Consensus Council
Legal name: The Consensus Council Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 450418456
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Bismarck, ND, United States
- Phone
- 701-224-0588
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Religion Related N.E.C.
- Affiliation
- Religious (unspecified)
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,019,039
- Expenses
- $836,937
- Assets
- $429,835
- Liabilities
- $185,433
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- ANN CREWS MELTON (EXEC DIRECTO): $93,549 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Civil discourse, reflective listening, strengthening relationships, building empathy, and repairing harm all are critical to our mission. Our Mission Our mission is _**to facilitate conversations and build agreements that empower people, transform communities, and advance the public good.**_. Consensus Council arose from an identified need to build consensus across differences, specifically in the northern plains region of North America. Our mission is _**to facilitate conversations and build agreements that empower people, transform communities, and advance the public good.**_ Our Values.
What it reported doing in 2024
Restorative justice program - statewide services to people involved in and impacted by crime and other harms. Consensus council employs a dedicated team of trained professionals across North Dakota to work with individuals referred to the program. Restorative justice aims to provide a respectful, compassionate, and healing response to crime and conflict by seeking to restore, to the extent possible, those harmed by an offense. The program encourages accountability from the person(s) responsible and promotes safe, secure, and peaceful communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 75% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61.1%; rating input score 61
- Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 75
- 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: 98.7%; rating input score 99; 47th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.9%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 61.1% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $624K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.