North Branch Volunteer Firefighters Relief Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
416034846
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
North Branch, MN, USA
Phone
6127410983
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$261,024
Expenses
$123,760
Assets
$1,944,457
Liabilities
$860

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS GUSTAFSON (PRESIDENT)
  • LEVI HALL (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS GUSTAFSON (PRESIDENT): $4,800 total reported compensation
  • JOSIAH HALL (TRUSTEE): $4,800 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide retirement benefits for individuals providing the government service of firefighting.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide service pensions and ancillary benefits to members and dependents of the north branch municipal fire department.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 76% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 50
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 65
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 43.7%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 77.7%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 77.6%; rating input score 78; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 52.6%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.71; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.8%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 43.7% of revenue deployed · 77.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $96K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $5K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.