Eden Prairie Local News

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
854248265
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Eden Prairie, MN, USA
Phone
9522408834
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Media, Communications Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$272,416
Expenses
$198,411
Assets
$131,821
Liabilities
$15,635

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Schewe (President - CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeff Strate (Director): $720 total reported compensation
  • Ben Hymans (Chief Technology Officer): $660 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 serve our community with trustworthy reporting compelling stories and news you can use - anytime anywhere.

What it reported doing in 2024

Eden Prairie Local News EPLN has evolved from an all-volunteer startup in 2020 to a growing community news source. It currently employs one full-time and three part-time staff 2.25 full-time equivalents consisting of two co-editors and two reporters. They are assisted by freelance reporters and volunteers. EPLNs mission is to provide unbiased local news and special interest articles for Eden Prairie residents workers and those interested in the area. The online subscriber count has increased by 18% to 3,920. In the year ending June 30 2025 EPLN produced 1,184 articles with contributions from 52 writers. This content including stories event updates and more was accessed through email social media and the EPLN website which garnered 1.8 million page views a 33% rise from the previous year. Additionally EPLN distributed a 2024 Voter Guide to 37,000 households in Eden Prairie and southern Minnetonka before the November general election. These journalistic endeavors are sustained by EPLNs fundraising initiatives grants and volunteer support.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 27.2%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 33.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 53.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $185K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $720 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.