Stearns County Fair Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411803919
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Sauk Centre, MN, USA
Phone
3202485511
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fairs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$273,607
Expenses
$232,379
Assets
$386,665
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TOM SCHMIDT (PRESIDENT)
  • STEVE FRERICKS (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • TOM SCHMIDT (PRESIDENT)
  • STEVE FRERICKS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JACULIN SPODEN-BOLZ (SECRETARY)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Educate public on agricultural matters.

What it reported doing in 2024

The purpose of the stearns county fair is to promote agriculture, agricultural education, and agricultural science. The fair is a place that gives all members of stearns county a chance to share their unique habits and talents and provide an expression of our countys personality. The stearns county fair is also a nostalgic event, brining back memories for the past and introducing the younger generation to a great tradition. Families come to view the very best in agricultural products and livestock, and to experience programs and events that they will not experience anywhere except at the fair. The stearns county fair also gives community members and agricultural groups, like 4-h, the chance to enter their livestock and other farm and domestic products teaching a new generation about the values of farming and quality agricultural work. Premiums are awarded in a variety of agricultural and domestic categories.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 48
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 31.2%; rating input score 31; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 15.1%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.66; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.9% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $232K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.