Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621300726
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
4237566201
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,433,803
Expenses
$5,843,988
Assets
$39,906,022
Liabilities
$25,258,867

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS THOMPSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MARTINA GUILFOIL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU FEB 2025))

Highest reported compensation

  • MARTINA GUILFOIL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU FEB 2025)): $194,942 total reported compensation
  • DARLA BLAND (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $138,580 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mission: to create economically diverse neighborhoods filled with financially empowered citizens and housing for all.vision: all chattanoogans can afford a safe place in a strong neighborhood to call home. Belief: we believe the future of chattanooga is rooted in the vibrancy of all our neighborhoods and the prosperity of all our people.

What it reported doing in 2024

Chattanooga neighborhood enterprise, inc. (cne) operates housing development, lending, counseling, and community engagement programs in chattanooga, Tennessee. Cne develops, owns, and manages single-family and multifamily housing, including rental properties, to provide affordable residential options.cne supports homeownership through education, counseling, loan origination, and loan servicing activities. As a certified community development financial institution (cdfi), cne provides down payment and closing cost assistance, foreclosure prevention services, and home repair financing for low- and moderate-income households. Cne also operates a small-dollar loan program that provides an alternative to payday lending through participating employers.in addition, cne provides property management services for its housing portfolio and conducts community engagement initiatives that support neighborhood revitalization and resident leadership development.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 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: -7.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.83; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.63; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.4% of revenue deployed · 79.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 15 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $4M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.