Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region
Legal name: Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 391548450
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Appleton, WI, US
- Phone
- (920) 830-1290
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $60,589,648
- Expenses
- $40,809,733
- Assets
- $536,637,618
- Liabilities
- $72,011,883
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
28 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CURT DETJEN (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- CURT DETJEN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $419,832 total reported compensation
- MICHELLE WEBER (CFO): $210,705 total reported compensation
- TAMMY GEENEN (VP COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT): $164,665 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Connecting people with the needs of the community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Grants were awarded from charitable funds established by individuals, families, businesses and organizations reflecting their wishes for giving back in ways that collectively strengthen our community for current and future generations. These grants make a difference in the lives of people throughout the fox valley region in the areas of arts & culture, education, community improvement, health care, human services, the environment and religion. Our discretionary grant program includes the following efforts: 1) help strengthen nonprofit organizations; 2) provide community leadership grants to support and advance key community initiatives consistent with our grant priorities; 3) increase access and inclusion and educating children and youth in the areas of arts and culture and environmental sustainability; 4) and raising awareness of community issues to help spark action resulting in positive change.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 94
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 85
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $53.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 30th 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; 77th 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: 32.6%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.15; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 6 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $37.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $420K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $930K reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 454 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 456 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.