Minnesota · Nonprofit
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL (Minnesota) receives grants from 154 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,801,808 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,597,638). 95 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $127M
- Funders on record
- 154
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $149M
What University of Northwestern - St Paul does
Mission
See schedule o. Founded in 1902, university of northwestern - st. Paul is a nondenominational christian university that integrates the educational philosophy of "faith, learning and living" through two focuses: higher education and media. The mission of the university is to equip believers to grow intellectually and spiritually, to serve effectively in their professions, and to give god-honoring leadership in the home, church, community and world. Northwestern media exists to lead people to christ and to nurture believers in their spiritual growth through christ centered media.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
See schedule o.academic instruction and support:the higher education focus offers a vast array of opportunities within a strong academic program. Northwestern offers more than 60 areas of study ranging from elementary education and pastoral studies to broadcasting/electronic media and psychology. The core component is the traditional undergraduate program, which enrolls over 1,400 students. The college of adult & graduate studies, which serves an additional 210 students, includes the adult undergraduate program and graduate studies. Dual enrollment, including pseo/early college and online learning together serve approximately 1,930, bringing total enrollment to over 3,540 students across all venues. Northwestern's 107-acre lakeside campus is located in suburban saint paul, minnesota. Northwestern is a community in which all learning is framed within the context of a biblical worldview. Students who enroll as freshman are required to complete 22 credits of bible courses as part of their core curriculum, thereby making them eligible for a second major in bible from the department of biblical and theological studies. Daily chapel is an integral part of the traditional program where…
$46,591,452 spentof which $23,732,848 as grants$57,406,438 earned by the program46% of program spendingSee schedule o.northwestern mediathe university began its media ministry, known today as northwestern media, in 1949. Its inception is attributed to former northwestern president william f. Billy graham, who began ktis (life 98.5) radio with $44,000 generated from student donations. Today, the university owns and operates 126 fcc licenses that are listener-supported christian radio stations, covering 14 markets in minnesota, north and south dakota, iowa, wisconsin, missouri, kansas, illinois, indiana, nebraska, connecticut, and montana with a consolidated audience of more than 1,400,000 listeners per week. Northwestern media exists to lead people to christ and to nurture believers in their spiritual growth through christ-centered media, including major sponsorship of christian concerts in our listening area. The university's media ministry reaches beyond the united states through financial and technological partnerships with christian radio stations in belize, ecuador, kenya, guam, indonesia, mongolia and thailand.
$30,604,257 spentof which $335,324 as grants$2,473,814 earned by the program30% of program spendingSee schedule o. Student and auxiliary services:northwestern students are offered a host of academic and personal support services and resources to help students succeed. Student services include degree planning, career development, counseling, personal health and wellness, athletics, ministry opportunities, and more. Northwestern offers 4 residence halls that accommodate the varied needs of our student population. During the year 2024-2025, on-campus residents totaled over 880 students and dining services were provided to more than 1,390 students via our campus dining partner. Other auxiliary services provided on campus include ticketing/events and a campus store.
$25,111,527 spentof which $24,388 as grants$14,025,276 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $102,307,236.
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 $140M to $153M (+9%).
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.
35% of UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (14% 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.
Board chair
Grover Sayre
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 28 funders to 64 funders, grant income rose $573k → $2.6M.
41 of 154 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.6M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Northwestern Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL raised.
From the IRS filings of UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 154 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
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
68% 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 UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 20% · 2018 12% · 2019 20% · 2020 21% · 2021 14% · 2022 20% · 2023 20% — broadly stable.
“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
48% of UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
65% of UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL'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 $5.5M that is directly attributable, 72% of it comes from funders outside Minnesota, across 28 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10M arriving through sponsors registered in 22 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
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 684 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.9M on record.
- Department of Education$6.9M
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 UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL
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
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 15 states
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- Lincoln Drive Properties LLC · disregarded
- Unw Student Housing LLC · disregarded
- Centre Pointe Drive LLC · disregarded
- Unw Media Holdings LLC · disregarded
- Rosedale Square North LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL: 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 UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL?
- UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL (Minnesota) receives grants from 154 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,801,808 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,597,638). 95 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL have?
- IRS filings report 154 organizations giving $15,801,808 in grants to UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL, 95 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,597,638 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - ST PAUL 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 154 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