American Indian Youth Running Strong Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Food, garden, water and basic need: all children need to have access to healthy food, clean water, and safe homes to grow and thrive. Impoverished economic realities of rural and reservation life challenge many american indian communities to meet their children's basic needs. Running strong is dedicated to supporting native community leaders and family's efforts to ensure that their children have a healthy start. Running strong continued our support for critical needs with food and water connections, as well as with thousands of brand-new in-kind items to communities across the country.(see schedule o for continuation)food remains a running strong priority as we work hard to feed children who may otherwise go hungry. Running strong donated 17,339 dry and frozen food boxes to feed families on the pine ridge, standing rock, cheyenne river, cherokee, and crow reservations, along with 47,997.25 lbs of frozen holiday turkeys and 3,917.29 lbs of holiday hams. Each food box weighed approximately 20-30 lbs. And had enough nutritious food to feed a family of four or a week. After teachers told us students returned to school after weekends and school breaks listless and hungry, we started our weekend/school break backpack food program. On the menominee indian reservation we donate 13,500 bags filled with food to keshena primary school children over weekends and school breaks when they do not have access to free school lunches and breakfasts (420 students per week). We also support a backpack food program on the cheyenne river & standing rock reservations in South Dakota, serving 6,240 "smartsacks and 3,600 "smartsacks" respectively. Kids were not only kept from being hungry, they became involved in building the food bags as a way to earn volunteer hours.after the school year ends, running strong serves a healthy sack lunch to cheyenne river kids in three communities so that these kids have something to eat during their summer vacation when they do not have access to a free school lunch and breakfast. This summer food program served 19,600 meals to children at 3 sites over 10 weeks, serving lunch and a take home meal safely to an average of 200 kids per day.running strong also supports organic gardening efforts as communities worked to grow their own food. In fy25, we continued to invest in the oyate teca medicine root gardening program, which is also the site of one of our field offices on the pine ridge indian reservation in South Dakota. Running strong continues to provide foundational support for oyate teca's nine-month garden education classes which show how to grow, harvest, prepare and eat fresh produce on pine ridge. A big part of the class is hands-on instruction and the tools to plan & plant your own garden, and providing the tools, seedlings and fencing to plant 95 student gardens along with the extensive demonstration garden and greenhouses located by the oyate teca community center. In fy25, oyate teca's gardeners grew 25,000 lbs. Of fresh produce which was sold at local farmers markets, as well as gifted and composted. Garden students also sell their produce at the farmer's market, and sales of their own grown produce provided needed income and increased the quality of food offerings in the local community. The medicine root garden also continued to operate its mobile market program. Given the size of the pine ridge indian reservation, getting to where high-quality fresh produce is available can be very challenging, with the closest grocery story nearly 80 miles away, off the reservation. The mobile market, equipped with a generator, refrigeration, shelving, and air conditioning, travels out to harder to reach locations on the reservations three days a week, stopping at three locations on the reservation and traveling nearly 100 miles to reach residents. The mobile market offers the garden produce from the summer harvest and the surplus of produce from the community gardeners who go through the garden classes. We also conti

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 94.9%; rating input score 95
• Program expense ratio: 97%; rating input score 97
• Fundraising efficiency: $54.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 3.2%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 1.3%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings