Vermont · Nonprofit
FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC
FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC (Vermont) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $610,944 to it, the largest being New Hampshire Charitable Foundation ($570,400). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $277k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $611k
- Net assets
- $252k
What Four Winds Nature Institute Inc does
Mission
Four Winds Nature Institute is a Vermont nonprofit organization advancing the understanding, appreciation and protection of the environment through community-based natural science education and research. Four Winds staff members are educators and scientists dedicated to helping children and adults gain the background knowledge and science skills needed to understand the world around them and the problem-solving and citizenship skills needed to protect it. Four Winds' programs strengthen communities by connection children, volunteers, teachers and families regularly with each other and with nearby nature. In choosing and developing programs, Four Winds is committed to those that address the following goals: (1) programs that increase people's knowledge of the natural world through direct observation, hands-on learning activities, and rich outdoor experiences; (2) programs that improve science literacy (content and skills) by encouraging people to explore their local environment; (3) pro
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Four Winds Nature Program: regular monthly community-based natural science workshops for adult volunteers who then lead outdoor science lessons/explorations with classes of elementary schoolchildren across Vermont and in neighboring states. The Nature Program also provides place-based science learning resources for educators teaching remotely and for homeschooling families. The Nature Program is designed to give young children an understanding of and appreciation for the environment in their schoolyard and neighborhood. Curriculum development and curriculum revision for The Nature Program are included.
$109,461 spent$99,886 earned by the program48% of program spendingKnee High Nature: multi-session professional development workshops and professional learning communities for childcare providers, early childhood educators, parents, and families, focused on strategies for supporting nature-based play and learning in early childhood. These professional development series address risks and benefits of nature-based play, the adult role, immersive natural science in early childhood, age-appropriate investigation, creative and interactive nature play, and direct outdoor experiences. The family programming includes nature-play discussion groups for adults and story times with nature-based playgroups for families with young children.
$74,408 spent$9,050 earned by the program33% of program spendingTeacher Professional Development: courses, multi-session workshops and content specialist support for K-12 educators to incorporate standards and inquiry-based natural science instruction, local outdoor exploration and discovery, and authentic place-based community service into their curriculum.
$26,363 spent12% of program spendingOutreach: through collaboration with other environmental education organizations, Four Winds advances the field of place-based natural science education and facilitates discussions about integrating nature-based learning across the curriculum. Through its Outreach efforts, Four Winds is promoting the benefits of nature-based play and learning (NBPL) for all children's well-being and healthy development. With a weekly blog, seasonal e-newsletter, and other traditional and social media, we share strategies to support children's social-emotional development through NBPL, address diversity and equity in NBPL, feature developmentally-appropriate outdoor learning opportunities in different seasons and settings, discuss nature playspace design, suggest teaching resources, and offer ways to be involved in NBPL locally.
$17,002 spent7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $227,234.
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 $226k to $359k (+59%).
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: 2021 34% · 2022 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
58% of FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $28k → $210k.
4 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 96% 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 FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE 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
FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 93% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 79% · 2020 97% · 2021 99% · 2022 75% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
40% of FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
96% of FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $23k that is directly attributable, 54% of it comes from Vermont funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $588k 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
FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC is better cushioned than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE 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 Vermont
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE 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 FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC?
- FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC (Vermont) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $610,944 to it, the largest being New Hampshire Charitable Foundation ($570,400). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $610,944 in grants to FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC?
- New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $570,400 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FOUR WINDS NATURE INSTITUTE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Vermont. 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 Four Winds Nature Institute →
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 8 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