Community Action Opportunities
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 560817672
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Asheville, NC, USA
- Phone
- 8282522495
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $14,068,035
- Expenses
- $12,694,125
- Assets
- $5,403,756
- Liabilities
- $1,837,146
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- VICKI HEIDINGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
People named in this filing
- OPHELIA DEGROOT (VICE CHAIR OF PLANNING)
- MAX HANER (VICE CHAIR OF FINANCE)
- WILLIE MAE BROWN (SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To help people who live on limited incomes transform their lives our dedicated, diverse and exceptional staff and leadership deliver comprehensive, high quality services, build and support strong partnerships, and mobilize community action to create positive change.
What it reported doing in 2024
Economic developmentthe economic development department of community action opportunities provides services for adults who have a limited income and are ready to make the hard changes necessary to improve their lives and operates programs for making homes safe, healthy and more energy efficient. Community services block grant - life works provides guidance to individuals with limited income who are ready to make the hard changes necessary to improve their lives with the support and resources offered by the program's life coaches, customers reach specific goals within one to three years. Whether it's finding and keeping a better job, enrolling in and graduating from school or vocational training, obtaining safe and affordable housing or building personal and economic strength to stabilize their families. Annually, life works provides families with intensive case management services and other support that for the year ended june 30, 2024 enabled 31 low-income families to overcome obstacles that prevent self-sufficiency and have income over 125% of the us-dhhs poverty income guideline.weatherization services program - the focus of the weatherization assistance program is to provide services to qualifying clients to make their homes safe, healthy and more energy-efficient. Using a "whole house" approach, we install insulation under floors, in attics and walls and seal air leaks. We also test and install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, install energy-efficient bulbs, repair/replace water heaters, repair/replace faulty heating and cooling systems and share home energy cost-saving ideas with customers. For the year ending june 30, 2024, 76 homes were weatherized for low-income families in buncombe, cleveland, henderson, madison, mcdowell, polk, rutherford and transylvania counties. In addition, 57 homes received heating and cooling systems repairs or replacements.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 76% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
- Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 9.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $11.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $840K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.