The Lakota Fund Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460421416
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Kyle, SD, USA
Phone
6054552500
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Small Business Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,006,642
Expenses
$5,049,704
Assets
$31,952,863
Liabilities
$6,531,575

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • TAWNEY BRUNSCH (EXECUTIVE DI): $146,757 total reported compensation
  • ELLEN WHITE THUNDER (DEPUTY DIREC): $118,409 total reported compensation
  • LAVONNE RANDALL (FINANCE DIRE): $113,383 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Promote economic sustainability and break the cycle of poverty by providing native people with access to the capital and financial services healthy communities need to flourish.

What it reported doing in 2025

Lakota funds provides economic development through business loans, technical assistance, workforce development, and financial education on the pine ridge and rosebud reservations and surrounding area. Their lending has increased substantially in the last 7 years as evidenced by a 850% increase in loan portfolio growth, from 2.5m in 2018 to 23.8m in 2025.

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.

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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53.4%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $142.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st 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: 99.6%; rating input score 100; 45th 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.9%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.33; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53.4% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 20 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 10 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.