American Postal Workers Union 281 Western Mi

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237146667
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Phone
6164594958
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$313,823
Expenses
$372,234
Assets
$501,296
Liabilities
$6,594

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL LONG (PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID JANES (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID HOYLE (PRESIDENT)
  • JOSEPH M GRAY (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL LONG (PRESIDENT): $26,045 total reported compensation
  • SUZANNE BOYD (CLERK CRAFT DIRECTOR A): $18,720 total reported compensation
  • DAVID JANES (VICE PRESIDENT): $17,393 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To secure through collective bargaining a better standard of living for the members and their families.

What it reported doing in 2025

To secure a better standard of living.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 23
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

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; 64th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.35; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 41.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 792 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $372K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $26K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 15 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.