Rondo Center of Diverse Expression

What it reported doing in 2024

We were instrumental in the formation of the effort to rename Concordia Avenue to Rondo Avenue to right a sixty plus year wrong that occurred when the Saint Paul City Council removed the name of Rondo without adhering to proper city procedure. Well over 200 hundred people joined the St. Paul Mayor, members of the St. Paul City Council, and other dignitaries at the Rondo Commemorative Plaza for the unveiling of the new Rondo Avenue street signs and installation of the street sign at the Plaza. On June 19th, we held the 4th Annual Juneteenth Celebration highlighting the Music of Rondo with performances from Walker|West Music Academy and over 300 visitors. The Rondo Community Coalition held the 2nd Annual Rondo Block Party at the Plaza on August 3rd, featuring dozens of vendors, local organizations, activities, and food trucks. In August, neighbors used the Rondo Center Community Gardens to gather for National Night Out. In partnership with JazzAccess, we jammed to two Jazz at the Plaza August evening performances.As in past years, there was a steady increase of visitors to the Rondo Center of Diverse Expressions and the Rondo Commemorative Plaza from an expanding spectrum of users. We hosted a group of 3rd-5th grade students to a group of over 30 participants attending a seminar introducing the ABCs of Artificial Intelligence with a former Rondo Native and Responsible AI Expert. We remain extremely grateful to the organizations, businesses, and individuals that have partnered with RCODE and RCP to fund and organize the wide variety of events and activities we host each year. Our main accomplishment was the launch of RCODE's new Minnesota Digital Library page with 32 downloadable materials, including Rondo Days souvenir books, photo albums, progarms, information about the Commemorative Plaza, maps of the old Rondo neighborhood. Two new primary source sets are available on the MDL website, Rondo: Before the Highway and Rondo: During and After the Highway. These sets feature a topic overview, ten to twenty primary sources from the MDL collection, links to related resources, discussion questions and classroom activities.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 41.9%; rating input score 42
• Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
• Fundraising efficiency: $82.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • 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: 44.2%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.6; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -33.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings