Three Harbors Council Inc Boy Scouts of America

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453321626
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Phone
4147741776
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,411,636
Expenses
$2,618,882
Assets
$8,990,631
Liabilities
$305,754

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

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN SPINDLER (COUNCIL PRESIDENT)
  • ANDREW HARDIN (SCOUT EXECUTIVE/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANDREW HARDIN (SCOUT EXECUTIVE/CEO): $244,597 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of scouting america is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetime by instilling in them the values of the scout oath and law.

What it reported doing in 2025

Three harbors council provides program support for youth members and adult leaders, events and activities, community service projects, and camp operations. In 2025, the council served 3,748 youth members and 1,737 adult leaders at 182 community-based program sites. Local scouts earned 4,222 merit badges and 1,856 rank advancements with 86 young men and women achieving scouting's highest rank of eagle scout. The scouts provided 30,758 hours of community service including collecting more than 48,000 pounds of food through the scouting for food drive. At camp, nearly 1,000 scouts and family members attended a summer camp program.

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 98% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.7%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: -8.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.43; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.3%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.7% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 43 of 43 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $245K · 44 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.