Winnebago Council Boy Scouts of America #173
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 420985053
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Waterloo, IA, USA
- Phone
- 3192342867
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $898,073
- Expenses
- $764,908
- Assets
- $3,417,948
- Liabilities
- $149,270
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
29 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PAUL FARMER (COUNCIL PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES R MADISON (SCOUT EXECUTIVE/SECRETARY): $137,924 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Providing service to young men ages 7-21 and young women ages 14-21 within 17 counties of the state of Iowa, by promoting the ability of young men and women to do things for themselves and others, training them in scoutcraft and teaching them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and to prepare them to make ethical choices over their lifetime and achieve their full potential using the methods which are now in common use by the boy scouts of america.
What it reported doing in 2025
The council's programs provide year round scouting, camping and youth development to youths and adults in 17 counties in north central Iowa.
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 97% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 79.5%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $1.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
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: 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14.8%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.47; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 79.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $608K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $138K · 29 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 6/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.