Avenues for Youth

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411765140
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6128442009
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Community Service Clubs

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,896,706
Expenses
$4,488,850
Assets
$17,673,500
Liabilities
$9,769,382

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL BLOM (PRESIDENT)
  • SHAWN SORRELL (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KATHERINE MEERSE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RACHEL HATCH (ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHERINE MEERSE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $158,132 total reported compensation
  • RACHEL HATCH (ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $125,132 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 mission of avenues for youth (afy) is to partner with youth experiencing homelessness to achieve their dreams. We do this by providing shelter, short term and transitional housing and supportive services for youth experiencing homelessness in a safe and nurturing environment. Through such service, avenues seeks to help youth achieve their personal goals and find a positive transition into young adulthood.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule oin avenues for youth's conneqt host home program members of the community open their homes to youth experiencing homelessness. The program is a community and volunteer-based initiative that matches youth experiencing homelessness ages 16 - 24 with volunteers in the community recruited, screened and trained by avenues. Youth may stay with community members for a few nights or up to a year.conneqt supports youth who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer. Their hosts are lgbtq themselves or allies. The process of matching youth and community members is youth-driven. While living with community members, youth receive all basic needs and have the opportunity to work with their case manager and other specialists on our team to identify and address their longer-term personal goals. The hosting arrangement is often life-changing, both for community members and youth. The overall goal is to provide youth experiencing homelessness with the stability, support and coaching they need so, when they leave the community members' homes, they have a vision for their future and are building the skills and relationships needed to pursue that vision. Simultaneously, we are fostering connections and building community. During fy25, conneqt supported ten young people in host homes. One youth moved out during the year, into their own stable living arrangements. Another 31 lgbtq-identified youth received intensive case management support but did not live in host homes during fy25. Additionally, 54 youth received support through drop-in and outreach.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.5%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 34.9%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.94; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.5% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $158K · 18 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.