Solid Ground

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363578158
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
White Bear Lake, MN, USA
Phone
6513082570
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Family Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,953,332
Expenses
$5,365,101
Assets
$11,028,239
Liabilities
$2,689,302

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Diamond Hunter (Executive Director (2/5 - Present))
  • Trisha Cummins Kauffman (Executive Director (1/1 - 2/5))

Highest reported compensation

  • Diamond Hunter (Executive Director (2/5 - Present)): $115,299 total reported compensation
  • Trisha Cummins Kauffman (Executive Director (1/1 - 2/5)): $16,409 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of Solid Ground is to prevent and end homelessness for families with children in the communities we serve through housing, resources and opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2024

Homework Starts with Home (HSWH) provides prevention assistance and rehousing services to help prevent and end homelessness for families with pre-K-12 grade students in suburban Ramsey and Washington County school districts. Families receive financial assistance to make housing more affordable and services to help them achieve stability and work toward independent housing. Children receive academic and other support to help them achieve school success. HSWH provided 195 adults and children with scattered-site rehousing, prevention assistance and housing stabilization services in 2024.HomeFront provides 10 units of permanent supportive housing for military veterans and their families who have experienced long-term homelessness. Residents receive income-based rental assistance and in-home supportive services designed to help them achieve housing stability, improve their health and increase their income. HomeFront housed 38 adults and children in 2024.Welcome Home Washington launched in late 2023 to provide scattered-site, permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless families headed by an adult with a disability. Familes will receive income-based rental assistance and in-home supportive services designed to help them improve their health and achieve housing stability. WHW served 34 adults and children in 14 families in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.5%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 32.5%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.06; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53.5% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 17 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.