Finlandia Foundation National Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
956098250
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Pasadena, CA, USA
Phone
6267952081
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,183,210
Expenses
$1,592,738
Assets
$11,875,107
Liabilities
$20,096

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL HALME (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
  • PAIVI TETRI (PRESIDENT)
  • THOMAS FLANAGAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS FLANAGAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $185,114 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

As the premier finnish-american cultural organization, finlandia foundation national champions a vibrant finnish-american heritage and legacy that builds bridges between modern finland and the united states, enabling people of all backgrounds to share in the traditions, values, and spirit of finland and finnish america.

What it reported doing in 2024

Finlandia foundation awards funds to projects related to finnish-american and finnish history, preservation, arts and culture. In 2024 the organization granted $141,118 to organizations and $106,011 to individuals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 20.7%; rating input score 21
  • Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $94.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 57.4%; rating input score 57; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 77.8%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.46; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 33.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 51.8% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 20.7% of revenue deployed · 71.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $185K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 21/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.