Community First - America's Charities

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010914846
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chantilly, VA, USA
Phone
8004589505
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,279,415
Expenses
$1,038,439
Assets
$2,020,882
Liabilities
$1,563,041

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES E STARR (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES E STARR (PRESIDENT & CEO): $363,141 total reported compensation
  • DAVID WILLIAM STATHIS (VP, IT): $171,428 total reported compensation
  • KIMBERLY H YOUNG (VP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT): $158,758 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support, and be organized and operate to promote and support the activities and purposes of other 501(c)(3)organizations that assist children, families, adults & communities by providing services that further their exempt purposes.

What it reported doing in 2025

Member campaign services - activities related to the management of community first - america's charities (community first) member charity participation in the federal government's annual workplace giving campaign (combined federal campaign), private sector and state and local public sector campaigns.community first worked to generate unrestricted and sustainable financial support for its members in the public and private sector. Community first applied on behalf of its members and secured their participation in the cfc nationwide. Community first members also participated in state and local campaigns in dc, md, and va, where eligible. Further, the community first supported member charity participation in campaign related events to support public sector employee giving.community first shares intellectual capital and core competencies with members and private sector around social responsibility, employee engagement, workplace giving, campaign management, and fundraising.community first also provides symposia and training for charities and employers focused on topics and issues such as employee charitable engagement, volunteer leadership development, donor relationship management and expectations, and leveraging social media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 49.1%; rating input score 49; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.8%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.95; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.77; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.2% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $363K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 17 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 49/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.