Minnesota · Nonprofit
SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION
SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $284,357 to it, the largest being WEEKES FAMILY FOUNDATION ($225,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $284k
- Net assets
- $2.9M
What Sugarloaf the North Shore Stewardship Association does
Mission
To inspire the preservation and restoration of the North Shore's unique environment through education and exemplary stewardship, especially at Sugarloaf Cove.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The organization operates and maintains the North Shore's only private, non profit nature center. Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, located near Schroeder, MN, offers public access to Lake Superior and a variety of educational programs and workshops about natural history and coastal conservation throughout the year. The site also serves as a demonstration site for forest restoration projects. Over 25,000 people visit the site each year and many participate in our educational programs. Programs offered include bird banding demonstrations, geology educational walks, Master Naturalist workshops, and guest speakers. In 2023 we began the construction of a new outdoor education which we completed in 2025.
$136,197 spentof which $19,500 as grants$15,792 earned by the program54% of program spendingSugarloaf is committed to the restoration of the North Shore forest of Minnesota. As part of this commitment, we offered a variety of invasive species and forest restoration workshops, and successfully procured funding for the North Shore Forest Collaborative coordinator position. Sugarloaf is a founding and active member of the North Shore Forest Collaborative (NSFC) and contracts with the coordinator. The mission of the North Shore Forest Collaborative is to revitalize and maintain a healthy and functioning ecosystem along the North Shore of Lake Superior with emphasis on restoring and maintaining native trees and associated forest communities. The Collaborative is a coordinated effort between local, state, and federal land management agencies as well as public and private organizations and individuals who want to work together to assure a healthy forest environment. Recent efforts include popular North Shore landowner workshops, a discounted tree fencing programs for landowners, and the initiation of a program offering private landowners a visit by a Woodland Advisor who tour their property and give them reforestation recommendations.
$55,318 spentof which $55,127 as grants$-192 earned by the program22% of program spendingSugarloaf manages a reduced cost fencing supplies program for landowners in partnership with the North Shore Forest Collaborative. With funding from a private foundation and payments from landowners, landowners receive fencing and post which they use to protect seedlings they plant on their properties. This program is vital to restoring a healthy North Shore forest as approximately 75% of the property along the North Shore is privately owned. Through this program, over 90,000 trees have been planted since 2016 by private landowners.
$61,818 spentof which $45,000 as grants$63,099 earned by the program24% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $253,333.
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 2023 to 2024, from $1.9M to $3.0M (+55%).
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 52% · 2018 4% · 2019 34% · 2020 28% · 2021 31% · 2022 6% · 2023 4% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Chief executive
Molly Thompson
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $8k → $46k.
2 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION’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
SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 93%; 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 100% · 2018 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 82% · 2022 77% · 2023 98% — 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.
Where its funders are
SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $14k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $88k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$88k
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 SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
47%
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 SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION: 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 SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION?
- SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $284,357 to it, the largest being WEEKES FAMILY FOUNDATION ($225,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $284,357 in grants to SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION?
- WEEKES FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $225,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SUGARLOAF THE NORTH SHORE STEWARDSHIP ASSOCIATION 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 Sugarloaf the North Shore Stewardship Association →
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 7 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