Northstar Credit Union

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237113418
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Warrenville, IL, USA
Phone
6303937201
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Credit Unions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,026,304
Expenses
$10,284,269
Assets
$211,754,900
Liabilities
$188,399,774

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LLOYD FREDENDALL (CEO)
  • BERNARD NIEWOEHNER IV (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LUZ CASTELLO (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CRISTEN AUSTGEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LISA KLEVEN (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LLOYD FREDENDALL (CEO): $926,663 total reported compensation
  • BIKRAMJIT DHILLON (LOAN OFFICER): $234,957 total reported compensation
  • BERNARD NIEWOEHNER IV (VICE PRESIDENT): $170,909 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Northstar credit union is a member-owned & operated, not-for-profit financial cooperative. Northstar operates as a full service financial institution for the benefit of our membership. Our profits are returned to the membership, our owners, through lower interest rate loans, competitive monthly dividends, lower fees, and capital accumulation to ensure long term stability.

What it reported doing in 2020

Provided checking services to 7,575 member accounts; provided savings services to 23,289 member accounts

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.5%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 20.59; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.89; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $927K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.