Community Foundation of Lorain County

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341322781
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Elyria, OH, USA
Phone
4409847390
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,606,198
Expenses
$7,962,148
Assets
$167,885,452
Liabilities
$21,075,227

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CYNTHIA H ANDREWS (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CYNTHIA H ANDREWS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $218,640 total reported compensation
  • JAMES A STOBE (CFO): $149,612 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The community foundation responds to the changing needs of the community by making grants to local nonprofit organizations, awarding scholarships to help local students, working together with donors to build community endowment and providing leadership on key community issues.

What it reported doing in 2024

The community foundation is a grantmaking organization. Approximately one-third of the grants authorized in 2024 were directed by the board toward strategic initiatives and community responsive requests that address vital community needs in lorain county and to respond to emerging opportunities in a wide range of charitable organizations in lorain county. Grants awarded through a competitive process in 2024 supported programs across a diverse impact area, such as animals and environment, arts and culture, education, health, human services, and public benefit. The remaining grants authorized in 2024 were as designated to the community foundation from designated, donor advised or agency funds.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 89% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.5%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 93.9%; rating input score 94; 28th 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: -4.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 21.09; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.5% of revenue deployed · 77.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $219K · 23 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $241K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 143 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 130 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.