Microgrants

Overview

Mission

To spur economic self-sufficiency by giving strategic grants to low-income people of potential through partner agencies.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lights on!: lights on! Is an award-winning program with the mission to heal police-community relationships. The program was founded in 2017 after the unnecessary death of philando castile who was shot during a traffic stop. The police rationale for the stop was a broken tail light and that spark inspired the simple, yet powerful concept for the lights on! Program - replace equipment violation tickets with vouchers for free repairs. Traffic stops are often a source of stress, both for officers and drivers. Lights on! Turns the dreaded traffic stop into a positive, restorative interaction and avoids penalizing low-income individuals for vehicle conditions.to date, lightson! Has provided over 10,700 vouchers with a 99% satisfaction of the repair work done. 1 in every 3 voucher recipient has an household income of less than $30,000. The program includes over 160 participating law enforcement agencies and over 350 participating auto shops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for grants.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204092394
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6122008174
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 69.2%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -31%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.6% of revenue deployed · 69.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $892K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $87K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN HARRINGTON (CEO): $87,296 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.