Minnesota Humanities Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 411322769
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- St Paul, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6517724291
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $30,735,557
- Expenses
- $14,629,871
- Assets
- $43,958,165
- Liabilities
- $1,140,711
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
29 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Kevin Lindsey (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Kevin Lindsey (CEO): $257,170 total reported compensation
- Aby John (COO): $152,436 total reported compensation
- MayKao Fredericks (CHO): $140,489 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To spark positive change by increasing collective understanding of ourselves, our communities, and our histories through shared experiences.
What it reported doing in 2024
Minnesota Humanities Center Educational Programs: The humanities help us understand ourselves, our communities, and our histories. By increasing collective understanding, we can spark positive change and create a more just society.MHC curates stories, co-creates engagement opportunities, increases knowledge, and produces resources in the areas of education, civic renewal, immersive experiences, and public programming to catalyze ideas. Their grantmaking enables them to strengthen the bonds between us, celebrate our past and traditions, tap into the best within ourselves, and educate the next generation of leaders. For fiscal year 2025, MHC curated over 145 programs with over 17,000 attendees. MHC provides programming across the state, including the Sketches of Minnesota program, as well as educational programs with local schools. In addition, we observed our history and how intertwined it is with our present with programs around Juneteenth and Bdote. We also celebrated the people that make up Minnesota, sharing stories from our veterans, women, and the cultures that make up Minnesota and its history. In addition, our organization granted over 16 million dollars over the biennium.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 93% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 62% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 82
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 43.9%; rating input score 44
- Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $295.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 98.1%; rating input score 98; 29th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 52.4%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 43.9% of revenue deployed · 91.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $13.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $257K · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $698K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 120 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 115 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.