Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363501477
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6516421904
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,495,765
Expenses
$4,830,533
Assets
$7,485,502
Liabilities
$1,368,031

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nonoko Sato (President & CEO)
  • Kari Aanestad (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nonoko Sato (President & CEO): $204,875 total reported compensation
  • Kari Aanestad (Vice President): $153,872 total reported compensation
  • John Wurm (Organization Development & Engagement Director): $133,408 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 Minnesota Council of Nonprofits informs, promotes, connects and strengthens individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education: MCN strives to provide educational events, networking opportunities, and publications that center equity and respond to the expressed needs, interests, and experiences of individual organizations to support the growth, health, and future of the sector and its people. In 2025, MCN sponsored approximately 97 public events with over 9,120 total attendees. The majority of MCN's workshops were offered virtually in response to member feedback and choice. Our 2025 Annual Conference was held with registration across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors of 1,300 people. The Annual Conference, Nonprofit Leadership Conference, and Nonprofit Fundraising Conference each sold out. Our Finance and Sustainability Conference remained virtual and had 447 attendees. Other paid and free events focused on a wide range of topics including voter engagement, equity and justice, cybersecurity, mental health and inclusive practices in the workplace, board governance and financial literacy, storytelling for successful communications and fundraising, effective and healthy leadership, and more. In 2025, MCN continued its role as a researcher and publisher, releasing the annual 2025 Minnesota Nonprofit Economy Report, 2025 Current Conditions of Minnesota's Nonprofit Sector, Minnesota Grants Directory, and Nonprofit News, a newsletter providing information on sector trends and resources. Through its educational programming, MCN worked with hundreds of people from other nonprofits and capacity building groups to bolster interactive learning for Minnesota's nonprofit sector.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 68.6%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.1%; rating input score 99; 43rd 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; 63rd 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: 25.6%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53% of revenue deployed · 68.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $205K · 26 people listed · 4 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: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.