American Legion Post 428 Silver Star

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410655228
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Waite Park, MN, USA
Phone
3202527880
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$43,847
Expenses
$81,421
Assets
$959,934
Liabilities
$150

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Ray Theis (Finance Officer): $5,655 total reported compensation
  • Tom Fernlund (Adjutant): $5,220 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The American Legion's Mission is "For God and Country". To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; to maintain law and order; to foster and perpetuate a 100% Americanism; to preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the Great Wars; to inculcate a sense of individual obligations to the community, State and Nation; to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; to make right the master of might; to promote peace and goodwill on earth; to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principals of justice, freedom and democracy; to consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Legion supports numerous youth activities, services to the Veterans Administration, and many other community services.

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 91% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -85.7%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.79; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.7% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.2% per year; rating input score 0; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $6K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.