Cornerstone West Community Dev Corp

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510387484
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wilmington, DE, USA
Phone
3028885346
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,086,063
Expenses
$1,628,509
Assets
$5,438,740
Liabilities
$3,188,529

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH LESTER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL F CALISTRO JR (DIRECTOR): $141,521 total reported compensation
  • SARAH LESTER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $85,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Cornerstone west cdc's mission is to build affordable housing to meet the needs of the new castle county residents and to serve as a proactive catalyst for community revitalization.

What it reported doing in 2024

Economic development - cornerstone west cdc implements programs to support existing businesses, attract new businesses, and make the west side a destination. The type of work includes small business development, technical assistance, and commercial corridor improvement strategies. Cornerstone partners with local organizations to implement successful models from the west side of wilmington, in other parts of wilmington, and in the state.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 63% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 64% for direct work, and 36% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44.4%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 77.7%; rating input score 78; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 20th 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: 47.2%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.34; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44.4% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $142K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 24 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 18 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.