North Dakota · Nonprofit
Bismarck State College Foundation
Bismarck State College Foundation (North Dakota) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,083,475 to it, the largest being NORTH DAKOTA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM FOUNDATION ($1,301,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $4.1M
- Net assets
- $65M
What Bismarck State College Foundation does
Mission
Engage in those activities which support and assist in the development and advancement of Bismarck State College.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
The BSC Foundation Grant Program makes dollars available to BSC staff, faculty, and student organizations to fund a wide variety of projects. Emphasis is given to innovative teaching and creative learning projects. A wide variety of teaching and demonstration equipment, campus presenters, performing art events, guest lecturers, consulting services, research, conference registrations, and other innovative projects have been supported through the Grants Program. Grants are awarded by the Board of Trustees Programs Committee.Student Housing:The Foundation leases two residence halls to Bismarck State College. Ritchie Hall and Gate City Hall, co-educational apartment style residence halls, have a total capacity of 144 students.
$12,260,701 spentof which $11,391,890 as grants$424,575 earned by the program89% of program spendingThe BSC Foundation is committed to the encouragement and support of academic excellence. Through the support of many generous benefactors, the BSC Foundation is able to budget over $1,400,000 in scholarship awards to over 890 students. Receiving other scholarships will not disqualify applicants from receiving BSC Foundation scholarships.The BSC Foundation scholarship program was established for the purpose of attracting and retaining students of outstanding ability and potential, regardless of gender, race, creed or national origin. Scholarships are awarded by the Board of Trustees Programs Committee.
$1,468,393 spentof which $1,468,393 as grants11% of program spendingStudent Recognition:Outstanding Student Awards are given to the students selected by faculty in each of BSC's programs and departments. These outstanding students receive a certificate and $50 cash award from BSC Foundation.Phi Theta Kappa is an international two-year college honor society. Students nominated for membership have maintained an accumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better and have completed 15 semester hours in residence at BSC applicable to an associate degree. The Phi Theta Kappa receives a paid initiation fee for membership, a pin, and a certificate(Continued on Schedule O)from the BSC Foundation. They are honored at the BSC Recognition Ceremony with a certificate from the BSC Foundation.Employee RecognitionYears of Service: To acknowledge the contributions BSC faculty and staff make to the excellence of education, the Foundation sponsors a recognition program for employees. Employees are awarded gift cards and certificates beginning with five years of service and are honored with each five-year increment.BSC Faculty and Staff Awards for Excellence: this Foundation-sponsored program ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity to be recognized, through…
$44,592 spentof which $44,592 as grants0% of program spendingJack FellowshipThe BSC Jack Fellowship Program has been established to fund sabbatical leaves for a Bismarck State College employee to engage in an educational experience that ultimately benefits BSC and the students it serves. The Fellowship is intended to partially underwrite the salary and/or expenses of the employee during the sabbatical. Each Fellowship will be a monetary award of up to $25,000 to be used to enhance the recipient's professional performance. During the year there was one recipient of the Jack Fellowship.
$25,000 spentof which $25,000 as grants0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $13,798,686.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $54M to $66M (+23%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 19% · 2021 10% · 2022 11% · 2023 11% · 2024 12% · 2026 14%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
61% of Bismarck State College Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 10 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Kari Knudson NV
Executive Director
Board chair
Wade Mann
Chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $87k → $441k.
11 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $2.0M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Sanford Group Return). These are real filings, and they are not money Bismarck State College Foundation raised.
From the IRS filings of Bismarck State College Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Bismarck State College Foundation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
52% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Bismarck State College Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 87% · 2018 78% · 2019 66% · 2020 20% · 2021 56% · 2022 48% · 2023 57% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
63% of Bismarck State College Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
53% of Bismarck State College Foundation's grant income comes from North Dakota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $692k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Bismarck State College Foundation has grown faster than half of the 20 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 20 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2026
Organizations like Bismarck State College Foundation
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In North Dakota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
57%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- Student Housing LLC · disregarded
- Property Holdings LLC · disregarded
- Bismarck State College National Alumni Association · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Unitrusts (9) · corp_trust
- Charitable Lead Trusts (2) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Bismarck State College Foundation: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Bismarck State College Foundation?
- Bismarck State College Foundation (North Dakota) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,083,475 to it, the largest being NORTH DAKOTA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM FOUNDATION ($1,301,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Bismarck State College Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $4,083,475 in grants to Bismarck State College Foundation, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Bismarck State College Foundation?
- NORTH DAKOTA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,301,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Bismarck State College Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Dakota. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 26 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing