North Dakota · Nonprofit
YMCA of the Northern Sky
YMCA of the Northern Sky (North Dakota) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,174,065 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($10,000,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 31
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $40M
What YMCA of the Northern Sky does
Mission
We are dedicated to enhancing the spirit, mind, and body of all persons through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
SPACES THAT BRING PEOPLE TOGEHTER:In Fargo, ND and Fergus Falls, MN, the YMCA's three branches welcomed individuals for more than 627,000 visits in 2025, serving as trusted community hubs where people come to improve their health, build connection, and experience a strong sense of belonging.Across the year, the YMCA provided membership assistance to an average of 1,560 individuals and 188 families each month, ensuring that financial barriers never prevent access to the spirit, mind, and body benefits of belonging to the YMCA.Through every visit, the YMCA remains a place where all are welcomesupporting wellness, fostering relationships, and strengthening community for all who walk through our doors.
$5,506,312 spentof which $390,606 as grants$4,635,595 earned by the program22% of program spendingPREPARING CHILDREN FOR SUCCESSIn 2025, 89% of children in YMCA early learning programs met or exceeded kindergarten readiness benchmarks, demonstrating strong preparation for academic success and lifelong learning. These outcomes reflect more than academic achievementthey represent children building confidence, social-emotional skills, independence, friendships, and a strong sense of belonging in their earliest years.YMCA early learning and school-age programs focus on whole-child development in safe, nurturing environments where children are supported socially, emotionally, and academically. Every day, children are encouraged to explore, learn, and grow foundational skills that help them thrive in school and beyond.For school-age youth, the YMCA operates 21 before and after school child care sites located within area schools, providing families with convenient, reliable care in environments children already know and trust. These programs ensure students have a safe place to learn, connect, and grow before and after the school day while supporting continued academic engagement and enrichment.To ensure access for all families, the YMCA provided more than $556,000 in scholarships…
$15,961,413 spentof which $628,454 as grants$18,397,176 earned by the program62% of program spendingNOURISHING OUR COMMUNITYIn 2025, the YMCA provided 632,750 meals and snacks through our programs and directly to children and families across our community. Through summer meal programs, super snacks, Blizzard Boxes, and mobile meal distribution, the YMCA continues to ensure youth have reliable access to nutritious food when and where they need it most.The YMCA's Mobile Meals and Hunger Heroes programs remove barriers to food access by delivering meals directly to neighborhoods, schools, parks, and community gathering spaces creating safe, accessible, and stigma-free opportunities for children to receive healthy meals.In 2025, the YMCA expanded its Rural Food Program, now known as Hunger Heroes, into 13 rural communities, including Oakes and Valley City, North Dakota, and Battle Lake and Breckenridge, Minnesota, helping reach even more children and families experiencing food insecurity. This program delivered 97,000 meals to children under the age of 18 in 9 weeks during the summer when school isn't in session. A time when children are often the most hungry. Together with schools, community partners, volunteers, and local organizations, the YMCA is responding to the growing need…
$4,112,946 spentof which $154,727 as grants$347,852 earned by the program16% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $25,580,671.
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 2019 to 2020, from $27M to $41M (+48%).
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 3% · 2019 3% · 2020 17% · 2021 6% · 2022 9% · 2023 10% · 2024 3% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
19% of YMCA of the Northern Sky’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Steve Smith
President and CEO
Board chair
Michelle Eldien
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $568k → $683k.
10 of 31 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 64% 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 YMCA of the Northern Sky’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 31 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
YMCA of the Northern Sky leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% 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
97% 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 YMCA of the Northern Sky.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 49% · 2018 69% · 2019 54% · 2020 47% · 2021 94% · 2022 52% · 2023 37% — 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
38% of YMCA of the Northern Sky's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
64% of YMCA of the Northern Sky'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 $5.8M that is directly attributable, 60% of it comes from North Dakota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
YMCA of the Northern Sky holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,396 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,396 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like YMCA of the Northern Sky
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 North Dakota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
89% 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 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for YMCA of the Northern Sky: 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 YMCA of the Northern Sky?
- YMCA of the Northern Sky (North Dakota) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,174,065 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($10,000,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does YMCA of the Northern Sky have?
- IRS filings report 31 organizations giving $16,174,065 in grants to YMCA of the Northern Sky, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of YMCA of the Northern Sky?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $10,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like YMCA of the Northern Sky find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North 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 31 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