Center for Urban Renewal & Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311467594
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024792873
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Printing, Publishing

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,003,568
Expenses
$2,756,066
Assets
$1,629,572
Liabilities
$2,930,871

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STAR PARKER ENDED 0125 (PRESIDENT & FOUNDER)
  • DONALD EASON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DONALD EASON (PRESIDENT): $153,129 total reported compensation
  • MARTIN DANNENFELSER (DIR, GOVT RELATIONS): $149,075 total reported compensation
  • ARIEL ZIMERMAN (DIRECTOR, MEDIA): $105,237 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Focusing on public policy that promotes market-based solutions to fight poverty in african-american and urban communities in order to dismantle government dependency and advance economic growth through faith, family, and local governance.

What it reported doing in 2025

Policy center: we work to change laws and change lives. Our policy center creates & advocates for policy solutions impacting hard-hit communities & promoting the betterment of impacted citizens. We consult with elected officials & allied organizations to help change federal laws that affect our nation's low-wage workers & welfare dependents, empowering them to live lives of freedom and economic independence. We launched a collaborative study with the claremont institute, "the state of black america," exploring the latest scholarship into the character, shape, & tendencies of life in the u.s. For blacks. We also developed various policy reports on the following issues: an action plan to fix our inner cities; black voting behavior; defending religious liberty and our christian future; inequality; the breakdown of marriage and family; and factors contributing to increases in median black households' income.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -37.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.8; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.3% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.