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South Dakota · Nonprofit

Northern State University Foundation

Northern State University Foundation (South Dakota) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $38,743,016 to it, the largest being Great Plains Education Foundation Inc ($27,875,000). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$13M
Funders on record
35
Grants received
$39M
Net assets
$68M
24/35 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 59%
01What it does

What Northern State University Foundation does

Mission

The Northern State University Foundation is dedicated to securing the future of Northern State University. Its purpose is to solicit and administer funds and to pursue other activities to advance this goal.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. NSU Foundation paid 902 academic, 849 departmental, and 668 athletic scholarships to students attending Northern State University.

    $3,870,710 spentof which $3,870,710 as grants
    54% of program spending
  2. NSU Foundation provided funds to support Northern State University special projects, including departmental support of $2,155,674, athletic support of $902,781, and operational support of $146,985.

    $3,097,972 spentof which $3,097,972 as grants$926,997 earned by the program
    43% of program spending
  3. NSU Foundation provided support for alumni events to develop a spirit of camaraderie and fraternity among the NSU alumni, donors, and friends.

    $179,698 spent
    3% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,148,380.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($49M) Expenses 100 ($7.2M) Net assets 100 ($85M)2018 Revenue 44 ($21M) Expenses 398 ($29M) Net assets 96 ($82M)2019 Revenue 42 ($20M) Expenses 412 ($30M) Net assets 89 ($76M)2020 Revenue 48 ($24M) Expenses 342 ($25M) Net assets 87 ($75M)2021 Revenue 19 ($9.5M) Expenses 497 ($36M) Net assets 66 ($56M)2022 Revenue 19 ($9.4M) Expenses 155 ($11M) Net assets 56 ($48M)2023 Revenue 17 ($8.4M) Expenses 107 ($7.7M) Net assets 60 ($51M)2024 Revenue 28 ($13M) Expenses 118 ($8.5M) Net assets 71 ($61M)2025 Revenue 26 ($13M) Expenses 129 ($9.3M) Net assets 80 ($68M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (26)Expenses (129)Net assets (80)

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 $76M to $68M (−12%).

$89M
$83M
$87M
$85M
$76M
$68M
$64M
$71M
$76M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 3% · 2022 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$42M
’17
−$7.3M
’18
−$9.3M
’19
−$1.1M
’20
−$26M
’21
−$1.7M
’22
$656k
’23
$4.9M
’24
$3.3M
’25
12
months of
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

Zach FlakusPresident

CEO/Non-Voting Director

Board chair

Megan Biegler

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022, and between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed171819192019172021
Joined·+4+4+3+5+4+1+4+10
No longer listed·33345319
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 16 funders, grant income fell $29M → $1.2M.

15 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 Northern State University Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 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

Northern State University Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 72% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

91% 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 Northern State University Foundation.

72%
largest funder
86%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 97% · 2018 43% · 2019 38% · 2020 46% · 2021 44% · 2022 54% · 2023 55% — 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

43% of Northern State University Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

100% of Northern State University Foundation's grant income comes from South Dakota funders.

MT
MN
IL
NY
SD
IN
NJ
VA
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
South Dakota out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like Northern State University Foundation

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 South Dakota

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

77% of spending goes to programs.

Program 77%Management 15%Fundraising 9%

Governance

15
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

85%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 17 states

AK
ME
NH
WA
MN
MI
MA
NV
OH
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
KY
MD
SC

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • Foho I LLC · disregarded
  • APEX Events LLC · disregarded

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Northern State University Foundation: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 Northern State University Foundation?
Northern State University Foundation (South Dakota) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $38,743,016 to it, the largest being Great Plains Education Foundation Inc ($27,875,000). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Northern State University Foundation have?
IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $38,743,016 in grants to Northern State University Foundation, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Northern State University Foundation?
Great Plains Education Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $27,875,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Northern State University Foundation find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Dakota. 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 35 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