Headwaters Relief Organization Incorporated
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 261922135
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
- Location
- Golden Valley, MN, USA
- Phone
- 7634505000
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $156,021
- Expenses
- $70,033
- Assets
- $131,344
- Liabilities
- $1,381
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
People named in this filing
- DANIEL LEITNER (COB)
- TONI THULEN (TREASURER)
- MARY ANDERSON (DIRECTOR)
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
Headwaters seeks to inspire passion to serve others. We forge connections between those who are being served, the headwaters team, and the community at large. We work to ensure that every volunteer, regardless of age, background, skills, or experience feels valued and motivated to continue to serve others.
What it reported doing in 2024
Headwaters relief organization is a non-profit disaster relief collaboration of volunteers that supports the needs of families and communities after disasters. Headwaters provides public health, psychosocial support, medical services, disaster debris clean-up and rebuilding in partnership with other organizations. Their work is local, national, and international. Headwaters began as a grassroots volunteer effort providing disaster relief in 2005 in response to hurricane katrina in new orleans. Ninth ward, one of the most devastated areas of the city. Initially assisting with gutting and interior debris clean-up. As more volunteers joined in, they developed partnerships with other organizations and moved into rebuilding as well. In 2007, headwaters' volunteers comitted to long-term support of the ninth ward community where a walk-in mental health resource center was opened, which is still providing services today. Headwaters has responded to tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, and man-made disasters, providing public health, psycosocial, and medical support as well as clean-up and rebuilding. Nationally, the organization has responded to disasters in more than 30 states as well as the islands of st. John's and puerto rico.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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 most voting board members are independent. 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: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 74
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 36.7%; rating input score 37
- Program expense ratio: 81.7%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $35.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 55.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.88; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -12.1% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 36.7% of revenue deployed · 81.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $57K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.