Minnesota Federation of County Fairs

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410731480
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Chisago City, MN, USA
Phone
2189277361
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$294,036
Expenses
$274,016
Assets
$48,393
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN CARLSON (PRESIDENT)
  • CAROL SCHUMANN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • STEVE HALLAN (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • DON MERKENS (PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNE DE ST CROIX (EXECUTIVE SECRETARY): $6,790 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER PENZENSTADLER (TREASURER): $4,240 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER ROUILLARD-TICHY (DIRECTOR): $540 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Promotion & education for Minnesota county fairs

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 74% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.9%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 71.7%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.9% of revenue deployed · 71.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $7K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.