Causewave Community Partners Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
160741816
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Rochester, NY, USA
Phone
5854420200
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,571,355
Expenses
$1,439,508
Assets
$2,858,354
Liabilities
$1,198,141

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Todd Butler (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Todd Butler (President & CEO): $189,334 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Making Communities stronger by bringing voice to diverse public issues and needs and building capacity within nonprofit organizations. (Continued on Schedule O) Each year we work with hundreds of nonprofits and coalitions on a variety of issues, from marketing to fundraising and from strategic planning to community-level change.

What it reported doing in 2024

Organization Impact - Causewave assists nonprofits with many of the challenges that can limit their organizational effectiveness. This goal is achieved through a variety of standard and customized programs, led by Causewave's professional staff, with the support of volunteer professionals. This work often includes: strategic planning, marketing & communications planning and implementation, board development, fundraising planning, project management / process facilitation, brand development, foundational work (Mission, Vision, Values, Theory of Change), customer touchpoint analysis, and community outreach and engagement. (Continued on Schedule O)Community Impact - Community impact initiatives bring together diverse partners and stakeholders to address a significant issue or need in the community that can't be solved by one organization. Causewave works in partnership with all relevant nonprofit organizations, government agencies, businesses and funders to find a long-term, sustainable solution to a problem. This group uses a collective impact approach and engages in project management, market research, action plan development, campaign creation, media planning, program development / improvement and impact measurement. This broad-based effort often includes significant in-kind support from marketing, media and market research professionals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 42
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 32.1%; rating input score 32
  • Program expense ratio: 57.3%; rating input score 57
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 44%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.99; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 32.1% of revenue deployed · 57.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 26 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $824K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $189K · 32 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 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: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.