Mentor Iowa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237329212
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Urbandale, IA, USA
Phone
5152779797
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$246,951
Expenses
$246,536
Assets
$506,443
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SCOTT FARRELL (PRESIDENT)
  • JAIME BLUE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MARTIN LESTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARTIN LESTER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $118,417 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 mission of mentor Iowa is to provide trained volunteer mentors to at-risk children in need of a positive adult role model. We will do this by working in partnership with the children, their families and the community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Mentoring- program matching adult volunteers with children in the polk county Iowa juvenile justice system - approximately 175 adult volunteers, approximately 115 children currently matched. Volunteers offer a unique one-to-one mentoring relationship with the goal of giving neglected, abused, and forgotten children additional guidance and attention.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.2%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 80.6%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.05; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 48%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.2% of revenue deployed · 80.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $199K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.