Borealis Philanthropy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464598642
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6122249644
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts, Culture, and Humanities N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $42,473,306
- Expenses
- $54,652,165
- Assets
- $78,225,705
- Liabilities
- $14,155,892
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- AMORETTA MORRIS (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- AMORETTA MORRIS (PRESIDENT): $285,846 total reported compensation
- RANDOLPH MILLER (MANAGING DIRECTOR): $267,360 total reported compensation
- NNENE J ESSIEN (DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE & CULTURE): $226,632 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Borealis philanthropy directs resources to people building powerful, thriving communities that serve all of us, with those most impacted by injustice leading the way. We invest in leaders, organizations, and movements using diverse and innovative strategies to pursue transformational change, and we work with donors to support movements in ways they may not be able to do on their own. Through our work with both funders and grantee partners, we aim to shift power and invest in communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
The emerging lgbtq leaders of color fund* supports the role that young trans and queer leaders play to support pro-lgbtq, racial justice movements in becoming more connected, inclusive, and thus more powerful. The fund invests in leaders and organizations who understand that the issues like community safety, reproductive justice, immigrant rights, and others do not exist in isolation from each other, and who approach liberation work from a place of inclusion. These leaders envision and implement organizing strategies that address how these issues intersect.*formerly the transforming movements fund
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 89% 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 91
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 82.6%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $44.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 93%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -28.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 20.2% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $45.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $286K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $809K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 369 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 360 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.