Deer River Volunteer Firemen's Relief Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
416037146
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Deer River, MN, USA
Phone
2183982328
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$128,390
Expenses
$53,460
Assets
$896,122
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kevin Baumgarner (President)
  • Josh Tyler (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brandon Berndt (Treasurer): $1,000 total reported compensation
  • Kevin Baumgarner (President): $600 total reported compensation
  • Jess Huju (Secretary): $400 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 provide retirement relief and assist the City of Deer River To provide retirement relief and other benefits to its members. It is a governmental entity that receives and manages money to provide retirement benefits for individuals

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide retirement and general welfare benefits to its members and the community as a whole. The Association helps the City of Deer River in training and maintaining staff to assist with fire fighting and first responder duties by providing retirement benefit assistance.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Member-benefit provider. The nonprofit used 61% of its reported program spending for member benefits.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. 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: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 30.4%; rating input score 30
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 58.4%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.76; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 30.4% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $44K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 13 of 14 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.