The Lift Garage

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454444338
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Phone
6128665840
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Job Training

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,482,712
Expenses
$2,084,380
Assets
$2,811,949
Liabilities
$327,443

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Cathy Heying (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Cathy Heying (Executive Director): $92,706 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Lift Garage offers people a vehicle out of poverty by: Providing low-cost quality car repair; Connecting with community partners to strengthen the support network; and Linking customers with needed resources.

What it reported doing in 2023

The Lift Garage provided low-cost car repairs for Minnesotans who met the 150% Federal Poverty Guideline. During the current year, The Lift Garage repaired 853 cars saving their customers $638,943 in car repair costs as compared to purchasing those repairs at current market rates. In addition, free inspections were completed on 862 cars with 92 of them receiving advice not to spend money to repair the vehicle as the repair outweighed the value of the vehicle and therefore, saving repair costs. Pre-purchase inspections were performed on 27 cars. Express service appointments were performed for 74 cars providing bulbs at no cost and wiper blades, batteries, and fluid top offs at cost. 73 mobile van inspections were performed to determine if cars should be brought into the shop for repairs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.2%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.83 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 64th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.35; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.1% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.2% of revenue deployed · 71.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $93K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.