Carolina University

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560594591
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Winstonsalem, NC, USA
Phone
3367258344
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Higher Education Institutions
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,917,108
Expenses
$20,162,322
Assets
$6,145,221
Liabilities
$7,832,036

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BURKARD HEATHER (PRESIDENT)
  • PETITT CHARLES (PRESIDENT/CEO (FORMER))

Highest reported compensation

  • PETITT CHARLES (PRESIDENT/CEO (FORMER)): $213,013 total reported compensation
  • ZUNIGA REGINA (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $90,290 total reported compensation
  • RONK CHRISTOPHER (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (FORMER)): $86,569 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

A christ-centered university committed to exceptional teaching, scholarly research, creative innovation, and professional collaboration.

What it reported doing in 2024

Auxiliary and other services in regard to the university's provision for higher education including dormitories, food service, bookstore, sporting events, and other miscellaneous student service.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 87% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 62% for direct work, and 38% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 85.9%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 68.8%; rating input score 69; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.6%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.27; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 85.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $17.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $213K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.