Black Hawk County Gaming Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800103166
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Waterloo, IA, USA
Phone
3194331153
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,707,939
Expenses
$4,563,112
Assets
$17,675,790
Liabilities
$8,208,908

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELANIE KNIPP (PRESIDENT)
  • SELVEDINA SAMARDZIC (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • EMILY HANSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • EMILY HANSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $130,334 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Helping the cedar valley prosper.

What it reported doing in 2025

Black hawk county gaming association (bhcga) collects a fixed percentage of the casino's revenue and allocates the proceeds to qualified non-profit entities and governments primarily within black hawk county and surrounding counties through a competitive grant application process. In accordance with the state of Iowa gambling, games and sports wagering regulation, bhcga is required to distribute a fixed percent of the casino's adjusted gross receipts for educational, civic, public, charitable, patriotic, or religious uses. During the year bhcga approved 34 grants and provided grants to 29 organizations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 93% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 92.4%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • 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: 20.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.87; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 92.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 26 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 25 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.