Dakota Business Lending
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 450443523
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Fargo, ND, USA
- Phone
- 7012938892
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,624,392
- Expenses
- $3,285,640
- Assets
- $8,880,946
- Liabilities
- $4,649,972
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- STEVE M DUSEK (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- STEVE M DUSEK (PRESIDENT & CEO): $305,720 total reported compensation
- ANN PETERSON (VP/LOAN OPERATIONS): $172,938 total reported compensation
- ROXANNE PFLIIGER (SENIOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT/COMME): $136,576 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Dakota business lending is a small business resource that drives economic growth by:1. Providing unique financing opportunities2. Positively impacting the communities we serve3. Educating and guiding small businesses4. Building partnerships that add value and creating an environment where our team members thrive.
What it reported doing in 2024
Intermediary relending program 2&3, 0 loans funded in 2024, 66 loans funded to date. Borrowers in rural communities (population under 50,000) may benefit from a fixed-rate, 5-15-year loan up to $250,000 to finance a new or existing business, purchase equipment or real estate or use as working capital. Health-related irp loans are also available, as dakota business lending has established a partnership with areas lenders and small businesses as well as the u.s. Department of agriculture to offer the intermediary relending program (irp).
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 82% 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
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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 26
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.3%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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: 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: -25.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.7; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.3% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $306K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.