Duluth Folk School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822435259
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Duluth, MN, USA
Phone
2182166929
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$194,707
Expenses
$116,897
Assets
$83,667
Liabilities
$77,439

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Viola Clark (Chair)
  • Kathryn Fifield (Vice Chair)
  • Carmel DeMaioribus (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Duluth Folk School builds community through joyful experiences of handcrafting, art, and gatherings.

What it reported doing in 2025

Duluth Folk School brings people together to share skills, knowledge, and life experiences. Classes are taught by community members and visiting artists and makers. Topics include cooking, fiber and paper arts, repair and re-use, natural history, woodworking, and music. Classes at Duluth Folk School encourage people to try new things, strengthen skills, and connect with each other. Handcrafting classes and community gatherings reduce feelings of isolation, build confidence and resiliency, and improve mental health. Skill sharing also promotes equity and a stronger social fabric.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.2%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.93; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.9% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 87.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.2% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $102K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.