Heartland Center for Leadership Development

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
470692706
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
Phone
4024747667
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public, Societal Benefit

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,803
Expenses
$69,081
Assets
$82,804
Liabilities
$54,312

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CRAIG SCHROEDER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CRAIG SCHROEDER (PRESIDENT): $27,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Rural area leadership training.

What it reported doing in 2025

Unl hydroponics - to educate students and the public about sustainable food production systems that can help address future food security challenges.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 59.4%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -36%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.2; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.66; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 39.1%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.1% per year; rating input score 0; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.5% per year; rating input score 0; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67% of revenue deployed · 59.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $41K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $27K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.