Central Community House

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
314379438
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Columbus, OH, USA
Phone
6142523157
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,500,758
Expenses
$2,493,233
Assets
$4,225,139
Liabilities
$539,157

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • TAMAR FORREST (EXECUTIVE DI): $118,312 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Central community house (cch) is a comprehensive, neighborhood-based community center that has been serving the near east and south side neighborhoods of columbus, Ohio since 1936. Rather than specifically address one problem or social condition, cch holistically combats the myriad effects of generational poverty. Healthy children can only exist within strong families; families can only succeed when surrounded by safe, supportive neighborhoods. Cch has a long history of success offering programs, including early education/childcare, after-school/summer programs, transit arts/teen development, senior programs, community organizing, family strengthening/social work, basic needs/crisis assistance, and entrepreneurship and workforce development. More than 4,000 individuals access critical services at cch each year, which reduces or eliminates the need for individuals to rely on costly public assistance or government programs, and can prevent greater issues such as homelessness, crime, unem

What it reported doing in 2025

Youth programming: we help youth succeed in school and in life through programs that inspire culture, creativity and artistic expression. Here, youth have a safe place to play with friends and discover their strengths- helping them lead happier and healthier lives. " laughter and learning go hand-in-hand in our after school program. Running august until may, every monday through friday from 4-6pm, this program provides tutoring, a free computer lab, health and wellness education, field trips, music and arts education, and healthy meals/snack for youth ages 5-11. " our summer day camp program supports busy parents with children ages 5-13. We provide nutritious meals and snacks each day. Additionally, children participate in educational projects, recreational activities, arts programming and more. " our transit arts program brings the power of culture, creativity and artistic expression to youth in our community. We host free workshops scheduled weekly where professional community artists and mentors lead group sessions teaching and practicing the arts. Creative engagement builds upon gifts of youth, while providing a safe space for self-expression and healing; and a connection to networks that offer professional development, internship and job opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 63% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - 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: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.2%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 0.3%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.69; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.2% of revenue deployed · 70.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.