Bakken Oil Rush Watford City Outreach

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
814237880
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Watford City, ND, USA
Phone
7014442288
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$637,623
Expenses
$469,325
Assets
$712,485
Liabilities
$1,054

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Bob Nelson (President)
  • Jeffrey Kindel (Vice President)
  • Melanie Smith (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Melanie Smith (Executive Director): $66,430 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Bakken Oil Rush Ministry's mission is to focus on meeting the needs of the vulnerable populations in Watford City and the surrounding area by providing tangible materials through its thrift center, along with providing opportunities for meals, fellowship and encouragement.

What it reported doing in 2025

Bakken Oil Rush Watford City Outreach continues to be a vital resource in western North Dakota, serving individuals and families in need by providing for their physical, spiritual, and social well-being. Through our work, we help people draw closer to Jesus and become positive contributors to the community.Care. Connect. Collaborate. In 2025, we served our community by distributing essential resources, offering educational programs, and fostering a spirit of generosity. We provided winter wear valued at $47,880, ensuring over 552 McKenzie County families stayed warm. We offered Spanish and English classes, distributed school supplies to families in need, provided children with toys during the Christmas Toy Mall, and fed a record number of families free meals during the Thanksgiving Gathering. All of these help create new opportunities for connection and growth within our community outreach. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our 200+ volunteers, who generously gave their time and effort to serve our neighbors. It is estimated we spent $306,000 in wages offering programs and services to the community. Through these programs and more, we remain committed to providing a hand up, not just a handout, while strengthening our community through compassion, service, and faith.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.5%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.4%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.52; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.5% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $428K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $66K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.