Northwestern Michigan Fair Assoc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 381388174
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Grawn, MI, USA
- Phone
- 2319434150
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fairs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $791,234
- Expenses
- $781,980
- Assets
- $3,978,758
- Liabilities
- $460,477
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOE HUBBELL (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- LAURIE ASHLEY (SECRETARY)
- MOLLY CAMINATA (DIRECTOR)
- JILL DUELL (DIRECTOR)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Promotion of Michigan agriculture, horticulture, education, mechanical arts, fine arts, fruit and grain productss, stock rasising and dairy products, domestic science and kindred interests throughout the grand traverse region, to be accomplished in part by the hosting the annual county fair.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide a variety of entertainment through the county fair that includes carnival attractions, 4h shows, and camping for tens of thousands of participants each year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 80% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filed totals do not add up and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.6%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 99.7%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.09; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.6% of revenue deployed · 99.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $780K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.