Washington · Nonprofit
North Cascades Institute
North Cascades Institute (Washington) receives grants from 54 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,286,269 to it, the largest being SEATTLE FOUNDATION ($786,250). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.6M
- Funders on record
- 54
- Grants received
- $4.3M
- Net assets
- $8.8M
What North Cascades Institute does
Mission
The institutes's mission is to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in natures.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
North Cascades Environmental Learning Center (the Environmental Learning Center or the Learning Center) is a hub of discovery for all ages in one of the wildest, most biologically diverse landscapes in North America. Opened in 2005 in partnership with the National Park Service and Seattle City Light, the Learning Center is situated on Diablo Lake in North Cascades National Park and includes a natural history library, aquatic and terrestrial classrooms, dining hall, amphitheater, overnight accommodations for 92 participants and 14 staff, outdoor learning rooms and access to trails.Conferences and Retreats - Custom educational programs, lodging and meals at the Environmental Learning Center inspire reflection and connection to the natural world as well as to each other. The Institute welcomes conferences, events, retreats, workshops, trainings, reunions and other gatherings. The Institute hosted 14 programs with a range of goals including accessibility for underserved groups, hiking, conservation, school groups and a wedding. In 2024, there were 419 Participants and 1317 Learner Days.Retail Operations - The Institute operates seven retail stores in and around North Cascades National…
$1,384,785 spent$640,420 earned by the program35% of program spendingMountain School - This program is an immersive environmental education program for 5th grade classes that has been serving regional schools since 1990. Through hands-on interdisciplinary activities, students are connected to the natural and cultural history of our region, form connections with their classmates and the environment, and sharpen their understanding of their own identities.The 2024 Mountain School season was the first uninterrupted season since 2019. The program served 2,026 participants with a total of 6,078 Learner Days. The Institute implemented several refinements to the curriculum that addressed staff requests and allowed for the streamlining of student experiences during their stay.
$1,259,197 spentof which $197,531 as grants$582,339 earned by the program32% of program spendingYouth Leadership - This program engages diverse local teens in multi-day backpacking and canoe-camping trips in North Cascades National Park and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. In addition to outdoor skill development, YLA focuses on leadership skills, team building, and climate change solutions, giving students the knowledge and tools they need to become stewards of the natural world and engage in community advocacy. Beyond backcountry trips, YLA offers additional opportunities for local high school students to engage in outdoor skill-building and climate activism projects. In 2024, the Institute offered nine backcountry trips for 67 participants and served 117 students through related programming, representing 861 total learner days.
$732,131 spentof which $352,670 as grants$338,588 earned by the program19% of program spendingAdult and Family Education - The Institute's suite of Family Getaways, Base Camp Learning and Lodging, Field Seminars, Online Classes and Skagit Tours continues to bring diverse audiences to the North Cascades to learn, recreate and be inspired. Activities include art and photography classes, birding and mushrooming outings, presentations on wolves and orcas, and guided hikes and boat tours on Diablo Lake. In 2024, there were 8,686 participants and 14,038 Learner Days.Affinity Weekend was an opportunity for people from diverse backgrounds to convene together to explore, rest, reflect, and connect while staying at our campus in the North Cascades National Park. This inaugural program was also an important next step in making our programs more equitable and inclusive. We hosted 46 participants from the community groups Outdoor Asian, Latino Outdoors, and Outdoor Afro.
$558,541 spent$258,308 earned by the program14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,934,654.
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 2021 to 2022, from $10M to $8.0M (−20%).
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 7% · 2018 8% · 2019 10% · 2020 22% · 2021 33% · 2022 13% · 2023 20% · 2024 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
38% of North Cascades Institute’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Brad Tuininga
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 28 funders, grant income rose $221k → $612k.
12 of 54 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 North Cascades Institute’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 54 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
North Cascades Institute 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
46% 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 North Cascades Institute.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 26% · 2018 32% · 2019 19% · 2020 30% · 2021 25% · 2022 28% · 2023 24% — 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.
How long its funders stay
68% of North Cascades Institute's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% 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
60% of North Cascades Institute's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
North Cascades Institute's funding base is broadening — from 14 funders to 28 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding North Cascades Institute receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $355k on record.
- Department of the Interior$228k
- Department of Agriculture$127k
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 North Cascades Institute
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.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for North Cascades Institute: 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 North Cascades Institute?
- North Cascades Institute (Washington) receives grants from 54 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,286,269 to it, the largest being SEATTLE FOUNDATION ($786,250). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does North Cascades Institute have?
- IRS filings report 54 organizations giving $4,286,269 in grants to North Cascades Institute, 39 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of North Cascades Institute?
- SEATTLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $786,250 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like North Cascades Institute 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 54 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