Dakota Rural Action

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460398656
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brookings, SD, USA
Phone
6056975204
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,474,978
Expenses
$1,014,105
Assets
$1,594,424
Liabilities
$78,679

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Nick Nemec (Member)
  • Ed Fischback (Member)
  • Karen Moore (Member)

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

Locally based, grassroot, membership organization of rural people whose purpose is to work together to save rural communities, and to conduct non-partisan research, information and educational activities to protect the agricultural economy and lifestyle of South Dakota.

What it reported doing in 2024

Dakota Rural Action's public education and outreach work.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.1%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 77.5%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.2%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.1% of revenue deployed · 77.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $786K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.