He Sapa Otipi Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
842500396
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Rapid City, SD, USA
Phone
6059390004
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$172,492
Expenses
$385,364
Assets
$682,841
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Valeriah Big Eagle (President)
  • Ira Taken Alive (Vice President)
  • Cante Heart (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cante Heart (Executive Director): $101,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

He Sapa Otipi restores hope, healing, and sovereignty by reclaiming Indigenous lifeways and uplifting the mind, body, and spirit of our people through cultural strength and community care.

What it reported doing in 2025

In Lakota, He Sapa translates to "Sacred Black Hills." Otipi translates to "The Center." He Sapa Otipi is organized and operated exclusively to revitalize traditional kinships and foster a sense of belonging within cultural wellness and community. The purpose of He Sapa Otipi is: A. To build a community center that provides a safe place for reconnecting Lakota well-being to character, ceremony, community, cultural awareness, and identity. B. To work as a hub of resources to educate and engage native populations, as well as to celebrate the richness of our shared values and heritage. C. To encourage a broader culture of unity and respect within the international indigenous community, and promote healing between native and non-native peoples for the betterment of the present and future generations. D. To be a dedicated and evolving voice, and we advocate for the best interest of all people, and welcome peoples from all nations. E. To promote workforce development for transitioning community members by overcoming obstacles to employment. He Sapa Otipi is actively working toward bringing an indigenous-hosted community center to Rapid City (Miniluzahan Otunwahe). The organization is currently engaged in an ongoing community outreach, raising funds for the construction, and co-design process that centers the voice of the Rapid City indigenous community, this process includes community surveys, interviews, talking circles, activities, and workshops.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 52.7%; rating input score 53
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -123.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.2%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -53.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 52.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $203K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.