Sherburne County Area United Way

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237057093
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Elk River, MN, USA
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Federated Giving Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$207,698
Expenses
$246,991
Assets
$139,267
Liabilities
$8,275

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAT SARFF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • PETER BUERKE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TOVE LICHTY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAT SARFF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $56,700 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sherburne county area united way strives to drive lasting change in the sherburne county area by uniting changemakers to advocate for the common good of the community and to develop innovative solutions to local complex challenges that cannot be solved alone.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community support - a direct impact program we have is community connect (previously project homeless connect), where we bring together over 40 vendors to offer resources and education to people in need. We also offer free lunch, haircuts, and essential items such as hygiene products and home winterizing. Over 200 community members attended the event, representing over 400 people within the families. The short term goal of the event is to offer the resources to the event attendees. The long term goal is to expand the reach of resources and information beyond the walls of the event by the attendees sharing their information, as well as getting the community to know what organizations exist in order to help support or be supported by. Art bright since oct. 2021, we have provided sessions to 115 attendees of the program. The short-term objective of the program is to provide social interaction for the aging population and respite for memory loss caregivers. The long-term objective of the program is to provide support and education to the community about memory loss and the growing of the aging population that needs support. Communities of practice- this is a new program with different areas. One is called directors united which services the elk river and big lake area nonprofit leaders. The other is called nonprofits united which services the princeton area nonprofit leaders. These groups bring together nonprofit leaders to engage in networking, resource sharing, and community building within the various nonprofit organizations. The short term goal is to connect the local nonprofits for immediate needs. The long term goal is to build lasting relationships within the nonprofits so they can rely on each other and work together outside

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.6%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 44.2%; rating input score 44
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.6% of revenue deployed · 44.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $109K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $57K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.