Coalition of Asian American Leaders

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810874603
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6517567210
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,857,954
Expenses
$1,828,898
Assets
$5,824,255
Liabilities
$103,918

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ThaoMee Xiong (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • ThaoMee Xiong (Executive Director): $169,299 total reported compensation
  • Derlee Moua (Assocaite Director): $140,853 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 Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) is a network organization of Asian Minnesotan leaders harnessing our collective power to improve the lives of community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fiscal Sponsorships: CAAL continued to lead impactful work across education, civic engagement, legislative advocacy, and organizational growth in 2024: Education & Racial Solidarity: Continued the second cohort of the Education Racial Solidarity Program, funded by Saint Paul Public Schools, training 4 parents and 7 students. The cohort presented their projects to education leaders, including principals, teachers, school board members, district leaders, and the Superintendent, highlighting community-driven solutions and perspectives.Civic Engagement: CAAL partnered with civic engagement organizations to conduct door knocking, phone banking, and post-voter surveys aimed at monitoring policy implementation and analyzing the voting participation and experiences of Asian American communities.Additionally, CAAL collaborated with organizations in Greater Minnesota to engage Asian Americans in rural areas with limited access to resources. We hosted a Civic Engagement event in Worthington, Marshall, and Tracy, providing educational resources and emphasizing the importance of voting. The event was supported by bipartisan legislative leaders, reinforcing CAAL's commitment to inclusive and representative civic participation.Legislative Advocacy: Secured a $200,000 appropriation for the rebranded CAAL Ignite Program, originally launched in 2017 as the SPARK Leadership Fund. The program now provides financial support to individuals, nonprofits, and small businesses, with a focus on strengthening community leadership and economic resilience. This year's appropriation is specifically designated to support Asian women entrepreneurs, advancing equity and opportunity in underserved communities.CAAL hosted a highly successful Day at the Capitol with 200+ attendees, 20+ legislative visits, and participation from the Governor, Lt. Governor, and bipartisan legislative supporters.Convened a cross-generational group of volunteers to support civic engagement with post-voter surveys in high concentration voting districts. We advocated for and saw the results of increase inclusivity and welcomeness at voting polls to ensure all people were supported when voting, regardless of linguistic or cultural differences and challenges.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% 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 - Most voting board members are independent and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 36.8%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 22.7%; rating input score 23; 13th 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: 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: 52.6%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.18; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 36.8% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $169K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.