through its grantmaking. 12

Environmentalism

MACP funding for environment-related causes primarily goes towards tangible objectives like preserving forests, grasslands, water sources, and other natural regions. However, the organization frames these initiatives as part of a larger and less clearly-defined effort to mitigate perceived man-made climate changes and their possible effects, such as rising sea levels. 13

Health

MACP funding for medical care prioritizes reproductive, maternal, and child health in many third-world countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia. However, the organization considers abortion and contraception to be part of what it calls “integrated” healthcare services and includes providers of these among its grant recipients. 14

Social Change

MACP dedicated $17 million to race and ethnic-related organizations in Minnesota in the 12 months following the death of George Floyd in 2020. It also revamped its request-for-proposal process for prospective grantees. 15

Leadership

Heather Kukla assumed the presidency of Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies in November 2022. She spent the previous 13 years with the organization – first as director of legal affairs, then as general counsel, and most recently as vice president. She also spent time as a secretary for both the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation and the Anne Ray Foundation boards of directors. Before joining MACP, Kukla worked for the law firm Hogan & Hartson LLP. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota and a law degree from Georgetown University. 16

Paul Busch was the president of MACP from 2011 to 2022. He oversaw a period of aggressive expansion within the organization. During his tenure, its two subordinate entities collectively grew from four employees to more than 100. Busch also sat on the MACP board between 2006 and 2011. Previously, he spent more than 25 years as a tax advisor. Busch holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Dakota and a law degree from the same institution. 17

Christine A. Morse is the chair of the MACP board and was a close personal acquaintance of Margaret A. Cargill. She spent three decades in finance, with fifteen of them as the vice president and controller of Waycrosse Inc., the financial advisory firm that exists specifically to provide services for the family owners of the Cargill corporation, which was the original source of Margaret A. Cargill’s wealth. 18

Financials

In 2020, the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation held more than $3.3 billion in total assets and had nearly $127.7 million in liabilities, with more than $92.8 million going towards grants. 19 The Anne Ray Foundation held more than $4.8 billion in total assets and had close to $104.3 million in liabilities, with just over $90 million going towards grants. 20 In 2021, MACP assets totaled more than $9.2 billion, and the organization distributed a total of nearly $275.4 million in grants. 21

References

  1. “Our History.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/about/our-history/
  2. “Our Domains.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/domains/
  3. “Program Highlight: Improving access to rights-based reproductive health services.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/highlights/program-highlight-improving-access-to-rights-based-reproductive-health-services/
  4. “Our DEIJ Vision.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/about/our-deij-vision/
  5. “Margaret Anne Cargill, 85; San Diego Billionaire and Philanthropist.” Los Angeles Times. August 3, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-03-me-passings3-story.html
  6. “Our History.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/about/our-history/
  7. 2022 Annual Report, Cargill, Inc. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.cargill.com/about/2022-annual-report
  8. “Our Domains.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/domains/
  9. “Legacy & Opportunity.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/domains/legacy-opportunity/
  10. “Our Domains.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/domains/
  11. “Paul Busch announces his retirement as President & CEO at Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. November 21, 2022. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/paul-busch-announces-his-retirement-as-president-ceo-at-margaret-a-cargill-philanthropies/
  12. “Our DEIJ Vision.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/about/our-deij-vision/
  13. “Environment.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/domains/environment/
  14. “Program Highlight: Improving access to rights-based reproductive health services.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 26, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/highlights/program-highlight-improving-access-to-rights-based-reproductive-health-services/
  15. “One year later: MACP’s response and commitment after the murder of George Floyd,” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. June 1, 2021. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/one-year-later-macps-response-and-commitment-after-the-murder-of-george-floyd/
  16. “Paul Busch announces his retirement as President & CEO at Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. November 21, 2022. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/paul-busch-announces-his-retirement-as-president-ceo-at-margaret-a-cargill-philanthropies/
  17. “Paul Busch.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. October 23, 2019. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/people/paul-busch/
  18. “Our People.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/about/our-people/
  19. “Margaret A. Cargill Foundation and Subsidiaries.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. December 31, 2020. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2020_MACF_Audited_Financial_Statements_Published.pdf
  20. “Anne Ray Foundation and Subsidiary.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. December 31, 2020. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2020_ARF_Audited_Financial_Statements_Published.pdf
  21. “Financials.” Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://www.macphilanthropies.org/resources/financials/
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Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP)

6889 Rowland Road
Eden Prairie, MN