Minnesota Rural Education Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411878133
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Moose Lake, MN, USA
Phone
3207626574
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$873,573
Expenses
$825,800
Assets
$1,450,705
Liabilities
$67,956

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeff Drake (President Elect)
  • Boyd Bradbury (President)
  • Michelle Rinke Koch (Past President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Judy Moeller (Director): $650 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 act as a voice to strengthen education in Greater Minnesota through leadership in legislative actions. The goals of the Organization regarding legislative action include: being a key player in education policy, continually redefining rural education, presenting a positive and achievable program to the legislature, and strengthening education at the State level.

What it reported doing in 2024

Rural education advocacy for Greater Minnesota and 240 independent school district members, 115 associate members and 1 individual member through legislative monitoring, year-round communications, and an annual professional development conference that engages and recognizes educational leaders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.76; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.1%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 77.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $643K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $650 · 26 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $148K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.