Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 386087967
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Phone
- 7346630401
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $22,654,824
- Expenses
- $14,740,954
- Assets
- $227,205,548
- Liabilities
- $6,751,825
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHANNON POLK (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SHANNON POLK (PRESIDENT & CEO): $255,773 total reported compensation
- JAMES HUNTER (CFO & VP FOR OPERATIONS): $151,777 total reported compensation
- DORCAS PATTERSON (DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS): $144,363 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The ann arbor area community foundation enriches the quality of life in our region through its knowledgeable leadership, engaged grantmaking, and creative partnerships with donors to make philanthropic investments and build endowment.
What it reported doing in 2024
Aaacf fulfills its exempt purpose by granting funds to a variety of tax-exempt organizations, primarily in the washtenaw county area, through a competitive process determined by staff and community leaders. Since its founding more than 60 years ago, over $108 million has been distributed through 19,000+ grants and scholarships. Signature programs include a community scholarship program to incentivize college degree attainment by local students; the empowerment fund, which supports young black men in attaining educational success; advancement of healthy & fulfilling aging for all; a deep commitment to health and human services, funding both programs and systems change; and an allocation of 5% of our endowment to local impact investments.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 74% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 97
- Sustainability: 86
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $6.65 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: 34.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.41; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -7.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $256K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $173K reported
- Consistency: 39 of 41 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 209 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 204 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.
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 27/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.