Charleston Moves

What it reported doing in 2025

We believe in a connected Charleston. That's why we speak out to councils, committees, agencies, and even the State House, advocating for sound policies. Why we push to flourish, not stagnate. Why we work with urban planners, engineers and citizen groups. Study, audit and document the dangers and issues of our intersections, corridors and bridges and work to make them better, safer and more accessible. This is our determined, continuous commitment to remake systems and power enduring change.Because the streets belong to everyone. Pedestrians and school kids. People on bicycles and people on buses. Citizens in wheelchairs and with canes. (See Schedule O)All of us moving. Safely. Together. For the 2025 year, $.90 cents of every dollar spent went to our charitable programs.What We Are Doing: Bridges Front-and-Center Bridges should serve as connectors instead of barriers. For the new Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge, we have continued to watchdog the project, the construction of which is moving quickly with the western approach platform in place, and pile work continuing in the river. Collaborating with our coalition and Charleston County, we assisted with the County's fourth federal grant application to USDOT for a Better North Bridge. Our work included many hours of community outreach and engagement, compiling letters of support, and research for the grant application, encouraged the County to vote in favor of applying, and participated in the grant debriefing with federal staff. We coordinated public comment in support of SCDOT's addition of the North Bridge to their State Bridge Program, as well as a resolution from the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments' Charleston Area Transportation Study (CHATS) Policy Committee requesting an upgrade of the North Bridge crossing, preferably with a replacement, to prioritize access for people walking and bicycling over the river.We continued to watchdog bike/ped access in the Main Road Segment A project that includes the Limehouse Bridge. We engaged with SCDOT and City of Charleston on options to retrofit the James Island Connector and Wappoo Cut Bridge. We coordinated letters of support to SCDOT's addition of the Ben Sawyer Bridge to their State Bridge Program. We participated in ribbon-cutting events for: North Charleston's Cosgrove Avenue Extension protected multi-use path, connecting Spruill Avenue and the old Navy Base redevelopment; North Charleston's Palmetto Commerce Interchange protected multi-use path connecting neighborhoods across I-26; Mount Pleasant's Coleman Boulevard bike lanes, with green paint at conflict points, across the Shem Creek Bridge. Complete Streets We mobilized and advocated for robust multi-modal space and design in key projects, and our engagement led to improved designs, additional funding and/or leveraged opportunities.We participated in SCDOT's Road Safety Audit for Ladson Road, and continued engaging the public and SCDOT on their Folly Road Safety Audit. We celebrated SCDOT's groundbreaking for the Ashley Phosphate Road Safety Audit construction. Charleston Moves has formally supported Mount Pleasant Way, a planned town-wide bicycle and pedestrian system. We have engaged in a safety workshop for a redesign of Whipple Road, encouraged public input during comment sessions, and encouraged participation in community meetings, including projects that are part of the Town's Safety Action Plan. We have continued to coordinate with agencies around improved designs for the redevelopment of Union Pier's street network, the Lowline, Meeting Street Road, Hagood Avenue, King Street, Morrison Drive, Rivers Avenue, Spruill Avenue, Riverland Drive, Folly Road, Harborview Road, various pathways in the City of Folly Beach, Long Point Road, River Road, Maybank Highway, Albemarle Road, Sam Rittenberg Boulevard, and Old Towne Road. Policy UpdatesWe successfully encouraged the Town of Mount Pleasant to compromise on their bicycle/e-bike ordinance so t

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 50.7%; rating input score 51
• Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
• Fundraising efficiency: $50.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • 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: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 46.5%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.29; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 47%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings