Baton Rouge Area Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
726030391
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Phone
+1 (225) 387-6126
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$56,922,835
Expenses
$48,295,519
Assets
$342,730,306
Liabilities
$9,797,108

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER J MEYER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • LAUREN C JUMONVILLE (VICE PRESIDENT OF ENTERPRISE STRATEGY)
  • SARAH GARDNER (VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS)
  • CARISSA GRAVES (VICE PRESIDENT OF PHILANTHROPIC ADVANCEMENT)
  • ERIC DEXTER (VICE PRESIDENT OF CIVIC LEADERSHIP)
  • JOHN M SPAIN (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN M SPAIN (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $718,318 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER J MEYER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $525,528 total reported compensation
  • DEBORAH D PICKELL (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $326,106 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To improve the quality of life for the people of the Baton Rouge Area.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sponsoring and administering a number of programs and projects that are dedicated to providing the appropriate response to emerging community needs such as facilitating investments and parternships and coordinating processes to improve the education of primary and secondary students throughout south Louisiana; facilitating investments and parternships to support cities and regions creating positive impact for people, organizations and economies necessary to build safe and sustainable communities; supporting ligo-livingston (laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory) which studies and detects gravitational waves by measuring distortions in space and time and its science education activities; and working with public, private and community partners, to provide financial and technical assistance in building clean energy communities across Louisiana.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 80% 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.9%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $48.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Pass
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 48th 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: 15.2%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.1; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 84.9% of revenue deployed · 89% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $43M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $718K · 30 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.6M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 350 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 379 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.

  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.