Sons of Norway

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
526048100
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Fairfax, VA, USA
Phone
2404704383
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Domestic Fraternal Societies

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$72,639
Expenses
$31,136
Assets
$891,997
Liabilities
$3,684

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Keith Aleckson (Vice President)
  • Linda Hestvik (President)

People named in this filing

  • Keith Aleckson (Vice President)
  • Beth Slingerland (Secretary)
  • Linda Hestvik (President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Preserve and promote Norwegian culture.

What it reported doing in 2025

Cultural programs at lodge meetings (30-60 persons/month), Norwegian heritage programs: genealogy group, Norwegian history group, language classes, book club, arts and crafts, cooking and sewing demonstrations.

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.

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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 57.6%; rating input score 58
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 57.1%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 28.65; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.7% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 57.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $13K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules · includes related organizations
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.