Avon Hills Folk School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
820638008
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Avon, MN, USA
Phone
3208448511
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$250,182
Expenses
$269,840
Assets
$78,361
Liabilities
$15,802

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Schellinger (Executive Director)
  • Neil Franz (Vice President)
  • Greg Murray (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chris Schellinger (Executive Director): $79,296 total reported compensation
  • Jordan Schellinger (Secretary): $13,725 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Build and enrich community through the sharing and teaching of traditional practices, craft and art.

What it reported doing in 2024

TRADITIONAL SKILLS, CRAFTS AND ARTS: Avon Hills' purpose is building and enriching community through the teaching and sharing of traditional skills, craft and art. We do this through connecting local and regional artists and makers as well as naturalists from many cultural backgrounds with members of our community. In 2024 we offered 42 experiences and classes and brought 38 instructors to campus, 24 of them new and a 300% increase over 2023. Of note was our inaugural Timber Framing for FLINTA, which brought those who do not identify as male to the folk school for a timber framing course taught by two women. Also exciting was our second year of welcoming April Ogimaakwe Stone, an Ojibwe basket weaver from the Bad River Tribe in northern Wisconsin to share her culture and craft. We increasingly draw from all over the United States, bringing folks from the Upper Midwest and coast to coast.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.9%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 39.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.9% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $207K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.