Great Expectations Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205931949
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Grand Marais, MN, USA
Phone
2183700777
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Grantmaking Foundations N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$459,256
Expenses
$295,762
Assets
$4,865,282
Liabilities
$3,883,076

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

People named in this filing

  • KAY COSTELLO (SECRETARY)
  • HOWARD HEDSTROM (CHAIR)
  • DAN JOHNSON (MEMBER AT LA)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the great expectations foundation is to provide financial support, leadership support and community support for the great expectations school and its public supported affiliates.

What it reported doing in 2024

The foundation owns the land and building rented for the exclusive use of the great expectations school, a public charter school with approximately 60 students grades k-8.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% 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 - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.4%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 95.9%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $72.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.6%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 16.45; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.8; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.4% of revenue deployed · 95.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $284K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.