Friends of Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411763001
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Zimmerman, MN, USA
Rating
96
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Sanctuary, Refuge

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$111,568
Expenses
$35,982
Assets
$186,846

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carol Mertesdorf (President)
  • Bruce Galer (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Carol Mertesdorf (President)
  • Bruce Galer (Vice President)
  • Roger Leider (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Financially supporting the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge with funds and volunteers to help educate the public on the work of the refuge and assist with educational programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided funding for the design and construction of a 100 seat handicap accessible amphitheater. This included the design engineering excavation construction and finishing work. The amphitheater was built in coordination with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and per all federal specifications.The amphitheater will be used for the education of elementary age students who visit the refuge annually along with other opportunities as appropriate.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 67.7%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.19; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 54.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $392K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 6 of 7 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.