Carter Street Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621125122
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
4237560001
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,953,554
Expenses
$11,139,447
Assets
$21,107,628
Liabilities
$7,288,239

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MIKE SHUFORD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MIKE SHUFORD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $183,288 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER DILLS (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $111,318 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Encourage economic development

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization owns and manages a convention center for the purpose of encouraging the economic development of chattanooga and hamilton county.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.89; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.6%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $9.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $183K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.9M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.