Fire Dept Relief Assn St James

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411369981
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
St James, MN, USA
Phone
5073277178
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Reported finances

Revenue
$218,029
Expenses
$23,493
Assets
$1,263,952
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL WOLNER (PRESIDENT)
  • JOSHUA MOLL (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH THULIEN (TREASURER): $575 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL WOLNER (PRESIDENT): $500 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL ROTERT (SECRETARY): $250 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide retirement benefits to volunteer firefighters. To raise money to support the purchase of fire fighting equipment for the city of st. James fire department.

What it reported doing in 2025

Project contribution, equipment, uniforms, meetings, training, dues and other expenditures made for the benefit of the city of st james fire department and firefighters. There were 30 active and 4 inactive firefighters during 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 27
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 9.5%; rating input score 10
  • Program expense ratio: 65.1%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 89.2%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 53.8; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.6%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 9.5% of revenue deployed · 65.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $15K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $575 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • 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.

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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.