Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southwest Georgia Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581949907
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Albany, GA, USA
Phone
2298830909
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Financial Counseling

Reported finances

Revenue
$95,572
Expenses
$538,072
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • IRMA W WHITTEN (EXECUTIVE DI): $320,333 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide the best non-profit community service dedicated to delivering professional and confidential counseling, debt management and consumer education to all segments of the community regardless of the ability to pay.

What it reported doing in 2015

Creditor contributions - these contributions are based on disbursements made to creditors on behalf of clients who are paying off debt thru a debt management plan. These plans are developed after a counseling session with clients and certified counselors. In these sessions, a budget/debt analysis is done to determine options available to clients. In 2015, this agency disbursed 214,734 to creditors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 77% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 5
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.1%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -463%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 59.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -27.1% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -29.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $393K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $320K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2011 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.