Form 990 for tax year 2022

Totals

Total revenue

$2,441,287

Total expenses

$1,580,773

Contributions and grants received

$2,153,227

Grants paid

$244,978

Program service revenue

$43,540

Investment income

$120,184

Other revenue

$124,336

Total assets, end of year

$6,984,281

Total liabilities, end of year

$253,219

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$6,731,062

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$1,196,990

Management and general expenses

$266,230

Fundraising expenses

$117,553

Program service expenses (Part III)

$1,196,990

Program services were 75.7% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2022

• Freshwater holds focus groups to inform State Drinking Water Plan:Freshwater worked with the Minnesota Department of Health, University of Minnesota's Water Resources Center, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and Clean River Partners to host a series of focus groups centered around drinking water management and governance in Minnesota. Those invited to attend were drinking water professionals from across the state, representing local, tribal, state, and federal governments, along with nonprofit water organizations, water advocacy groups, water utility providers, academics, and private water engineering firms and labs.The information gathered will be used to inform the Minnesota Department of Health's 10-year State Drinking Water Plan, currently under development.Great Lakes Protection Fund awards Freshwater $1.5 Million for water quality project:Freshwater was awarded $1.5 million from the Great Lakes Protection Fund to lead a 5-year effort to improve water quality across the Great Lakes states. The team will use cause marketing to raise funds for permanently converting marginal cropland to perennial vegetation, thereby enhancing carbon storage and curbing runoff.Working with local land trusts and watershed modeling experts, Freshwater will identify landowners in key locations and prioritize croplands that would provide the greatest water quality benefits.Freshwater leads climate resiliency workshops with Rice Creek Watershed District:Freshwater led a two-part climate resiliency workshop in partnership with Rice Creek Watershed District. Community members, partners and staff came together to identify particular locations within the watershed that have the potential to be heavily impacted by the effects of climate change. The information and perspectives gained from these workshops will be used to help Rice Creek Watershed District prioritize improvement projects for the watershed.Historic legislative session concludes with significant progress on water policy:When the Minnesota Legislature adjourned on May 22, the session was applauded by many conservation groups for providing significant investments in a broad range of environmental programs. Freshwater's legislative priorities were successful nearly across the board with progress in the areas of soil health, water storage, drinking water protection and moreMichelle Stockness joins Freshwater as new Executive Director:On May 30, Freshwater welcomed Michelle Stockness as the organization's new Executive Director. With 20 years of leadership experience in water quality and water supply, Michelle was most recently a vice president at Barr Engineering where she guided public and private clients through regulatory and environmental water issues across sectors including drinking water, wastewater and stormwater.As a civil engineer, Michelle has a deep understanding of water systems, and leads cross-sector initiatives including the Minnesota Infrastructure Alliance and the Minnesota Water Workforce pilot. Her role in national professional organizations like the American Water Works Association will also extend Freshwater's reach in community engagement, education, research and policy.Freshwater receives Joyce Foundation grant for Phase 2 of groundwater governance work:Freshwater has begun a second phase of work to build capacity for groundwater governance in the Great Lakes region funded by the Joyce Foundation. The team will be following recommendations summarized in the report, Groundwater Governance, Well Cobbled?, which assessed the technical, legal and structural capacity of the six Great Lakes states and 35 federally recognized tribes in EPA Region 5. The goal of the first phase documented the existing policies and practices affecting groundwater that feeds our lakes, rivers, wetlands and drinking water and serves as a baseline to frame future groundwater policy work.This continued work is intended to provide governing agencies, elected officials and other decision makers with defined strategies on how to equitably and sustainably manage groundwater over the long term.Lake Hiawatha trash boom installed with project partners and local community:Community members and project partners gathered at Lake Hiawatha in south Minneapolis on June 3 to celebrate installation of a new boom system designed to keep trash from entering the lake through a storm drain outfall. This innovative project is a collaboration between Freshwater, River Network, the City of Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Friends of Lake Hiawatha, and Osprey Initiative.Debris collected in this series of three booms will be sorted, recorded and disposed of properly by a trained maintenance team. The collected debris will help the City of Minneapolis to better understand the extent of the pollution problem, and to enact measures to reduce pollution further upstream. Freshwater supporters gather at Harriet Island Pavillion for Water Connects Us:Freshwater's annual fundraising benefit, Water Connects Us, took place at Harriet Island Wigington Pavilion in Saint Paul. This was Freshwater's first in-person fundraiser since 2019, and we decided to host a free event to make it more inclusive.The program was moderated by Jothsna Harris of Change Narrative with a welcome by new Freshwater Executive Director Michelle Stockness and music by Buffalo Weavers. Tyler Pederson from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board spoke about efforts to revitalize Lake Hiawatha, followed by the premiere of a video about Sean Connaughty, a Minneapolis educator and clean water advocateMinnesota Water Stewards program celebrates 10 years:In 2023, Freshwater celebrated a decade of the Minnesota Water Stewards program, which has trained and certified nearly 500 volunteers to be community leaders for clean water. This groundbreaking approach to water conservation empowers participants to implement demonstration projects that both improve water quality and raise awareness in their communities. Many stewards have also taken active roles in advancing clean water policy at the local, city and state level.

  Expenses $1,196,990 · Grants $244,978 · Revenue $181,619

As filed on the 2022 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those.

Grants on this return

• Bolin-Zweig

  $66,000

  Marketing support for grant project

• Marine Area Community School

  $28,200

  Organizational support for subaward staff during grant project

• Carleton College

  $23,847

  Technical support for grant project

• Hamline University

  $10,727

  Technical support for grant project

• Black Swamp Conservancy

  $10,000

  Organizational support for subaward staff during grant project

• Landmark Conservancy Inc

  $10,000

  Organizational support for subaward staff during grant project

• Little Fork Conservancy

  $10,000

  Organizational support for subaward staff during grant project

• Minnesota Land Trust I

  $10,000

  Organizational support for subaward staff during grant project

• Saginaw Basin Land Trust

  $10,000

  Organizational support for subaward staff during grant project

• Water 365

  $7,700

  Technical support for grant project

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2022

Filed

15 January 2024

IRS schema version

2022v5.0

Source object

202420169349303832

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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