Chattanooga Goodwill Industries Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620544853
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
4236292501
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$24,675,987
Expenses
$23,661,176
Assets
$33,809,785
Liabilities
$19,573,843

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gena Weldon (President & CEO)
  • Janis Webb (Vice President of Finance)

Highest reported compensation

  • Gena Weldon (President & CEO): $369,517 total reported compensation
  • Jim Stailey (COO): $233,866 total reported compensation
  • Solara Sain (VP of Operations): $164,695 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Goodwill Industries of the Greater Chattanooga Area's (GIGCA) mission is to help people transform potential into opportunity. The Organization does this by eliminating barriers to opportunity and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work. To fulfill this mission, the Organization provides a variety of education, training, and employment programs and services.

What it reported doing in 2025

Workforce Development Program Services: Goodwill Industries of the Greater Chattanooga Area provides education and career services, as well as job placement opportunities and post-employment support to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment so that they can find and keep good jobs. Individuals can achieve greater levels of self-sufficiency and economic success through Goodwill's family strengthening and workforce development services - such as employment training and education, work experience, employment retention services, financial literacy, digital skills and other training programs. Goodwill programs strengthen communities and families and promote independence and dignity for the people who need it most.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.58; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.4%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $20.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $370K · 14 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.3M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule M noncash within contributions did not reconcile in the filed values.