Iowa · Nonprofit
VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM
VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM (Iowa) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,240,332 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($4,655,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.7M
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $6.2M
- Net assets
- $26M
What Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum does
Mission
Building community and creating experiences inspired by norwegian-american stories and folk art.the museum is a national treasure that explores the diversity of american immigration through the lens of norwegian-american experience, showcases the best in historic and contemporary norwegian folk and fine arts, and preserves living traditions through classes in norwegian culture and folk art, including rosemaling (decorative painting), woodworking, knifemaking, traditional food ways, and textile arts.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Education - the museum offers education classes on various norwegian folk art traditions as well as offer educational guided tours of norway to their members and the general public. Online programs, including classes and collection talks, began in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
$1,173,229 spent$644,865 earned by the program48% of program spendingCollection care- the museum houses a collection of over 33,000 artifacts, a complex of 16 buildings, and a farmstead. Museum staff provide care and upkeep as well as the aquisition of 606 new artifacts.
$847,862 spent35% of program spendingMuseum store - the museum has various norwegian-related books, crafts, and other items for resale to their members and the general public.
$406,020 spent$599,073 earned by the program17% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,427,111.
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 2020 to 2021, from $20M to $25M (+24%).
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 2% · 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 2% · 2021 5% · 2022 1% · 2024 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
50% of VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Board chair
Rude Brian
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $33k → $588k.
13 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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
VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 75% of grant income and the top three 83%; 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 94% · 2018 100% · 2019 67% · 2020 90% · 2021 78% · 2022 27% · 2023 57% — 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
53% of VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM draws 90% of its grant income from funders outside Iowa, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $625k arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM
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 Iowa
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
56% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
67%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM: 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 VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM?
- VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM (Iowa) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,240,332 to it, the largest being MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION ($4,655,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $6,240,332 in grants to VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM?
- MARGARET A CARGILL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,655,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VESTERHEIM NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. 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 Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum →
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 33 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