Rock the Cause Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260591013
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2015, Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6513873121
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$102,286
Expenses
$104,003
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Scott Herold (CEO)

People named in this filing

  • Scott Herold (CEO)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to engage others to become involved in their communities through volunteerism. We achieve this goal through volunteer drives, music downloads on our record label, live concert events, and classroom workshops in colleges and high schools.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024 we spent an entire year at High School for Recording Arts a charter based in Saint Paul, MN that serves under-served children and high school dropouts. We conducted an in-classroom workforce training program for media occupations that teaches students job skills like how e-commerce works, digital distribution, podcasting, copyright, branding, or how to write a press release and media servicing. We also covered subjects like nonprofit careers and entertainment law and servicing learning. Once the students were trained on this knowledge they worked directly with Rock the Cause staff and volunteers to release music singles and student-made compilations on the High School for Recording Arts Record Label. We also developed a paid internship program giving vulnerable populations of youth the opportunity to participate in vocational discovery. Our CEO was awarded the Ramsey County Vern Vick Award for youth workforce development. We worked with over 35 low income youth who are from underserved and marginalized communities. We also placed 15 youth in jobs working in media Occupations. We also offered paid internship training to 15 youth helping to ease financial burdens and create economic access for youth struggling to find employment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.8%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.7%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 50.8%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.1% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -15.4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.8% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $95K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.