Women's Fund of Greater La Crosse Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272394065
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015
Location
La Crosse, WI, USA
Phone
6087805710
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$263,732
Expenses
$251,974
Assets
$2,098,143
Liabilities
$3,057

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH ELLINGSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • KELLY NOWICKI (PRESIDENT)
  • SUE CHRISTIANSON (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • NANCY MUELLER (PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH ELLINGSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $52,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Women's fund of greater la crosse exists to impact all women and girls in our community by supporting organizations with the collective power of philanthropy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocating for women and girls by funding projects which: foster an impact on attitudes and actions that benefit women and girls; promote opportunity, health and self-sufficiency for women, encourage women and girls to develop as philanthropists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 64% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 4.5%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.33; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.4% of revenue deployed · 69.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $175K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.