Minnesota · Nonprofit
HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY
HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY (Minnesota) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,071,329 to it, the largest being MINNESOTA POWER FOUNDATION ($724,500). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $8.2M
What Head of the Lakes United Way does
Mission
Head of the Lakes United Way's (hluw) mission is to unite caring people and mobilize resources to empower individuals and strenghten communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Our community investment process provides funding for nearly 70 community programs within the focus areas of health, education, and financial stability. This process is community-driven, reflecting the collective input and priorities of the communities we serve. Every program is monitored, evaluated, and measured for effectiveness. In this way, hluw validates that investments get results and make a difference where it matters most.
$646,471 spentof which $604,163 as grants70% of program spendingProgramming and initiatives: (1) the volunteer center is a "one stop shop" for volunteer opportunities. (2) day of caring is a bi-annual community-wide volunteer and supply drive event connecting community members to projects with nonprofit partners. (3) the babysitting initiative provides free comprehensive babysitter training to 11-17-year-old youth. (4) stuff the bus collects school supplies and coordinates with local partners to distribute the supplies. (5) be on board is a training program that provides individuals with the tools they need to serve on a nonprofit board. (6) 211 is a free information and referral resource available 24 hours a day on a variety of topics.
$186,951 spent$19,634 earned by the program20% of program spendingAfl-cio community services is a partnership with organized labor that supports working families and strengthens our communities. Through this partnership, we operate an emergency member assistance program and holiday assistance program. Community services also plays a key role in organizing community events such as construct tomorrow, workers memorial day, and the labor day picnic.
$84,632 spent9% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $918,054.
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 $7.5M to $9.1M (+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.
Government-grant reliance: 2022 7% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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.
Board chair
Janet Nelson
Chair/director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $157k → $415k.
11 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 40% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $2.2M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Head of the Lakes United Way Trust). These are real filings, and they are not money HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY raised.
From the IRS filings of HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 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
HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
51% 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 HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 47% · 2018 37% · 2019 38% · 2020 27% · 2021 30% · 2022 26% · 2023 27% — 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
55% of HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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 HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY is better cushioned than half of the 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,645 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY
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.
Where the money goes
57% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Head of the Lakes United Way Trust · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY: 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 HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY?
- HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY (Minnesota) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,071,329 to it, the largest being MINNESOTA POWER FOUNDATION ($724,500). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $3,071,329 in grants to HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY?
- MINNESOTA POWER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $724,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HEAD OF THE LAKES UNITED WAY 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.
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 32 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing