Washington · Nonprofit
Great Northern Railway Historical Society
Great Northern Railway Historical Society (Washington) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $421 to it, the largest being BNSF RAILWAY FOUNDATION ($400). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $124k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $421
- Net assets
- $352k
What Great Northern Railway Historical Society does
Mission
Historic research preservation and education focused on the great northern railway including a quarterly scholarly journal and operation of archival facility.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Publish quarterly journal covering history and operations of the former great northern railway
$50,959 spent54% of program spendingProvide funding to outside organizations for projects consistent with gnrhs historical preservation research and education goals
$7,000 spent7% of program spendingOperate annual convention featuring presentations of historical research and tours of local historical sites.
$35,600 spent38% of program spendingOperate archival facilities in st paul mn and burien wa and associated websites and information technology
$415 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $93,974.
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 $345k to $419k (+21%).
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.
24% of Great Northern Railway Historical Society’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $5 → $311.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 Great Northern Railway Historical Society’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
Great Northern Railway Historical Society leans on a few funders — its largest provides 95% 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: 2021 100% · 2022 95% · 2023 96% — 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.
Where its funders are
Great Northern Railway Historical Society draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, across 1 state in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21 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
Great Northern Railway Historical Society runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like Great Northern Railway Historical Society
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 Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
57%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Great Northern Railway Historical Society: 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 Great Northern Railway Historical Society?
- Great Northern Railway Historical Society (Washington) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $421 to it, the largest being BNSF RAILWAY FOUNDATION ($400). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Great Northern Railway Historical Society have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $421 in grants to Great Northern Railway Historical Society, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Great Northern Railway Historical Society?
- BNSF RAILWAY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $400 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Great Northern Railway Historical Society find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 2 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