Moorhead Legacy Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411689598
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Moorhead, MN, USA
Phone
7012617012
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Elementary, Secondary Education, K - 12

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$367,977
Expenses
$271,995
Assets
$1,977,869
Liabilities
$32,636

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Janelle Leiseth (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Janelle Leiseth (Executive Director): $12,000 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 support and promote educational programs in Independent School District 152 and provide scholarships and financial aid for post secondary education.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Moorhead Legacy Education Foundation is a non-profit organization that enhances the educational experience and activities of all students in the Moorhead Area Public Schools. Our programs include the following: Food for Thought, providing milk and snack for students in need; Spud Scholars, providing scholarships for graduating MHS students to further their education; Spud Impact Grants, providing funding for innovative classroom projects and other education activities; and Spud History, preserving the history of Moorhead Schools in our community.Spud Scholars - Since 1991, Spud Scholars has awarded over $2 Million in scholarships to 2,600+ Moorhead High graduates. These scholarships help ensure Spuds can pursue their goal of a college education. Scholarships are based on both need and merit.Food for Thought - MLEF is dedicated to supporting our Moorhead Schools. We provide milk and snack to students in need so they can learn at their greatest potential. $20 feeds one student for one month.Spuds TV MLEF, the Moorhead Area Public Schools and Spuds TV have joined in partnership for sponsor dollars that will help fund special projects for Moorhead Schools, including the district calendar. MLEF successfully sold Spud History Books, a 150-year summary of Moorhead Area Public Schools. Proceeds were designated to unrestricted income.Spud Impact - Spud Impact Grants fuel teacher and staff innovation projects and classroom activities that provide a rich and meaningful educational experience for students.Spud Impact - With a history spanning more than 140 years, the story of Moorhead Area Public Schools is detailed on a 50-foot-long historical timeline in the lobby of Horizon Middle School's Performing Arts Center. The history wall project was a joint program between Moorhead Area Public Schools and the Moorhead Schools Legacy Foundation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 98% 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $86.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 94.6%; rating input score 95; 55th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 26.1%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.27; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.7% of revenue deployed · 75.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $205K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.