Community Housing Initiatives
Legal name: Community Housing Initiatives Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 421416426
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Spencer, IA, US
- Phone
- 7122625640
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Housing Development, Construction, Management
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,563,177
- Expenses
- $6,206,930
- Assets
- $53,593,763
- Liabilities
- $7,122,621
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- SAMANTHA ERICKSON (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $248,717 total reported compensation
- MARK VREEMAN (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $183,825 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Community Housing Initiatives is Iowa's largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing. We provide housing and support to communities that Iowans are proud to call home.
What it reported doing in 2024
Affordable housing: develop and operate affordable rental housing for low and moderate income households, approximately 3,300 persons benefited; serving seniors, families and persons with disabilities.resident services: resident services helps residents qualify for rental units, and then overcome barriers to remain secure in their housing. The chi resident services team provides the following services: eviction prevention, physical and mental health liason, successful families, sustainable properties, community building and communications specialists.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 76% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 80
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 77
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61.7%; rating input score 62
- Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: 27.5%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.63; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 61.7% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $249K · 11 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $116K reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 59 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.