Volunteer Braille Services
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 411237256
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2023
- Forms available
- Form 990 2023
- Location
- Golden Valley, MN, USA
- Phone
- 7635442880
- Rating
- 47
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $172,123
- Expenses
- $1,835,770
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JULIE OLSON (PRESIDENT)
- RHONDA BYSTROM (PRESIDENT (PREVIOUS))
- DOROTHY WORTHINGTON (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CINDI LAURENT (COORDINATOR): $26,658 total reported compensation
- VICKI HOLM (SECRETARY): $11,121 total reported compensation
- DOROTHY WORTHINGTON (VICE PRESIDENT): $3,420 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Provide braille transcription for the blind.
What it reported doing in 2023
The agency maintains a library of 1,500 books that have been transcribed into braille and are available for loan for blind children and adults.
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 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 12
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 60
- Sustainability: 5
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 19.9%; rating input score 20
- Program expense ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 4
- 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; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: -966.5%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 19.9% of revenue deployed · 3.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $69K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $27K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2023
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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 20/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 4/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.