Minnesota · Nonprofit
THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC
THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC (Minnesota) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,023,944 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($1,100,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What The Native Ways Federation Inc does
Mission
Native ways federation's mission is to activate and expand informed giving to native-led nonprofits in indian country through donor education and advocacy.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2023, nwf educated and advised foundations and philanthropy serving organizations on the importance of investing in native communities. Nwf focused on building relationships and partnerships with native-led and other organizations in the nonprofit and philanthropy sector in furtherance of its mission. For example, nwf continued a focus-group initiative which brought together a diverse group of native nonprofit leaders across the country to participate in faciliated discussion on the topic of determining the necessary elements of a thriving native nonprofit sector. Following an in-person session, the report team began writing a report to share out the findings from the discussions. (see schedule o.) nwf developed and implemented training series for philanthropy-serving organizations and foundations to educate them about native communities and increase their effectiveness in working with, and in support of, native-led nonprofits. Through various advisory roles, nwf continued to represent the native nonprofit sector in policy, best practice and systemic change conversations within the broader nonprofit and philanthropy sector. In 2023, nwf continued two charitable giving…
$487,598 spent$2,921 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $487,598.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2020 to 2021, from $213k to $1.4M (+570%).
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.
98% of THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 5 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
Carly Bad Heart Bull
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $100k → $703k.
2 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 10 of 11 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
THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 44% · 2022 99% · 2023 50% — 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
29% of THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 45% 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
THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC draws 87% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $261k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC
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
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
32%
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 THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC: 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 THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC?
- THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC (Minnesota) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,023,944 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($1,100,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $3,023,944 in grants to THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC?
- WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE NATIVE WAYS FEDERATION INC 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 Native Ways Federation →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 11 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