Railroading Heritage of Midwest America

Legal name: Railroading Heritage of Midwest America Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411723120
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Blaine, MN, USA
Phone
651-398-5185
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,050,869
Expenses
$4,104,590
Assets
$16,497,617
Liabilities
$246,845

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVE SANDBERG (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVE SANDBERG (PRESIDENT): $116,258 total reported compensation
  • MEGAN SANDBERG (VICE PRESIDE): $47,018 total reported compensation
  • ED SELINSKY (DIRECTOR): $960 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To promote public understanding of the history of railroading by preserving, restoring, operating and interpreting historic locomotives and rail cars.

What it reported doing in 2024

Program service accomplishments include the preservation, maintenance, and display of historic locomotives and rolling stock, operation of locomotives and coaches for public excursions, educational programs, and youth training programs. Hundreds of people visited the historic coaches at the permanent home site in minneapolis. Throughout the year, the organization offered scenic excursions around the midwest and throughout the united states, including the "windy-city express" roundtrips from st. Paul to chicago. Thousands of people visited and observed the beautifully restored historic locomotive, skytop and superdome, and some historic business and baggage cars while at stops on the excursions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 97
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 62
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $769.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.02; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 33.9% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 97.6% of revenue deployed · 96.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.