Idealware Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203819456
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
2076137313
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Consumer Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$378,116
Expenses
$426,135
Assets
$47,376
Liabilities
$67,185

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • J MCCRAY (PRESIDENT)
  • LEON WILSON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KAREN GRAHAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN GRAHAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $101,504 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Idealware provides impartial, thoroughly researched, and easy to

What it reported doing in 2017

Education and outreach: through webinars, online courses, conference appearances and customized workshops, idealware provided training to 5000 individuals in 2017. Our training is based on our unbiased research and is carefully designed to ensure that we're providing both the strategic information and the practical advice non-profits need to make effective technology decisions. Some highlights include a new seven-part series on online communications, a new e-learning unit on text messaging for non-profits, a keynote address at the international sektor 3.0 conference in poland, a feature episode on non-profit radio, and an audience survey to improve our understanding of audience needs and preferences.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -12.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.42; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.8%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.1% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.3% of revenue deployed · 79.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $337K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $102K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2011 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.