Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411706866
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Moorhead, MN, USA
Phone
2182995372
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,447,108
Expenses
$1,482,881
Assets
$698,120
Liabilities
$235,874

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Shelly Carlson - President (Mayor of Moorhead)
  • Keri Johnson - 1st VP (Councilmember of St. Peter)
  • Rick Blake - 2nd VP (Councilmember of Grand Rapids)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, CGMC, cities are dedicated to a strong Greater Minnesota. Our mission is to develop viable, progressive communities for businesses and families through strong economic growth and good local government. We support fair property taxes, good land use planning, sensible environmental regulation, a balanced transportation system, and effective economic development tools to meet that goal.

What it reported doing in 2024

Legislative, legal, educational, media, and other services focused on common issues that affect Greater Minnesota cities including property taxes, local sales tax, capital investment and infrastructure, and emergency medical services. We worked with legislators and other city groups to advocate for provisions related to Tax Increment Financing, sales tax exemptions, and revising the process of local sales tax authorization, but none of these provisions were in the final tax bill. Together with a coalition of other supporters, we secured $24 million in emergency aid for rural EMS.

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 96% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.5%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.5%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.47; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.5% of revenue deployed · 94.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 27 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.