Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205831960
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
St Paul, MN, USA
Phone
6512867470
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Sports Associations &Training Facilities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$932,064
Expenses
$959,788
Assets
$64,637
Liabilities
$72,940

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • DR RENEE WACHTER (CHAIR)
  • DR ANDREW DENTON (BOARD DIRECTOR)
  • DR JANET SCHRUNK ERICKSEN (BOARD DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The organization is organized exclusively for the fostering of amateur sports competition. The upper midwest athletic conference shall help member institutions promote and develop collegiate athletic programs and provide consistent competition opportunities for member institutions and their student-athletes.

What it reported doing in 2024

The upper midwest athletic conference (the umac) continues to provide for its member institutions opportunity to be recognized in its region as institutions that are in the forefront of academic excellence and athletic competitiveness. The umac is comprised of 8 full members and 5 associate members located throughout the midwest and is a member of the national collegiate athletic association (ncaa) at the division iii level. The 8 member schools include: bethany lutheran college, crown college, martin luther college, north central university, northland college, university of northwestern - st. Paul, university of Minnesota - morris, and university of Wisconsin - superior. 18 conference championships were recognized in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, including 9 men's sports and 9 women's sports. The umac strives to enrich the collegiate experience of student-athletes by offering a range of highly competitive athletic opportunities. The primary focus of the umac is student-athletes, with an uncompromising commitment to athletic equity and to the primacy of student academic progress. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, 2,687 total student-athletes from all member institutions participated in conference sports. The umac provides the following services for its members: strategic planning, guaranteed contests (formal scheduling), assigning of officials, hosting of championship events, facilitation of awards program, and public relations assistance via sports information.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 36
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.07; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.13; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.6% of revenue deployed · 81.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $779K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $295K reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.