MinnPost's initial funding of $850,000 came from four families: John and Sage Cowles, Lee Lynch and Terry Saario, Joel and Laurie Kramer, and David and Vicki Cox. The Knight Foundation in Miami, Florida initially donated US$250,000 and in 2008 subsequently granted additional funds to expand local reporting. Major foundation support has come from the Blandin Foundation, Otto Bremer Foundation, Bush Foundation, Carolyn Foundation, Central Corridor Funders Collaborative, Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Martin and Brown Foundation, Joyce Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Minneapolis Foundation, Pohlad Family Foundation, and The Saint Paul Foundation. In March 2014, MinnPost announced that, thanks to a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, MinnPost and online news siteVoice of San Diego "will engage in a two-stage process over the next two-plus years: First, to develop systems and adopt best practices that manage member information and facilitate significant membership growth. And second, to test out and then adopt new products, services and experiences for members that will make thousands more readers want to be members rather than non-paying readers. Each organization will receive $600,000 over the next two years."
Content and format
The site does not endorse candidates for office or publish unsigned editorials representing an institutional position. MinnPost encourages broad-ranging, civil discussion from many points of view, subject to the discretion of a moderator. Content is "politics, government, science, health, culture" and other subjects including the environment, education and the arts. The non-profit model was estimated to save MinnPost about 15% of a traditional newspaper's outlays. The format takes its shape from online newspapers. At first, MinnPost published a print version of about eight pages at the lunch hour to high traffic locations. The print on demand model and print version was discontinued during the newspaper's first year. The organization is part of a much-discussed trend away from print toward online media. Quoted by Minnesota Public Radio News, Laurie Schwab, executive director of the Online News Association, said in June 2007, 45 percent of the association's 1,100 members "started working at print publications and migrated online".
Personnel
The founding CEO and editor of MinnPost, Joel Kramer, retired in October 2016. On May 1, 2014, Andrew Wallmeyer joined the staff as publisher, reporting to Kramer. Wallmeyer is now MinnPost's CEO. Sally Waterman is the advertising director; Adrian Doerr is director of finance & operations, and Tanner Curl is the director of development. Andy Putz is MinnPost's editor. Other news staff include Susan Albright, Corey Anderson, Tom Nehil, and about 25 journalists. Full-time staff writers are columnist Eric Black and reporters Peter Callaghan, Erin Hinrichs, Greta Kaul, Jessica Lee and Walker Orenstein. Board of Directors: Rebecca Shavlik, Chair; Jill Field, Past Chair; Lee Lynch, Chair Emeritus; John Satorius, Secretary; Mark Abeln, Karin Birkeland, Katie Cole, A.J. Colianni, Fran Davis, Jack Dempsey, Kelly Doran, Lynette Dumalag, Jim Erickson, Nancy Feldman, Steve Grove, Kathleen Hansen, David Hartwell, Vernae Hasbargen, Diane Hofstede, Kim Kieves, Barbara Klaas, Joel Kramer, Laurie Kramer, Jane Mauer, Bill McKinney, Glenn Miller, Max Musicant, Margaret Nelson Brinkhaus, Daniel Oberdorfer, Fred Semmer, Nancy Speer, Chelle Stoner, John Tieszen. Advisory Board: Terri Barreiro, Peter Bell, Wendy Blackshaw, Laura Bloomberg, Scott Burns, Lauren Collins, Jay Cowles, Toby Dayton, Samuel Heins, Sue Herridge, Marlene Kayser, Tom Kayser, Lars Leafblad, Kathy Longo, David Moore Jr., Mike Moore, Beth Parkhill, David Plimpton, Susan Plimpton, Mary Pickard, Kim Snyder, Missy Staples Thompson, Kari Swan, Chris Widdess. According to Editor & Publisher, opinion pieces — called Community Voices — are signed and nonpartisan. MinnPost has a news bureau in Washington, D.C.
