Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
314152770
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6147544560
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,587,435
Expenses
$3,529,343
Assets
$3,077,974
Liabilities
$333,859

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JUDITH L KETNER-DOLLISON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JUDITH L KETNER-DOLLISON (PRESIDENT): $181,476 total reported compensation
  • MELISSA ROGNER (VP MARKETING): $117,055 total reported compensation
  • JAMES P CASSIDY (VP OPERATION): $94,079 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 better business bureau is to advance marketplace trust by encouragig and supporting ethical business practices. Bbb does this by setting standards for trust, accrediting businesses that meet those standards, and providing resources to help consumers make informed decisions. Through a commitment to ethics, transparency, and ongoing business education, bbb helps build a more truthworthy and reliable marketplace.

What it reported doing in 2025

The program areas that represent the largest investments in resources, as they are central to bbb central Ohio's purpose and impact in the community, are: . Accreditation/business trust programs - bbb evaluates and offers accreditation to local businesses based on eight bbb standards for trust, promoting ethical practices, transparency, and responsiveness. Bbb also provides dispute resolution services, including mediation and arbitration, to help resolve complaints fairly and efficiently. Businesses benefit from increased visibility on bbb.org and have opportunities to promote their accreditation in consumer-facing content, reaching visitors actively seeking reputable companies. . Business education - bbb promotes ethical leadership, employee-focused cultures, and a strong commitment to customers and community through ongoing business education outreach. Programs include monthly events, webinars, and presenations at chambers and industry gatherings. Bbb also supports businesses with resources and guidance on reputation management best practices, emphasizing the value of timely and constructive responses to online complaints and reviews. . Consumer education & scam awareness - bbb maintains a robust consumer advocacy progarm through scam alerts, public education campaigns, and the bbb scamtracker platform helping thousands of central Ohio residents avoid fraud and financial loss. Bbb business profiles - including ratings, customer reviews, complaint history, and accreditation status - are viewed by more than 2 million local website visitors annually seeking trustworthy business. Bbb also provides live consumer guidance to help consumers make informed, trustworthy purchasing decisions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 83% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.4% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $181K · 4 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.