Prairie Five Community Action Council Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 410904802
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Montevideo, MN, USA
- Phone
- 3202696578
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,121,286
- Expenses
- $11,796,125
- Assets
- $11,395,148
- Liabilities
- $1,636,495
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Debra Larson (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Debra Larson (Executive Director): $155,529 total reported compensation
- Kami Nesvold (Associate Director): $113,515 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Working together to strengthen the quality of life in our communties.
What it reported doing in 2025
Additional services provided - Promote housing stability, energy affordability, and self-sufficiency for low-income individuals and families. Through its weatherization and housing programs, Prairie Five improves the safety, energy efficiency, and overall condition of homes by delivering services such as insulation, heating system repair or replacement, and other energy-saving upgrades. These efforts reduce utility costs while ensuring safe and stable living environments.In addition, Prairie Five administers energy and emergency assistance programs that help eligible households meet immediate and ongoing basic needs. Energy assistance provides financial support for utility costs, crisis intervention, and education to prevent service disruptions. Emergency assistance offers short-term support for rent, utilities, and other essential expenses to stabilize households and prevent homelessness, while connecting individuals and families to longer-term community resources.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 79% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 80% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.5%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.1%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.97; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 79.5% of revenue deployed · 88.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $10.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $411K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.