Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
721508036
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Lake Charles, LA, USA
Phone
3374916688
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,850,000
Expenses
$4,009,191
Assets
$39,568,084
Liabilities
$59,644

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARA JUDSON (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA JUDSON (PRESIDENT/CEO): $131,841 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 of southwest Louisiana unites human and financial resources to effect permanent, positive, culture change. We impact southwest Louisiana by positioning the community foundation to be a recognized leader and by empowering donors and proactively establishing grants for targeted programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

The community foundation of southwest Louisiana serves calcasieu, beauregard, allen, cameron, and jefferson davis parishes by providing financial support for charitable, social, educational, and human services programs. The foundation works with philanthropists, letting them leave their good mark on the region. We assist in fundraising campaigns to grow nonprofit endowments; partner to provide emergency funding; support the special needs of affiliated agencies and institutions; and administer lifetime and testamentary endowments, trusts, and supporting foundations that improve the quality of life for all people.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 86% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.4%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $63.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.3%; rating input score 91; 27th 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.5%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.87; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.4% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $132K · 15 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $146K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 74 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 103 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.