Minnesota · Nonprofit
INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER
INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER (Minnesota) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $578,062 to it, the largest being OTTO BREMER TRUST ($195,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $578k
- Net assets
- $106k
What Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center does
Mission
The mission of the icwa law center is to strengthen, preserve and reunite indian families consistent with the mandates and spirit of the indian child welfare act through the culturally relevant delivery of the highest quality of legal services to indian families.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The icwa law center is an american indian legal services organization committed to providing the highest quality of legal representation to indian families affected by the indian child welfare act. The icwa law center values the best interests of indian children including a strong connection to their family and their tribe. The icwa law center serves over 225 american indian families annually. Throughout representation, the icwa law center works to ensure families are protected and needs are appropriately assessed and best met. Through advocacy and collaboration, the icwa law center is committed to the best interests of indian children and their families and in turn the creation of stronger communities.the family permanency program focuses on promoting permanency for indian children consistent with the icwa. The focus of the permanency program is family reunification whenever possible. When reunification is not possible, the icwa law center advocates for the right of indian children to maintain their connection with their tribe and family. The family permanency program focuses on collaboration with indian families and tribes to secure safe and loving homes for their children when…
$675,009 spent86% of program spendingThe advocacy project focuses on systematic responses for best meeting the needs of indian children and families consistent with the indian child welfare act. The icwa law center provides local and national training focused on the mandates and spirit of the icwa. The icwa law center is a leader in promoting understanding of the complexities of indian child welfare proceedings. Icwa law center staff actively participates in working groups addressing the needs of indian families. The icwa law center is committed to promoting knowledge and awareness of the significance of icwa for the best interests of indian children through historical and cultural perspectives. The icwa law center understands that working with each child's tribe is essential and recognizes the necessity of tribal, state and county child protection systems. Through the icwa law center project the interests of indian families is at the forefront.
$107,017 spent14% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $782,026.
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 2024 to 2025, from $235k to $481k (+105%).
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 71% · 2018 78% · 2019 69% · 2020 49% · 2021 57% · 2022 47% · 2023 53% · 2024 65% · 2025 53%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Chief executive
Shannon Smith
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $55k → $125k.
3 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER’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
INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
26% 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 INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 58% · 2021 85% · 2022 86% · 2023 56% — 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
67% of INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
52% of INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $80k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 431 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 431 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $881k on record.
- Department of the Interior$881k
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 INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER
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
77% 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 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER: 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 INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER?
- INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER (Minnesota) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $578,062 to it, the largest being OTTO BREMER TRUST ($195,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $578,062 in grants to INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER?
- OTTO BREMER TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $195,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT LAW CENTER 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 Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center →
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 10 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