Conservation Minnesota
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 412017329
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6127672444
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,005,077
- Expenses
- $2,298,981
- Assets
- $775,611
- Liabilities
- $218,580
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KATHERINE TEIKEN (PRESIDENT)
- PAUL AUSTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- PAUL AUSTIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $186,246 total reported compensation
- ANDREW GOLDMAN-GRAY (UPSTREAM DIRECTOR): $121,507 total reported compensation
- NELS P PAULSEN (POLICY DIRECTOR): $106,158 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Conservation Minnesota's mission is to turn our shared conservation values into state priorities and provide you with the information you need to make decisions for your family, community and future.
What it reported doing in 2024
Public education: conservation Minnesota provides credible, non-partisan information about current and emerging issues that affect public health, water quality, and Minnesota's great outdoors so that individual minnesotans can make informed decisions that protect our health and natural resources.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 64% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 63
- Transparency & Controls: 96
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.1%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 62%; rating input score 62
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- 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; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
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: -14.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.3%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 71.1% of revenue deployed · 62% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $186K · 23 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 6 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.