Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
426060414
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cedar Falls, IA, USA
Phone
3192879106
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$37,662,471
Expenses
$10,927,519
Assets
$197,873,864
Liabilities
$8,903,524

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAYE M ENGLIN (PRESIDENT &)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAYE M ENGLIN (PRESIDENT &): $271,156 total reported compensation
  • LIZ A KURTT (VP OF FIN &): $151,055 total reported compensation
  • ANGELA WIDNER (VP COMMUNITY): $131,658 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 inspire people and connect resources to enrich our communities. The community foundation carries out this mission across its 20 county region by responding to current and future charitable needs of the communities it serves. The foundation responds by supporting nonprofits doing good in their communities through grantmaking and by helping individuals, families and businesses establish endowment funds to create long-term positive impact on their communities and the causes they are passionate about. The community foundation also acts as partner and convener through collaboration with community and philanthropic leaders to address the challenges in our region.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation responds by supporting nonprofits doing good in their communities through grantmaking and by helping individuals, families and businesses establish endowment funds to create long-term positive impact on their communities and the causes they are passionate about. Grants are distributed to nonprofits and government entities across our region, are ratified by the foundation's board of directors and are made in the following areas: art and culture, community betterment, education and youth betterment, environment and animal welfare, health, and human service.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 71%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.11; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 81.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $271K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.