Carolina Forward Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871921377
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Carrboro, NC, USA
Phone
9196278437
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Reported finances

Revenue
$659,304
Expenses
$490,254
Assets
$799,747
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Blair Reeves (Chairman)
  • Nicole Quick (Director)
  • Ryan Watts (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To conduct in depth polling of the citizens of North Carolina and to publish and disseminate educational articles on major public policy issues in North Carolina.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, the Carolina Forward Foundation expanded and broadened its mission to inform the voters of North Carolina. The Foundation reached several million North Carolina voters through its digital and offline channels with educational content about the state legislature. It helped launch Influence NC, a Gen-Z civic engagement initiative that has trained 25 elected leaders, partnered with six colleges, and generated over 6 million impressions just in its first quarter. The Foundation published "North Carolina's Next Chapter," a major research project on accommodating projected population growth, and distributed copies of this research to members and staff in the state legislature. The Foundation was again an advertising sponsor of The Hometown Holler, the fastest-growing independent media brand in North Carolina. It advocated for housing reform in the state legislature and at the county level, and helped describe and promote the importance of forward-thinking policy in making housing more affordable to more North Carolinians. It also supported The Pink Vote, a nonpartisan voter registration effort engaging Black voters in Forsyth County.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.2%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.6%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.63; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 29% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -26.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.2% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $371K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.