Minnesota · Nonprofit
NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL
NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL (Minnesota) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,468,703 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($5,518,875). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.6M
- Funders on record
- 51
- Grants received
- $9.5M
- Net assets
- $8.4M
What North House Folk School does
Mission
To enrich lives and build community by teaching traditional northern crafts in a student-centered learning environment that inspires the hands, heart and mind.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Central to north house educational efforts to "enrich lives and build community through the teaching of traditional northern crafts" are its year-round offerings of courses. In a typical year, over 400 classes featuring the leadership of 160+ regional artisans bring alive the stories and skills connnected to traditions ranging from moose-hide mukluk making to timber frame sauna building, intro to blacksmithing to cedar-strip canoe building, green-wood bown carving to wood-fired bread baking. Classes range in length from 4 hours to ten days, with small groups of students learning in collaboration with a highly skilled artisan instructor.
$1,826,972 spent$1,749,073 earned by the program80% of program spendingBuilding community is also central to north house's year-round efforts inclue three key seasonal community events (wooden boat show in june, unplugged & the folk artisan marketplace in september, winterer's gathering & artic film festival in november), frequent public speakers at key events and aligned with key thematic program weeks, mini-workshops for first time visitors to campus, and an instructor-in-residence program. As a public service, these efforts are largely offered free of charge or at reduced rates as part of strengthening north house's connection to its local community, these community efforts engage 10,000+ individuals in a typical year.
$163,883 spentof which $145,452 as grants$172,025 earned by the program7% of program spendingNorth house is fortunate to work with a key funding partner as part of its communtiy of craft initiative which actively offers professional development opportunities for the traditional craft artisans who teach or collaborate with the school. These efforts include: an annual instructor retreat featuring courses, seminars, peer engagement and planning sessions; a ten-month traditional craft program internship designed to engage post- college participants interested in education and nonprofit administration; a two-year artisan development program to advance the potential of emerging artisans; and professional staff leadership for both our year-round curriculum and instructor partnerships. North house works annually with 200+ artisans at all levels of development.
$295,583 spentof which $38,400 as grants13% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,286,438.
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 2022 to 2023, from $6.3M to $8.2M (+31%).
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: 2024 5% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
56% of NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $749k → $2.6M.
15 of 51 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 51 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 HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 69%; 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: 2017 80% · 2018 74% · 2019 75% · 2020 45% · 2021 63% · 2022 24% · 2023 76% — 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
52% of NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
93% of NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL'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 12 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 HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$10k
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 HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL
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
73% 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 HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL: 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 HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL?
- NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL (Minnesota) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,468,703 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($5,518,875). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL have?
- IRS filings report 51 organizations giving $9,468,703 in grants to NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL, 27 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL?
- MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,518,875 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL 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 51 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