Close Gaps by 5

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453571450
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6513989019
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Support N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$220,628
Expenses
$590,799
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERICCA MAAS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERICCA MAAS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $171,500 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE CORBIN (OPERATIONS DIRECTOR): $16,700 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Close gaps by 5 is on a mission to ensure that Minnesota's system of early care and education strategies and investments fully prepares all young children - particularly those living in poverty - to enter kindergarten with the cognitive, social-emotional, physical and language skills they need for success in school, life, and career.

What it reported doing in 2022

Close gaps by 5 works to strengthen and expand parent aware as Minnesota's quality framework for early care and education programs by growing the number of available parent aware rated early care and education programs statewide and working to keep the rating standards strong and tied to what research says children need. This approach is systematically improving the quality of early care and education programs in Minnesota. The number of eligible programs that have earned ratings has grown significantly since the inception of parent aware, from just over 500 programs at the end of 2012 to nearly 2,941 as of december 2022. Of the 320,000 Minnesota children ages birth-five years who spend time in child care, nearly 100,000 were in parent aware-rated programs in 2022.the grant amount of $152,386 was the final distributed amount when the organization ceased to exist.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 64% for direct work, and 36% for grants.

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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 2
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 71.7%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -167.8%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -18.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -15.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $424K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.