Excelsior Firefighters Relief Assn

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
416039759
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Shorewood, MN, USA
Phone
9524018801
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$533,567
Expenses
$430,507
Assets
$10,864,898
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lee Christopher (President)
  • Kyle Green (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lee Christopher (President): $2,200 total reported compensation
  • Kyle Green (Vice President): $2,200 total reported compensation
  • Brian Kuhnly (Treasurer): $2,200 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Association communicates fire awareness to city residents and receives and manages funds that provide retirement and disability benefits to firefighters.

What it reported doing in 2025

To manage the Relief Association's pension and benefits, to advance fire prevention and education, to support camaraderie among firefighters, their families, and the community, and to provide relief to those in need.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Member-benefit provider. The nonprofit used 88% of its reported program spending for member benefits.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 94.7%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 96%; rating input score 96; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.3%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 25.24; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.1% of revenue deployed · 94.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $408K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.