Sartell-st Stephen Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411878506
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Sartell, MN, USA
Phone
3204330748
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$74,605
Expenses
$82,831
Assets
$605,422
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERTA HARTIG (EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT/PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBERTA HARTIG (EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT/PRESIDENT): $13,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Sartell-st. Stephen education foundation (ssef) supports innovative programming for the students in isd 748. Ssef embraces the goals of the district by providing funds for academic programming from early childhood through 12th grade, as well as providing scholarships to graduating seniors.

What it reported doing in 2025

Ssef events are opportunities to provide isd# 748 students, parents, staff, and community members with information about ssef and to provide recognition for supporting our mission of innovative programming. Ssef events for 2025 included the senior awards program, chamber golf outing, and toast of autumn. 11 grants totaling $48,528 were awarded to isd#748 sartell-st.stephen for early childhood, elementary, and secondary education programs. Grants were awarded for the following programs: ckla discoveries through dramatic play and active learning; sms physical education disc golf start-up; sms sabre strong cart; speakable.com for middle school spanish; sms unified club; parts tumbler: deburr metal types with an innovative process; board games and puzzles for my special; education class; new class - history through films and games; 3d printer: bambu x1 carbon for engineering and robotics at shs; sartell high school children's theatre production; and inclusion for everyone in pe.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 99; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -11%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.31; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.8% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $59K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.