Michigan · Nonprofit
NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED
NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED (Michigan) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,527,557 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($726,050). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 30
- Grants received
- $1.5M
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What North Country Trail Association Incorporated does
Mission
The mission of the north country trail association (ncta) is to develop, maintain, protect and promote the north country national scenic trail as the premier hiking path across the northern tier of the united states through a trail-wide coalition of volunteers and partners.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Trail work and planning - the association continued to plan the route and build and maintain the north country national scenic trail. In 2025, 47 miles of new trail were built, and 3,966 ft of boardwalk plus 81 new kiosks, trailhead signs and interpretive panels were installed. Ncta maintained off road trail to make it safe and accessible to the public. The association also has a role in securing access for the trail and protecting the corridor. In 2025, 22 projects permanently protecting sections of the trail were completed, which includes 17 new use agreements and licenses, 4 new trail easements, and 1 land acquisition.
$762,365 spent64% of program spendingNetworking and volunteer support - the association manages a vast network of volunteers, supporting 30 chapters and a dozen affiliate partners, all supporting the north country national scenic trail. In 2025, 1,267 volunteers contributed 73,479 volunteer hours for a value of $2,556,334. The association worked with 29 youth programs and corp crews to assist the efforts.
$313,368 spent$18,465 earned by the program26% of program spendingPublic service, education, and cartography - the association provides information and resources to the public to encourage the use of the north country national scenic trail. Ncta makes the trail accessible to all people by providing free downloadable maps and data. In 2025, there were over 200,000 views of the online maps. In addition, 5,016 hikers participated in 313 hikes with ncta hike leaders and 1,158 people participated in the hike 100 challenge.
$110,916 spent9% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,186,649.
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.
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 $1.2M to $1.6M (+32%).
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 46% · 2018 43% · 2019 57% · 2020 37% · 2021 43% · 2022 26% · 2023 42% · 2024 33% · 2025 32%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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
Andrea Ketchmark
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $16k → $205k.
8 of 30 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 58% 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 COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED’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
NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
94% 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 COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 52% · 2019 26% · 2020 54% · 2021 26% · 2022 80% · 2023 49% — 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
47% of NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
58% of NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $641k that is directly attributable, 69% of it comes from funders outside Michigan, across 14 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $887k 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.
Government funding NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.1M on record.
- Department of the Interior$3.8M
- Department of Agriculture$303k
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 COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED
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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: 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 COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED?
- NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED (Michigan) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,527,557 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($726,050). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 58% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED have?
- IRS filings report 30 organizations giving $1,527,557 in grants to NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $726,050 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NORTH COUNTRY TRAIL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 North Country Trail Association →
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 30 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