Swedish Council of America

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410997853
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6128710593
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$117,714
Expenses
$147,273
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GREGG WHITE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GREGG WHITE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $47,949 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Swedish council of america promotes knowledge and appreciation of swedish heritage and culture in north american life and strengthens contemporary cultural and educational ties between north america and sweden.

What it reported doing in 2020

Sca grants: since 1975, sca provided financial support to hundreds of projects across north america as they promoted knowledge and appreciation of swedish heritage and culture. To date, these grants total over one million dollars.sca scholarships: almost since its inception over 40 years ago, sca scholarships supported american youth wanting to broaden their educational experience in sweden and swedish students eager to study in the united states.sca awards: sca awards gave national recognition to hard-working individuals and dedicated organizations that have made exceptional contributions to swedish-american or swedish-canadian life.sca communications: sca today, our quarterly magazine launched in 2017, informed our members, supporters and constituents about the projects we funded, the scholars we supported, the leaders we recognized, the opportunities we presented and the people involved in an informative and interesting manner. In addition, it contained articles about swedish culture and heritage of interest to our readers in north america.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 49% for direct work, and 51% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 7
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.3%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 53%; rating input score 53
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -25.1%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -27.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -19.2% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.3% of revenue deployed · 53% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $78K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $48K · 25 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.