Help the Helpless

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411878721
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6128748550
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,885,164
Expenses
$1,270,400
Assets
$3,118,029
Liabilities
$2,176

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FATHER ROBERT ALTIER (PRESIDENT)
  • DAVID KRAUSE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • TERESA TAGGART (DIRECTOR): $27,144 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Help the helpless is dedicated to improving the lives of abandoned, handicapped, deaf, and poor children in the countries of india and ecuador. We also help poor families and the elderly who are in need. The non-profit is chaired by father altier (a catholic priest) and staffed mainly by volunteers from Minnesota's twin cities metro area.

What it reported doing in 2025

Help the helpless raises funds and supports the missionary work of the home of the mother catholic order in ecuador. The children and families are provided with clothing, food, education, shelter and the teachings of the catholic church. Offering love, motivation and educational opportunities, we seek to help children thrive and become self-sufficient young adults, and support the elderly with dignity and needed assistance.the servant sisters minister to the poor in many ways, both spiritually and physically. They operate four soup kitchens, help secure funding to sponsor children's education, provide monthly food baskets for families in need, offer medical care free of charge, fund wells and facilitate clean water options, provide microloans to start family businesses, and more.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 96% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.5%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $87.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.6%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.45; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.5% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $27K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.