Iowa Barn Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391899210
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Nevada, IA, USA
Phone
5152253307
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$237,028
Expenses
$184,003
Assets
$394,490
Liabilities
$176,448

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JACK SMITH (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • OBER ANDERSON (SECRETARY)
  • DAVE AUSTIN (DIRECTOR)
  • JIM BOEDING (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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1997, the Iowa barn foundation is dedicated to preserving Iowa's rural buildings, symbols of Iowa's early agricultural heritage. The organization works to preserve Iowa's agricultural history and endangered barns by educating people in Iowa - and beyond - about our rural heritage and the importance of barn preservation.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization reviews and approves grant applications for the historic preservation of barns. Grant recipients must prove fulfillment of all grant requirements before the grant is fully funded.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 70% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 96%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $128.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 22.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.14; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75% of revenue deployed · 96% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $177K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.