Minneapolis Nature Preschool
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 815373632
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6514850796
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Kindergarten, Preschool, Nursery School, Early Admissions
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $365,179
- Expenses
- $329,525
- Assets
- $207,793
- Liabilities
- $8,643
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Alyson Quinn (Director): $42,194 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cultivating the innate curiosity and wonder of young children through nature-based education in Minneapolis.
What it reported doing in 2024
Over the past year, Minneapolis Nature Preschool continued to advance its mission of providing a forest-based, play-centered early childhood program that nurtures childrens emotional, physical, social, and environmental development. Through daily outdoor learning in our 11.5-acre school forest, students engaged in an emergent, child-led curriculum grounded in seasonal rhythms, land stewardship, art, storytelling, and community building. In addition to our core preschool program, our summer camps, family engagement activities, and community events strengthened connections among children, families, and the natural world - preparing young learners not only for kindergarten, but to grow as caring, curious, and responsible stewards of their environment. Major accomplishments this year included our annual Give to the Max fundraising campaign and our virtual silent auction held during the Winter Celebration. We also hosted a beloved slate of community-building events: our Earth Day celebration with games, crafts, and conservation activities; our Annual Fall Reunion Camping Trip; and our first-ever Pumpkin Scavenger Hunt, which which quickly became a new favorite tradition.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 71% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.7%; rating input score 65
- Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $17.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.63; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 20% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 25.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64.7% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $236K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $42K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.