Tree Top Kids
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271753579
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Scandia, MN, USA
- Phone
- 6519835581
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $183,875
- Expenses
- $169,027
- Assets
- $497,532
- Liabilities
- $120,401
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Anthony Geselle (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Anthony Geselle (Executive Director): $73,537 total reported compensation
- Jill Geselle (Program director): $20,467 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Tree Top Kids reaches at risk kids and youth and helps them grow in four key areas. Physical, Social, Mental and Spiritual. We couple large group activities and small group lessons with mentors to accomplish the mission. We meet within our target Neighborhoods, but most of our activities take place on a working farm with fields, forests, animals and host of other areas to bring to life the valuable lessons. Hands on learning and growing. "You can't repeat what you've never seen."
What it reported doing in 2025
Farm Ministry: We bus students from our target neighborhoods to our farm where they are able to learn and grow with a consistent group of mentors. They not only learn about animals and how to care for them, they are also learning the skills of camping, cooking and many other activities. These activities are a foundation to teach about Life, Faith and Family. We want each of our students to have the knowledge to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ, and also to live a healthy life that gives back to their community.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 47
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 62.5%; rating input score 63
- Program expense ratio: 68%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.94; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 55.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 62.5% of revenue deployed · 68% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $115K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.