Northern Lights Credit Union

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
222610462
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
St Johnsbury, VT, USA
Phone
8027482288
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,197,075
Expenses
$1,114,392
Assets
$20,349,374
Liabilities
$18,370,708

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RITA ST ARNAULD (TREASURER): $112,547 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Operate a state chartered credit union to provide loan and deposit services for the benefit of its members

What it reported doing in 2016

Program services relate to daily operations of a locally controlled, full service credit union. Providing services for loans, deposit accounts, and other relevant financial services to a member base of approximately 3,410 individuals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 73% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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

STRONG - 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.1%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.9%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.26; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.9; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.1% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 5 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $128K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2013 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.