Safe Hands Rescue
Legal name: Safe Hands Animal Rescue
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 134347636
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
- Location
- Mpls, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6125594929
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,243,697
- Expenses
- $1,213,131
- Assets
- $2,098,491
- Liabilities
- $305,576
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LYNNE BENGTSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND TREASURER)
- JAY JOHNSON (PRESIDENT)
- LORI WEAVER (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LYNNE BENGTSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND TREASURER): $60,843 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 save and improve the lives of companion animals by engaging communities and connecting people, resources and knowledge. Foster volunteers provide a temporary home for animals that are looking for their forever homes. It is an incredibly rewarding experience. We need foster homes in the Twin Cities metro area. Safe Hands Rescue primarily rescues and rehomes animals from overcrowded shelters. By opening your home to a dog or cat in need, you are giving them a second chance. We provide all necessary medical care for foster animals along with a crate, collar and leash, food and a few toys. Foster homes provide love, care, socialization, basic training and help to find the right forever home.
What it reported doing in 2024
2024 total animals assisted: 1552total animal intake in safe hands rescue: 1244total transported to partner rescues: 308total adoptions: 1229
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
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 75
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.5%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $970K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $61K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.