Illinois · Nonprofit
GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC
GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC (Illinois) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,696,811 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($300,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.0M
- Funders on record
- 31
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $2.3M
What Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum Inc does
Mission
To promote and share a deeper understanding and respect of native american peoples through the collection, preservation, and interpretation of their traditional and contemporary art and material culture.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibitions and general admission - almost quarterly, visitors can explore new inspiring exhibits. The museum researches, designs and displays temporary and permanent exhibitions on native american art, culture, and history all tied to current affairs in indian country. The museum utilizes its own collection and pieces on loan from national and local organizations, native american artists, and collectors. We are fortunate to have volunteers who assist staff in the construction, mount- making, and installation of the exhibits. While this is a core activity of the museum, through budget conscience ingenuity this expense remains low.
$156,824 spent$21,871 earned by the program39% of program spendingCollections - central to the museum's mission is to collect and preserve traditional and contemporary native american art and material culture to tell the stories of american indian peoples for this and future generations. Since 1977, the collection has grown from 3,000 to over 10,000 objects and over 3,000 books representing some of the country's best american indian textiles, basketry, beadwork, visual arts, jewelry, and sculpture. The museum prides itself in the diversity of its collection covering tribes and bands from throughout the united states and canada. Expenses include collections insurance, staff time to process, document, inventory, and re-house the collection, and the purchase of shelving units, supplies, and collections database software upgrades.
$63,220 spent16% of program spendingPrograms & events - the museum is a bustling center for learning and cultural experiences with a diverse range of programs from academic lectures, artist-led workshops and music and dance demonstrations to deepen the public's understanding of american indian peoples and culture. The kids craft mornings, storytellers, docent-led tours for school-age and adult groups and activity tables demonstrates the museum's reputation as a family friendly place. The museum also offers resources and programs geared to assist teachers in dispelling stereotypes about native america peoples and culture. Our website, loan box program- offering hands-on objects and reproductions, and classroom presentations bring the museum experience into the classroom.
$156,528 spent$27,540 earned by the program39% of program spendingThe museum shop sells items directly from american indian artists or approved vendors, many native american owned businesses. As a member of the indian arts & crafts association we sell authentic items in the store following our mission to promote and share a deeper understanding of the native american peoples through their traditional and contemporary art and material culture. By buying hand-made jewelry, baskets or books on native cultures, visitors can take home and share american indian art and culture beyond the museum's walls.
$20,960 spent$20,172 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $397,532.
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 $1.8M to $2.3M (+28%).
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 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 27% · 2021 14% · 2022 7% · 2023 1% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 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
Kim Vigue
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $41k → $354k.
6 of 31 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 31 funders by total. 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
GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
30% 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 GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 86% · 2018 52% · 2019 75% · 2020 46% · 2021 34% · 2022 29% · 2023 38% — 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
56% of GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
76% of GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $416k 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
GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM 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
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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 GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM 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 GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC?
- GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC (Illinois) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,696,811 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($300,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 31 organizations giving $1,696,811 in grants to GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GICHIGAMIIN INDIGENOUS NATIONS MUSEUM 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 Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 31 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