Finnish Center Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237246811
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Farmington Hills, MI, USA
Phone
2484786939
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$258,337
Expenses
$208,890
Assets
$608,240
Liabilities
$10,279

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINA LOVGREN (TREASURER): $9,479 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The finnish center association is dedicated to promoting the preservation of the finnish and finnish-american culture by offering its members a wide variety of opportunity to immerse themselves in the finnish culture. In order to continue the long-standing finnish focus on education, collegiate scholarships and educational grants are made available on an annual basis.

What it reported doing in 2024

Language classes, weaving, folk dancing, singing, cooking, and drama instruction. Folk dancing, singing and cooking done regularly during the year. Folkdancing, singing and cooking done on a regular basis, cultural holiday celebrations, such as vappu (celebration of spring), juhannus (midsummer), pikkujoulu (xmas) and finnish independence as well as scandinavian holiday market.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 63% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.1%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.91; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $160K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $9K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.