The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411865930
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Hopkins, MN, USA
Phone
9528313096
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,903,733
Expenses
$1,965,742
Assets
$886,614
Liabilities
$435,325

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DALE AHLQUIST (PRESIDENT AND BOARD MEMBER)
  • EMILY DE ROTSTEIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND EX-OFFICIO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DALE AHLQUIST (PRESIDENT AND BOARD MEMBER): $76,200 total reported compensation
  • EMILY DE ROTSTEIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND EX-OFFICIO): $61,850 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Through its magazine, books, local societies and national conferences, the society of gilbert keith chesterton promotes the writings and thought of g.k. Chesterton. The society helps facilitate and encourage over 100 local societies across the world and serves over 2,000 active members. The society also provides curriculum, tools and templates to members of the chesterton schools network in support of classical high school education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Production media and publishing: producing materials for audio visual media on or about works by g.k. Chesterton. We have made available writings that were previously out of print and have produced plays, movies and audio books on and about the writings and life of author g.k. Chesterton. Our organization also publishes gilbert magazine which publishes chesterton material and is a forum of exchange of ideas on this author.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 67
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.5%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -3.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.49; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.5% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 7 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $172K reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.