ECMC Group
Legal name: Ecmc Group Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 411991995
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Phone
- 6512210566
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Management & Technical Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $501,325,316
- Expenses
- $280,995,832
- Assets
- $5,676,831,671
- Liabilities
- $4,364,904,671
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
33 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DANIEL FISHER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
- JEREMY WHEATON (FORMER PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DANIEL FISHER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $1,503,752 total reported compensation
- GREGORY VAN GUILDER (FORMER CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER): $1,306,300 total reported compensation
- MARTIN SCANLON (CFO & TREASURER): $1,011,175 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
ECMC Group is a nonprofit corporation focused on helping students succeed. Headquartered in Minneapolis, ECMC Group and its family of companies provide financial tools and services, as well as funding for innovative programs to help students achieve their academic and professional goals. ECMC Foundation is a nationally focused foundation whose mission is to improve higher education for career success among underserved populations through evidence-based innovation. It is one of several affiliates under the ECMC Group enterprise based in Minneapolis. ECMC Foundation makes investments to remove barriers to postsecondary completion; build the capacity of organizations, institutions and systems; and transform the postsecondary ecosystem using a spectrum of funding structures, including strategic grantmaking and program-related investments, to support both nonprofit and for-profit...
What it reported doing in 2024
Loan portfolio servicing: ecmc group, inc. And oakdale student loan funding, llc (oakdale), a wholly owned subsidiary of ecmc group, inc., have eligible lender trust (elt) agreements with manufacturers and traders trust company. Manufacturers and traders trust company serves as the elt for ecmc group, inc. And oakdale. Through the elts, ecmc group, inc. And oakdale purchase federal family education loan program (ffelp) rehabilitated student loans from educational credit management corporation, a related entity, and other guaranty agencies to ensure that student loan borrowers can realize the full benefits afforded them under 34 cfr sec. 682.405. Patriot student loan capital, llc (patriot) has interim elt agreements with manufacturers and traders trust company. Ecmc group student loan trust 2016-1 (trust 2016-1), ecmc group student loan trust 2017-1 (trust 2017-1), ecmc group student loan trust 2017-2 (trust 2017-2), ecmc group student loan trust 2018-1 (trust 2018-1), ecmc group student loan trust 2018-2 (trust 2018-2), ecmc group student loan trust 2019-1 (trust 2019-1), ecmc group student loan trust 2020-1 (trust 2020-1), ecmc group student loan trust 2020-2 (trust 2020-2), ecmc group student loan trust 2020-3 (trust 2020-3) and ecmc group student loan trust 2021-1 (trust 2021-1), collectively (the trusts), have elt agreements with manufacturers and traders trust company. Manufacturers and traders trust company serves as the interim elt for patriot and as elt for the trusts listed above. Through the interim elt, patriot purchases ffelp rehabilitated student loans from ecmc group, inc. And oakdale and resells the loans through the elt to the trusts. The trusts issued class a notes secured by the respective student loan portfolios.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 56% for direct work, 42% for grants, and 2% for affiliated organizations.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 79
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.9%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 89.6%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 36th 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: 43.9%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.2; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 75.9% of revenue deployed · 89.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $251.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.5M · 33 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $12.2M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 38 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 54 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.