Council of Great Lakes Governors Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411427529
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington Heights, IL, USA
Phone
3124070177
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,776,803
Expenses
$3,767,372
Assets
$3,720,905
Liabilities
$1,736,495

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID C NAFTZGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID C NAFTZGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $262,428 total reported compensation
  • PETER JOHNSON (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $201,372 total reported compensation
  • ZOE L MUNRO (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $152,165 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 council is devoted to working cooperatively on public policy issues common to member states. The benefits of a regional approach to addressing the various challenges of the great lakes states is emphasized.

What it reported doing in 2024

Economic development: the governors and premiers collaborate through the council in a variety of ways to promote economic growth and job creation. Among the council's major initiatives are: international trade promotion - the council oversees shared trade offices in multiple foreign countries and regions - australia, brazil, canada, chile, china, germany, india, mexico, south east asia, south africa, south korea, united arab emirates, japan, and united kingdom. Their mission is to assist small to mid-size companies in the participating member states in exporting their goods and services tothese vital and emerging markets. In addition, each year, the council organizes multi-state/provincial trade missions to assist small to medium sized companies from the region to export their products and services. Tourism - the great lakes USA (glusa) conducts international marketing and sales for its participating member states in china, the united kingdom/ireland and the german-speaking countries of germany, austria, and switzerland. Separately, cruise the great lakes markets the region to potential cruise passengers. Maritime transportation - the council is working to help rejuvenate this critical component of the regional transportation network, an important step toward improving the region's economic competitiveness. Great lakes impact investment platform - the council, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary project team, developed the great lakes impact investment platform as a new structure to encourage environmentally sustainable economic growth in the great lakes states and provinces. The platform features projects intended to deliver demonstrable impact and revitalize the region's waters, while also aimed to generate competitive, market-based financial returns.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 - 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $46.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 7th 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: Limited
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.47; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.8% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $262K · 13 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.