Northland Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411554455
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Duluth, MN, USA
Phone
2187234040
Rating
89
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,042,992
Expenses
$11,406,033
Assets
$124,680,871
Liabilities
$3,688,174

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANTHONY SERTICH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANTHONY SERTICH (PRESIDENT): $247,205 total reported compensation
  • ZANE BAIL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $180,959 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER BROUSE (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $176,189 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 northland foundation supports northeastern Minnesota people and communities working toward a future where everyone feels they belong and can thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

The business services program offers technical assistance and flexible financing to assist with business start-up and expansion within our 7-county region, in order to bolster the regional economy and promote job creation - critical components of thriving communities. Financing is often in the form of gap lending made in partnership with banks or other development lenders. Borrowers may be for-profit or nonprofit entities. In fiscal year 2025, northland closed 17 loans totaling $3 million which helped create leverage of $21.6 million in other investments. Northland foundation hosts the regional small business development center (sbdc). The sbdc's mission is to "help entrepreneurs and businesses grow and succeed" by providing technical assistance and one-on-one consulting services to small and medium sized businesses at no cost to the client. The regional center is located in duluth; there are also five other satellite offices spread across the region. The regional footprint of the sbdc matches the northland foundation footprint.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.3%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $36.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 33rd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.8%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.93; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.3% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $9.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $247K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $220K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 130 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 122 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: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.