Illinois · Nonprofit
Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc
Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,362,262 to it, the largest being United States Endowment for Forestry ($436,606). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.8M
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $2.0M
What Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc does
Mission
The council is devoted to working cooperatively on public policy issues common to member states. The benefits of a regional approach to addressing the various challenges of the great lakes states is emphasized.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Economic developmentthe governors and premiers collaborate through the council in a variety of ways to promote economic growth and job creation. Among the council's major initiatives are:international trade promotion - the council oversees shared trade offices in multiple foreign countries and regions - australia, brazil, canada, chile, china, germany, india, mexico, south east asia, south africa, south korea, united arab emirates, japan, and united kingdom. Their mission is to assist small to mid-size companies in the participating member states in exporting their goods and services to these vital and emerging markets. In addition, each year, the council organizes multi-state/provincial trade missions to assist small to medium sized companies from the region to export their products and services.tourism - the great lakes usa (glusa) conducts international marketing and sales for its participating member states in china, the united kingdom/ireland and the german-speaking countries of germany, austria, and switzerland. Separately, cruise the great lakes markets the region to potential cruise passengers.maritime transportation - the council is working to help rejuvenate this…
$1,787,104 spent$1,953,297 earned by the program52% of program spendingEnvironmental protectionthe governors and premiers collaborate through the council in a variety of ways to promote environmental protection. Among the council's major initiatives are:protection and restoration - through the council, the great lakes governors have established a list of nine priorities to guide the restoration and protection of the largest single source of fresh water in the world, the great lakes. The priorities range from effective water management to protecting the great lakes from non-native, harmful water species and controlling pollution. The council coordinates a program to achieve these priorities. Water management - through the great lakes - st. Lawrence river water resources regional body and compact council, the region's governors and premiers cooperatively manage 20% of the world's surface fresh water. The regional body and compact council's award-winning work protects the largest freshwater body on earth, which provides drinking water to over 40 million people. The council serves as the secretariat to both organizations. Aquatic invasive species - the council coordinates the governors and premiers' regional work to stop the further introduction and…
$1,649,635 spent$61,500 earned by the program48% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,436,739.
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 2020 to 2021, from $2.8M to $3.7M (+33%).
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: 2017 67% · 2018 67% · 2019 33% · 2020 43% · 2021 31% · 2022 30% · 2023 25% · 2024 32%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
31% of Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 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
David C Naftzger
Executive director
Board chair
Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $85k → $142k.
4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc’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
Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
74% 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 Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 96% · 2019 69% · 2020 100% · 2021 32% · 2022 86% · 2023 39% — 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
14% of Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc draws 95% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $150k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $114k on record.
- Department of Transportation$114k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc: 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 Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc?
- Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc (Illinois) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,362,262 to it, the largest being United States Endowment for Forestry ($436,606). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $1,362,262 in grants to Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc?
- United States Endowment for Forestry is the largest funder on record, with $436,606 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Council of Great Lakes Governors →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 12 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing