Explore La Crosse

Legal name: La Crosse Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391218086
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2016
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
La Crosse, WI, US
Phone
1-800-658-9424
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$284,996
Expenses
$287,348
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRENT JOHNSTON (PRESIDENT)
  • PAT STEPHENS- LEFT 1916 (PRESIDENT ELECT)
  • PAT STEPHENS-FROM 1916 TO 060116 (FORMER INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • DAVE CLEMENTS-DATE LEFT 1916 (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETA)
  • AJ FRELS-DATE STARTED 6116 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAT STEPHENS-FROM 1916 TO 060116 (FORMER INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $38,500 total reported compensation
  • AJ FRELS-DATE STARTED 6116 (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $5,052 total reported compensation
  • DAVE CLEMENTS-DATE LEFT 1916 (FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETA): $1,573 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Explore La Crosse strives to create a thriving and inclusive community, where tourism enriches lives and uplifts all who visit or call this region home.

What it reported doing in 2016

Create visitor guide publication to promote area attractions annually. Create convention and motor coach publication every other year to attract conventions, groups and motor coach tours to the area.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.8%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -20.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $38K · 28 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2011 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.