Red Lake Nation College

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
263031521
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Red Lake, MN, USA
Phone
2186792860
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Community or Junior Colleges

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,765,011
Expenses
$10,579,795
Assets
$17,948,509
Liabilities
$1,312,336

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAN KING (PRESIDENT)
  • NADINE BILL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MINNEAP)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAN KING (PRESIDENT): $269,211 total reported compensation
  • TAMI NISWANDER (CFO): $170,062 total reported compensation
  • NADINE BILL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MINNEAP): $141,532 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 provide excellent higher education that is grounded in the ojibwe language and culture of the red lake nation.

What it reported doing in 2024

The college offers two-year liberal arts degrees through completion of general education courses. Students can then transfer to another institution if they choose to pursue a higher degree.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 89% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.1%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $137.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: 17.1%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.7; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 27.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.8% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.1% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $9.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $269K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.