Forward Cities Inc

Overview

Mission

To equip community leaders, catalyze narrative change, and measure progress over time, leveraging first-hand ecosystem building experiences across the nation.

What it reported doing in 2024

E3 durham county award-as the sba navigator program and pilot funding ended in november 2023, the durham county arpa grant award is an opportunity to leverage the sba's investment in durham county and build on e3 durham's momentum. Recognizing the tremendous value of the many dedicated area business support organizations and service providers who work tirelessly to equip durham county business owners, this program earmarks nearly 50% programmatic funding as pass through to 1) enrolled entrepreneurs to reduce the cost of doing business and 2) service providers to engage their expertise and increase their ability to effectively and sustainably serve the community.combined with the existing strengths of the navigation model, these efforts will allow us to better understand entrepreneurs' needs; prioritize needs by stage, size, sector, and demographics; continue to grow capital readiness and connections; and engage a broader set of support organizations and service providers to level-up support for entrepreneurs who need it most.

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 83% 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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134302280
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Durham, NC, USA
Phone
9109284480
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.7%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $89.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 43.5%; rating input score 44; 28th 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: 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: Pass
    • 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: 16.3%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.7% of revenue deployed · 71.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 6 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.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • C FAY HORWITT (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $155,741 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.