True North Youth Program

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464789197
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Telluride, CO, USA
Phone
9707081986
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$370,086
Expenses
$393,192
Assets
$500,768
Liabilities
$9,191

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Vivian Russell (Executive Director)
  • Rose Gutfeld (Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Vivian Russell (Executive Director): $113,491 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our MISSION: True North inspires individual determination and teaches self-advocacy by providing year round positive youth development programs for teens in our rural San Miguel region who have limited access to resources, opportunities, and support.

What it reported doing in 2025

True North Youth Program's 2025 highlights showcase a comprehensive array of offerings, with 48 programs delivered and 414 total participations, including free access for students across three school districts and homeschoolers. Throughout the school year, True North provided weekly academic tutoring (Base Camp) to 38 students, offered 28 sessions within the Telluride High School AVID program focusing on 11th and 12th graders, and delivered weekly in-school support in the Nucla Senior Seminar and the Norwood Tech Building. Key program areas included extensive college and career preparation, emphasizing career exploration, resume building, cover letter writing, interview preparation, and connections to apprenticeships. The program supported college applications, visited regional college campuses, and awarded 11 new scholarships to graduating seniors, while continuing to support 23 college students from previous years. Through its Jobs Connect 2025 program, True North partnered with 14 businesses from Telluride to Naturita to secure summer jobs for local teens, also providing scholarships for Trades School. True North's Trading Post, located in the Norwood schools' tech building, offered teens a wealth of donated goods, including clothes (even prom dresses), mountain bikes, snowboards, shoes, games, and free winter coats. Additional programming featured 12 day trips utilizing the new Red Van for regional experiences and higher education campus tours, 5 outdoor education programs (river trip, Nordic skiing, hiking, outdoor leadership), 6 arts programs fostering creative expression and appreciation, and 4 service-learning programs emphasizing community engagement and environmental stewardship. Collaborations were significant, with 13 programs involving 6 different organizations, expanding reach, sharing resources, and strengthening community ties. The program delivered 43 school-year programs for consistent academic support and 5 intensive summer programs. True North met diverse youth needs through a broad and balanced range of programming, demonstrating strong community engagement and continued growth through partnerships and expanded offerings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% 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.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.2%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.27; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.5% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $327K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.