Cornerstone Credit Counselors Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 841340419
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2011
- Forms available
- Form 990 2011
- Location
- Colorado Springs, CO, USA
- Phone
- 7195221722
- Rating confidence
- Limited
- Sector
- Financial Counseling
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $231,554
- Expenses
- $236,464
- Assets
- $48,797
- Liabilities
- $22,993
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2011. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2011. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide direction to those burdened with financial pressures and debt.
What it reported doing in 2011
Debt management plans (dmp): the organization manages over 250 client accounts annually. 165 counseling sessions were conducted for people who did not sign up for a debt management program. It also provided telephone counsel to over 250 people calling for general advice and counsel. These are people calling that were given helpful financial information, but didn't need the paid services of the organization. The organization offers clients ongoing individual budget and finance counseling and free financial education opportunities. Through the dmp program clients were able to pay approximately 1,100,000 to creditors; thus, helping the client move toward the goal of becoming debt free. During an initial appointment, the counselors assess the clients' complete current financial situation. The counselor will discuss the "root cause" of their financial difficulties. During this discussion the counselor will help the client understand the root cause and determine possible solutions. The counselor reviews their income and expenses along with their assets and liabilities to clarify their current financial situation. The counselor also determines the benefits of a dmp in addition to other possible solutions to resolve their financial crisis. In these sessions, the counselor emphasizes the importance of having an effective budget. Counselors are trained to give clients information that will be helpful toward getting and remaining debt free.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.21; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.47; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 39.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: -26.1% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -29.9% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $187K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2010 to 2011
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.