Garretson Volunteer Fire Department

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463033412
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Garretson, SD, USA
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Reported finances

Revenue
$277,642
Expenses
$132,695
Assets
$1,201,750
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tad Heitkamp (Vice President)
  • Todd Fink (President)
  • Levi Schmid (Vice President)
  • John Shape (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tad Heitkamp (Vice President): $1,200 total reported compensation
  • Todd Fink (President): $599 total reported compensation
  • Levi Schmid (Vice President): $599 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 Garretson Volunteer Fire Department serves the City of Garretson and surrounding communities in Eastern South Dakota. The Department is made up completely of volunteer fireman and is responsible for roughly 100 square miles within its primary coverage area.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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 total spending goes to programs. 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: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 46
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.7%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • 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: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 52.2%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.06; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.4% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.7% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $133K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.