Northern New York Library Network
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 146036399
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Potsdam, NY, USA
- Phone
- 3152651119
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Libraries
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $875,653
- Expenses
- $1,090,258
- Assets
- $1,193,934
- Liabilities
- $241,042
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ELLEN ADAMS (PRESIDENT)
- JACQUELINE MADISON (VICE-PRESIDENT)
- MARGARET E BACKUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MARGARET E BACKUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $164,698 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The northern New York library network is a regional non-profit multi-type library agency dedicated to distributing resources and services among its members in the 10,636 square mile, seven-county area known as the north country. Member organizations include all types of libraries: academics, school (p-12), public, archives, and special libraries.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide collaboration and support to help members meet their individual goals, for the ultimate benefit of the library user. Services include electronic resource sharing programs, access to digitization equipment, specialized medical information services, a regional catalog and ground delivery, coordinated collection development among academic libraries, professional training programs, project grants and travel grants, and access to an attorney for timely input on intellectual property, vendor contracts, first amendment, civil rights, employment law, and other legal matters that impact library operations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 85% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 99.3%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 76.8%; rating input score 77; 34th 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: 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: -24.5%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.1; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 15.1%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 99.3% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 51 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $872K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 33 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.