Bay Area Community Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382418086
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Bay City, MI, USA
Phone
9898934438
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,273,306
Expenses
$3,363,733
Assets
$70,880,384
Liabilities
$3,113,111

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHAWNA WALRAVEN (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHAWNA WALRAVEN (PRESIDENT & CEO): $127,495 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of bacf is to fulfill a wide array of donors' charitable wishes throughout bay and arenac counties (Michigan) by building permanent endowment funds and serving as a leader for community improvement through effective grantmaking and collaboration.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation provides grants to 501(c) (3) nonprofit organizations, municipalities, and educational institutions. In 2025, 308 grants were awarded in the areas of arts & culture, community development, education, environment, health & human services, recreation and youth activities

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 81% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $22.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 43rd 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 53.8%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 21.07; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $127K · 24 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 66 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 66 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.