The Southeast Conference

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
920089028
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Juneau, AK, USA
Phone
9075863445
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,880,663
Expenses
$11,536,316
Assets
$12,375,814
Liabilities
$4,540,996

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Zakary Kirkpatrick (President)
  • Katie Koester (Board 1st Vice President)
  • Gracia O'Connell (Board 2nd Vice President)
  • Robert Venables (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robert Venables (Executive Director): $158,684 total reported compensation
  • Daniel Lesh (Deputy Director): $109,584 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of Southeast Conference is to undertake and support activities that promote strong economies, healthy communities, and a quality environment in southeast Alaska.

What it reported doing in 2024

Southeast Conference is a designated economic development district (EDD) through the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) and an Alaska regional development organization (ARDOR) through the state of Alaska. We are a membership organization, our members include municipalities, federally recognized tribes, businesses, native corporations, government agencies, organizations, and individuals located or doing business in southeast Alaska that support the mission of Southeast Conference. We coordinate with our members throughout the region to develop a comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) for southeast Alaska. A strategic plan was designed to identify regional priorities for economic and community development. The process is strategy-driven and developed by a diverse work group of local representatives from private, public, and nonprofit sectors. By continued involvement with our members through committee and general membership meetings we assist the various groups and communities to use the regional plan as a guidebook and incorporate it into their individual strategic planning process. We also assist in the implementation of the plans by collaborating between different stakeholder groups, private sector, and municipal and tribal governments.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 96% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $222.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.9%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 58% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.6% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $159K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.