Montana School Services Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363377762
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Helena, MT, USA
Phone
4064574400
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,143,462
Expenses
$2,397,332
Assets
$637,574
Liabilities
$164,548

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDY HOLMLUND (FORMER CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • LANCE MELTON (VICE CHAIR): $483,791 total reported compensation
  • ROXANNE WALLIS (ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER/INTERIM DIRECTOR): $214,398 total reported compensation
  • AMANDA CURTIS (SECRETARY/TREASURER): $213,147 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Montana school services foundation (mssf) was organized to provide programs and services for the benefit of the public schools throughout the state of Montana and to promote and fulfill other educational and charitable purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. These programs and services are provided at a lower cost than if purchased through the private sector for similar services, thereby reducing the burdens on local school boards, thus benefiting Montana communities and Montana taxpayers at large.

What it reported doing in 2024

Montana school services foundation (mssf) administers the Montana unified school trust (must), a self-insurance trust which provides health care benefits for school district employees and dependents across the state of Montana. The services provided by mssf reduce the burden on local school boards and taxpayers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 13
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $484K · 8 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.