Center For Rural Policy & Development

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411919016
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Mankato, MN, USA
Phone
5079347700
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Rural Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$705,640
Expenses
$900,464
Assets
$533,268
Liabilities
$25,826

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Julie Tesch (President and CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Julie Tesch (President and CEO): $193,232 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Center for Rural Policy and Development provides high quality, objective and non-partisan research to examine and advance policy and decision-making, rural advocacy, and civic engagement for greater Minnesota's development.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Center for Rural Policy & Development served as a statewide resource for nonpartisan research and analysis on public policy issues affecting rural Minnesota. In FY2025, the Center produced and disseminated original research, data tools, and educational resources to inform policymakers, local leaders, and residents about critical rural challenges and opportunities.Key publications included Barriers & Bridges: Access to Mental Healthcare for Rural Minnesota; Time to Work Together: Our Roles in Keeping and Attracting Residents; Rural Minnesota Business Succession and Planning: Barriers and Opportunities; The Declining Capacity of Nursing Facility Care in Rural Minnesota; and Youth Mental Health: Where Rural Families Can Find Help Now. The Center also released updated editions of the annual State of Rural Minnesota report and the Atlas of Rural Minnesota. In addition, the organization maintained a regular schedule of policy-focused blog posts and podcasts and hosted webinars on workforce challenges and opportunities for local government entities, accessing youth mental health services in rural Minnesota, declining nursing facility capacity, migration trends, and business succession planning.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 72% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 62.5%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • 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: -27.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.8% of revenue deployed · 62.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $563K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.