Dodge County Fair Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
390245395
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Beaver Dam, WI, USA
Phone
9208870371
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fairs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,155,668
Expenses
$1,065,985
Assets
$1,684,578
Liabilities
$161,239

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DOUG NINMANN (PRESIDENT)
  • DALE NORENBERG (VICE-PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DOUG NINMANN (PRESIDENT): $11,934 total reported compensation
  • MARY HANEFELD (CO-SECRETARY): $5,900 total reported compensation
  • SALLY SCHOENIKE (CO-SECRETARY): $5,900 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To organize and conduct the annual county fair in dodge county Wisconsin. Manage leasing of facilities for non fair events.

What it reported doing in 2024

The dodge county fair association is a state of Wisconsin corporation formed for the purpose of operating the fairgrounds, which includes the organization and operation of the annual county fair. The fairgrounds is presently located three miles east of the city of beaver dam on 40 acres of land owned by the corporation. The 2025 dodge county fair event was held from august 13th through august 17th. The county fair is a festival of music, food, and youth education that entertains approximately 50,000 patrons annually. This is the areas main summer event with three nights of concerts on an outdoor stage that is surrounded by youth educational and animal exhibits, a carnival, food vendors, and commercial exhibit areas. The outdoor main stage concert venue, which is included in the price of admission to the fair, includes nationally touring musical acts of chris lane, jameson rodgers & night ranger. Other entertainment throughout the fairgrounds included small stage musical acts and shows such as nick's kid show, a custom chain saw carver, wild world of animals, and pig races, farm and various small animals, youth and commercial exhibits, a carnival which included rides and games on the midway, and finally many food and beverage vendors. The final day of the fair is highlighted by the smash em crash em demolition derby at the grandstand.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 76%; rating input score 76; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.8%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.58; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.5% of revenue deployed · 91.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $976K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.