Cardboard Cares
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 873354052
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Alexandria, MN, USA
- Phone
- 3203109306
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $295,323
- Expenses
- $293,615
- Assets
- $133,731
- Liabilities
- $38,468
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PHILIP KRAFT (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- PHILIP KRAFT (PRESIDENT): $82,500 total reported compensation
- KYLER KEEHR (SECRETARY): $15,750 total reported compensation
- CHANDA KRAFT (TREASURER): $3,750 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide financial support for teaching artists who offer engaging visual art classes and donate art supplies to children in need in our region.
What it reported doing in 2025
Recycling cardboard and in turn give back to the community by offering free visual art classes for children.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 9
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.7%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 92.2%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 34.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 91.7% of revenue deployed · 92.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $271K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $82K · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.