Most of the development of Trastad was financed by the government, but much funding also came from Northern Norway where groups of volunteers from all over the region got together to raise funds. The campaigns were inventive with initiatives such as "one cod from each Lofoten fisherman", "a litre of milk from every cow" and "a handful of wool from every sheep". Nine million Nkr out of a total cost of 29 million Nkr were regional donations. In this way the North Norwegian population had a strong vested interest in Trastad Gård.

Already back in 1938 Margrethe Wiig, an influencial wife of a bishop, had raised the question of a North Norwegian institution for children with learning disabilities. Trastad was purchased towards the end of the 1940s and the first residential buildings were ready in 1954.