Iowa Institute for Cooperatives

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
420711488
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ames, IA, USA
Phone
5152922667
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,286,943
Expenses
$1,225,471
Assets
$1,067,007
Liabilities
$59,896

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DOYLE ANDERSON (PRESIDENT)
  • BRIAN LARSEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DR BOBBY MARTENS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR BOBBY MARTENS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $314,673 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW EDDY (DIRECTOR OF COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT): $201,789 total reported compensation
  • MEGAN CARLSON (LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR): $115,376 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The objective, powers, and purposes of this association shall be to associate the members thereof together into a society for the purpose of promoting the interests and welfare of Iowa cooperatives by any appropriate means but specifically by encouraging, (continue) sponsoring, promoting, and conducting educational activities designed to bring about a better understanding of the theory, principles, philosophy, purposes, possibilities, and limitations, and the organizational and operational methods and practices that are distinctive of or peculiar to the cooperative type of business organization, the objective being to develop a better understanding of the nature and purpose of cooperatives, so that people might more fully realize the benefits and advantages of cooperative activities, that sound public policies and attitudes toward cooperatives might be developed and maintained, and that the sound growth and development of cooperatives might be promoted.

What it reported doing in 2025

Cooperatives provide a proven business model that has fostered economic progress in Iowa for decades. The Iowa institute for cooperatives (iic) has been lighting the way for cooperatives across the state since 1951.our members come from a variety of industries, including agriculture, credit unions, rural electric, rural telephone, farm credit, petroleum, and more. We develop educational and training programs for our members, provide timely news updates, and guide legislative actions that build upon the strength of the cooperative system. We also promote new cooperative development and value-added production.cooperatives also rely on us for special projects, including:(continue) - assistance with board retreats, long-range planning, mergers, consolidations, acquisitions, and corporate restructuring. - resources to help develop new cooperatives, including initial start-up plans, feasibility studies, project coordination, and results analysis. - cooperative benchmarking that provides timely updates to financial performance benchmarks for grain and farm supply cooperatives throughout the midwest.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.4%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 52%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.4% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $315K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.