League of Women Voters of Minnesota Educ

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363300249
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6512245445
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$672,046
Expenses
$732,284
Assets
$1,124,882
Liabilities
$41,587

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA HELMER (PRESIDENT)
  • SUSAN CLARK (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • AMY CAUCUTT (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELLE WITTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHELLE WITTE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $133,780 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The league of women voters Minnesota a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization committed to civic engagement, with a mission to empower voters and defend democracy. Membership is open to all genders age 16 and up. Through our partnership with lwv united states and 33 local leagues in communities across the state of Minnesota, we encourage informed and active participation in government, register and inform voters, educate the community through civic events and candidate forums, work to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influence public policy through education and advocacy. Lwv Minnesota and our 3,000+ members work throughout the year to educate, advocate, and empower our communities to be informed citizens and to act to fulfill our program for action, which outlines key positions on issues such as voting rights, immigration reform, environmental preservation, public education, health care, and election laws.

What it reported doing in 2024

Lwv Minnesota works to empower voters through our nonpartisan voter service programs, including voter registration and engagement, our vote411 voter guide, candidate forums, and issue education. We also work to defend democracy through our program for action and issue advocacy at the local and state levels. Lwvmn's current programs also include: high school voter collaborative and youth civic engagement fellowship program; voter registration at naturalization ceremonies; climate change task force; lobby & observer corps; countering election mis- and disinformation; providing training and support to our 33 local leagues through monthly calls and webinars, our annual convention, and our august academy and january jumpstart sessions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.7%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 64.8%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.54; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.2% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.7% of revenue deployed · 64.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $474K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $134K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.