Minnesota State Colleges & Universities Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237003904
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2014
Forms available
Form 990 2014
Location
Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6512011800
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,844
Expenses
$625,069
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOYCE Y PETSCH (SECRETARY): $12,626 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2014. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.the Minnesota state colleges and universities foundation serves as an integral partner with institutional foundations to advocate for the system and raise and distribute funds to meet the needs of the Minnesota state colleges and universities system. Its goals are to collect and share information on best practices for raising funds and managing a foundation; raise funds in mutually beneficial partnerships with institutional foundations; provide advocacy for the Minnesota state colleges and universities system; provide discretionary funds for the office of chancellor and the board of trustees; serve as steward of donor funds in the foundation; and support the board of trustees in its pursuit of new alternative funding and resources.

What it reported doing in 2014

Scholarships - the foundation approves and disburses scholarships to students attending one of the state colleges and universities. The scholarships given include the robert l. Carothers distinguished writers award, elizabeth pegues scholarship, john kenneth niemi memorial tool scholarship fund, friends scholarship, irja s. Pratt endowed scholarship, mccormick leadership scholarship, nortech scholarship, and trustee emeritus robert erickson part-time student scholarship.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 5
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 59th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -2,761.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -51.3% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -16.6% per year; rating input score 0; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -24% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $589K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2009 to 2014
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.