Samaritan Way

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271503172
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Pine City, MN, USA
Phone
6516740009
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$689,688
Expenses
$430,287
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lynphord Sahr (Chairman/Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lynphord Sahr (Chairman/Executive Director): $12,000 total reported compensation
  • Tami Martinson (Secretary/Treasurer (through mid-December)): $11,346 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide food, clothing, and other goods to individuals-in-need, as well as offer spiritual, physical, and emotional needs from a Christian perspective. Additionally, the Organization provides food, clothing, and shelter to other individuals and organizations, and helps churches, youth organizations, and community efforts financially, when able, through a thrift store.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 52
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.9%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 37.6%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.9% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $357K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2015 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.