Elevate Minnesota

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812876030
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Rosemont, MN, USA
Phone
6127912585
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,114,354
Expenses
$1,238,291
Assets
$1,063,990
Liabilities
$240,714

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Jason George (Chair)
  • Dave Schrunk (Treasurer)
  • Barry Davies (Secretary)

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 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate the public about the history, purpose and importance of Minnesota unions working in construction, truck driving, and other industrial operations to solidify public support for unions and show the public who the members of unions are and what they do.

What it reported doing in 2017

Elevate Minnesota is a coalition of 80,000 private sector, blue collar workers from 16 local labor unions. The organization publishes reports and articles about Minnesota unions that are distributed widely using both traditional and online media. The organization facilitates public education campaigns and exhibits about the importance of unions and union members for a state's local economy.Elevate MN advertises on the radio, TV and online to promote the value of the partner Union organizations to the state of Minnesota. We have seen increases in public awareness of our Unions demonstrated by online statistics and other measurements. We have also tracked engagement monthly to monitor progress - we get weekly reports via email and also review information at our quarterly board meetings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.1%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 110.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -15.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2016 to 2017
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.