Great Falls Development Authority

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810465605
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Great Falls, MT, USA
Phone
4067502119
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Small Business Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,127,676
Expenses
$4,119,294
Assets
$39,178,058
Liabilities
$11,612,893

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

Leadership & pay

45 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRETT DONEY (PRESIDENT)
  • JOLENE SCHALPER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRETT DONEY (PRESIDENT): $278,453 total reported compensation
  • JOLENE SCHALPER (VICE PRESIDENT): $142,233 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gfda's mission is to grow diverse economic opportunities that enhance quality of life. Gfda seeks to transform great falls, Montana and the surrounding rural and tribal region into a thriving economy that raises the standard of living, particularly for underserved populations and economically distressed areas, and creates greater economic opportunity for people, entrepreneurs, and businesses.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization is a certified community development financial institution that provides gap and bridge financing to entrepreneurs, businesses, developers and non-profits who cannot secure all the financing they need from conventional sources. The organization has thirteen revolving loan funds capitalized from a variety of public and private sources. To date, the organization has made 209 loans totaling $72,403,010 that have made possible total investment of over $350,000,000, creating thousands of jobs, a number of new businesses and renovated properties, and hundreds of new apartments. The organization manages a separate non-profit, high plains financial, that is a sba-certified community development corporation providing sba 504 loans statewide across Montana.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 80% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 42.3%; rating input score 42
  • Program expense ratio: 93.8%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 54.9%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.51; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 42.3% of revenue deployed · 93.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 43 of 43 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $278K · 45 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.