Minnesota Valley Action Council

Legal name: Minnesota Valley Action Council Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
416050353
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Mankato, MN, US
Phone
1-800-767-7139
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$28,608,083
Expenses
$27,509,664
Assets
$15,630,423
Liabilities
$3,959,559

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BILL GROSKREUTZ (PRESIDENT)
  • LAKYN BREMER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • AMANDA MACKIE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AMANDA MACKIE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $172,503 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 empower individuals and families to achieve self-sufficiency and improve their quality of life.

What it reported doing in 2024

Housing - Minnesota housing finance agency (mhfa) money is available to make energy-saving and general home improvements for homeowners of all income levels. Mhfa subsidizes loans to encourage homeowners to make home improvements to help maintain the image of clean, well-run rural communities. Loan programs include fix-up loan, community fix-up rehabilitation loan, and rental rehabilitation loan programs. We assisted 85 people to secure low interest loans so they could make needed improvements to their homes. Mhfa provides funding for homeless prevention to help households from either becoming homeless because of an eviction, or if they are currently homeless, (by hud's definition) get them into permanent housing. Facilitated 9 homelessness response teams. Assisted 355 households with services that prevented them from joining the ranks of homeless statistics. Weatherization assistance - this program is available to both low-income homeowners and renters in the nine-county area. It is designed to provide energy conservation service such as furnace modifications, caulking, weatherstripping, attic insulation, repair of primary windows, storm windows, minor foundation repairs and insulation, hot water heater and pipe insulation and furnace maintenance. The primary purpose of the program is to prevent heat loss in the home and thus reduce energy consumption for low-income households. Served were 194 households and replaced or repaired 248 faulty furnaces. Low-income housing assistance - under the hud section 8 voucher choice program rent subsidy payments are provided for qualified low-income families and elderly, disabled or handicapped persons renting from private landlords. The participants pay up to 30% of their income towards rent and utilities and the balance is paid directly to the landlord through hud funding. Approximately 355 households were served. Community development block grant - this program provides funds for housing rehabilitation with deferred loan repayment over an extended period of time. Currently, mvac operates the cdbg program in the cities of mankato and amboy, and in dakota county served were over 20 households or commercial buildings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 87% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 46% for direct work, and 54% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $587.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 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: 3.8%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.6%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 13 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 92.7% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $26.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $173K · 35 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.