Tower Firemens Relief Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411619085
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Tower, MN, USA
Phone
2187534070
Rating
41
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$245
Expenses
$0
Assets
$26,719
Liabilities
$41

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVEN OLSON (President)
  • JORDAN PURKAT (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • TERRI JOKI-MARTIN (SECRETARY): $29,449 total reported compensation
  • SHAWN GAWBOY (ASST GAMBL MGR): $8,244 total reported compensation
  • PAIGE OLSON (FIRE CHIEF & GM): $5,594 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To administer a defined benefit pension plan covering members of the Association.

What it reported doing in 2025

The relief association transfered pension funds to the public employee retirement association of Minnesota for members retirement. Proceeds from gambling activities are used for community enrichment and charitable donations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 99% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 46
  • Sustainability: 3
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: Limited
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: Limited
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 87.6% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $29K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 10 of 10 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.