Minnesota · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST
FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST (Minnesota) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $45,790 to it, the largest being LLOYD K JOHNSON FOUNDATION ($37,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $81k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $46k
- Net assets
- $26k
What Friends of the Superior National Forest does
Mission
Friends of the Superior National Forest is dedicated to volunteer-powered stewardship of the Superior National Forest. We work with individuals, groups, and partner organizations to maintain trails, clean campsites, and restore natural areas throughout the Forest's three million acres, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Through hands-on projects, we help sustain and enhance this treasured landscape for recreation, conservation, and cultural connection.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Superior National Forest Stewardship Support: Supported volunteer stewardship of the Superior National Forest by providing guidance, materials, education, camping, and travel support to volunteers. This work supported 792 volunteer hours outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and included planting 2,000 trees, removing invasive species on 10 acres, clearing 5 miles of trail, maintaining campgrounds, etc.
$4,077 spent17% of program spendingBoundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Stewardship Support: Supported volunteer stewardship of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness by providing travel support to volunteers. This supported 2,570 volunteer hours in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to clear portages, maintain trails and campsites, and improve habitat.
$18,295 spent75% of program spendingSuperior National Forest Outreach, Education, and Training: Supported information delivery for over 200 participants across the greater Superior National Forest. Programs were located in Duluth, Two Harbors, Virginia, Eveleth, Ely, Hoyt Lakes, Grand Rapids, and Grand Marias.
$1,870 spent8% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $24,242.
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 2018 to 2019, from $1k to $9k (+618%).
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.
100% of FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Joanna Swanson
Executive Director
Board chair
Sandra Skrien
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $15k → $16.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST’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
FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST leans on a few funders — its largest provides 81% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 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.
Where its funders are
81% of FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $70 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,787 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,787 human services nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Government funding FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $177k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$177k
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 FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
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 FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST: 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 FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST?
- FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST (Minnesota) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $45,790 to it, the largest being LLOYD K JOHNSON FOUNDATION ($37,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $45,790 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST?
- LLOYD K JOHNSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $37,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. 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 Friends of the Superior National Forest →
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 3 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