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Lovin' Lake County at a glance

· Public charity

Lovin' Lake County

To promote and develop tourism through marketing and events, stimulating Lake Countys economy, enhancing the quality of life for all residents, and protecting the areas unique attributes for the continual benefit of its citizens.

$704k
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$130k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Community Improvement$803kArts & Culture$237kRecreation & Sports$234kFood & Nutrition$64kPublic Benefit$49kEnvironment$41kAnimals$10kYouth Development$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 26 grants below total $523,223, the rows itemized in this filing. The $704,246 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $181,023 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $89k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $217k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $217k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$839k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Fall Lake Township$130,006
Lake County Chamber of Commerce$87,127
Bay Days$30,000
Green DoorCity of Beaver Bay$30,000
Rocky Wall Productions$23,000
Knife River Recreation Council$20,000
Lake County Agricultural Society$18,000
Friends of Finland$17,965
City of Silver Bay$17,325
North Shore Scenic Railroad$15,000
Two Harbors Farmer's Market$14,000
Chrissy Scandin LLC$12,000
Silver Bay Blue Line Club$10,000
Veterans on the Lake$10,000
Two Harbors Commnity Radio KTWH$9,525
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 7% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Knife River Recreation Council: $20k → 8%Dueces Wild LLC: $10k → 11%North Shore Scenic Railroad: $15k → 15%Scott Young Distribution: $16k → 14%Mike and Marty Party LLC: $20k → 14%Knife River Recreation Council: $20k → 8%North Shore Scenic Railroad: $10k → 15%Mike and Marty Party LLC: $10k → 14%Knife River Recreation Council: $18k → 8%Friends of Finland: $20k → 8%Friends of Finland: $18k → 8%Finland MN Historical Society: $9k → 8%Green DoorCity of Beaver Bay: $30k → 8%Green DoorCity of Beaver Bay: $24k → 8%Tracks N Racks: $11k → 8%Green DoorCity of Beaver Bay: $11k → 8%City of Beaver Bay: $8k → 8%Lake County Chamber of Commerce: $90k → 8%Lake County Chamber of Commerce: $87k → 8%Lake County Chamber of Commerce: $76k → 8%City of Two Harbors: $52k → 8%Lake County Agricultural Society: $18k → 8%Lake County Agricultural Society: $15k → 8%Two Harbors Farmer's Market: $14k → 8%Bay Days: $35k → 8%Chrissy Scandin LLC: $14k → 8%Bay Days: $30k → 8%Burlington Station: $14k → 8%Rocky Wall Productions: $27k → 8%DJH Capital LLC: $13k → 8%Bay Days: $25k → 8%Chrissy Scandin LLC: $12k → 8%Rocky Wall Productions: $23k → 8%Burlington Station: $10k → 8%Rocky Wall Productions: $22k → 8%Two Harbors Commnity Radio KTWH: $10k → 8%City of Silver Bay: $17k → 8%DJH Capital LLC: $9k → 8%Silver Bay Blue Line Club: $10k → 8%City of Two Harbors: $9k → 8%Four Seasons Restaurant: $10k → 8%Moose Lodge 1463: $9k → 8%Silver Bay Blue Line Club: $9k → 8%Two Harbors Area Arts & Events: $9k → 8%Fall Lake Township: $130k → 8%Fall Lake Township: $120k → 8%Fall Lake Township: $120k → 8%Veterans on the Lake: $10k → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 20 repeat orgs$158k to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
9

Total granted

$1.3M
$79k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-7%
-7%

Still filing today

40%
11%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $79k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’22’23’24
Arts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • LC
    Lake County Chamber of Commerce
    3× · 2022–2024 · $253k · revenue +9% · 38% of their budget
  • KR
    KNIFE RIVER RECREATION COUNCIL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $58k · revenue +5% · 27% of their budget
  • LC
    LAKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $14k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • SY
    Scott Young Distribution
    one grant, 2022 · $16k
  • TN
    Tracks N Racks
    one grant, 2022 · $11k
  • DW
    Dueces Wild LLC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Knife River Heritage & Cultural Center
—
2
Northwest Territory Historic Center
Arts & Culture
3
Lake Minnetonka Historical Society

The Lake Minnetonka Historical Society tells the story of Lake Minnetonka by collecting, preserving and sharing its history.

Arts & Culture
4
Museum of Lake Minnetonka

Historic steamboat rides and eduction about Lake Minnetonka.

Arts & Culture
5
Lake County Historical Society

Historical museum

—
6
Minnesotas Historic Northwest

To represent historical societies, museums, and research centers in Northwest Minnesota.

Arts & Culture
7
Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad

Historical/Educational train ride over scenic and historic railroad tracks Offering an educational experience on the history and geography of the St. Louis River estuary.

—
8
Alfred & Lois Kelch Aviation Museum
Arts & Culture
9
Marquette Maritime Museum

To preserve and promote maritime history

Arts & Culture
10
Markesan Historical Society
—
11
Seaside Museum & Historical Society

Preserve and interpret the History & culture of Seaside Oregon by operating a Museum and outreach programs.

—
12
Manistee County Historical Society Inc

To educate the public on the history of Manistee County

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Duluth & North Shore Railway Inc; the most unlike its peers is Rocky Wall Productions. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 12 of the 38 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
5/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Fall Lake Township: $370,006 · OtherFall Lake TownshipLake County Chamber of Commerce: $253,494 · OtherLake County Chamber of CommerceGreen DoorCity of Beaver Bay: $72,398 · OtherGreen DoorCity of Beaver BayROCKY WALL PRODUCTIONS: $71,964 · OtherROCKY WALL PRODUCTIONSCITY OF TWO HARBORS: $67,737 · OtherKNIFE RIVER RECREATION COUNCIL: $57,576 · Other+26 more: $387,070 · Other+26 moreBAY DAYS: $90,000 · Community ImprovementBAY DAYSFriends of Finland and Community: $44,965 · Community ImprovementFriends of…DULUTH & NORTH SHORE RAILWAY INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTWO HARBORS COMMUNITY RADIO: $9,525 · Arts & CultureBALLET MAGNIFICAT INC: $7,100 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $7,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,280,245Community Improvement$134,965Arts & Culture$48,625

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLake County Chamber of Commerce: $253,494 over 3y, 38% of budgetBAY DAYS: $90,000 over 3y, 33% of budgetROCKY WALL PRODUCTIONS: $71,964 over 3y, 59% of budgetKNIFE RIVER RECREATION COUNCIL: $57,576 over 3y, 27% of budgetFriends of Finland and Community: $44,965 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetDULUTH & NORTH SHORE RAILWAY INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetLAKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $13,500 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetJOHN BEARGREASE SLED DOG MARATHON INC: $12,725 over 2y, 6.6% of budgetTWO HARBORS COMMUNITY RADIO: $9,525 over 1y, 14% of budgetBALLET MAGNIFICAT INC: $7,100 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds Lake County Chamber of Commerce ↗
  • Who funds BAY DAYS ↗
  • Who funds ROCKY WALL PRODUCTIONS ↗
  • Who funds KNIFE RIVER RECREATION COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Finland and Community ↗
  • Who funds DULUTH & NORTH SHORE RAILWAY INC ↗
  • Who funds LAKE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds JOHN BEARGREASE SLED DOG MARATHON INC ↗
  • Who funds VETERANS ON THE LAKE RESORT ↗
  • Who funds TWO HARBORS COMMUNITY RADIO ↗
  • Who funds BALLET MAGNIFICAT INC ↗
  • Who funds MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Lloyd K Johnson Found…Duluth-Superior Area …Northland FoundationAmazonsmile Foundation
Lloyd K Johnson FoundationMN17.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lloyd K Johnson Foundation · Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation · Northland Foundation · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Lovin' Lake County funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lovin' Lake County. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Lovin' Lake County?

    Find your warmest path to Lovin' Lake County through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 38 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lovin' Lake County’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home