Cotton Incorporated
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 620786018
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Cary, NC, USA
- Phone
- (919) 678-2220
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $86,904,598
- Expenses
- $86,409,026
- Assets
- $29,773,650
- Liabilities
- $20,247,907
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
119 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- WILLIAM KIMBRELL (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- WILLIAM KIMBRELL (PRESIDENT & CEO): $589,667 total reported compensation
- MARK MESSURA (SENIOR VP, GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN MARKETING (THRU 07/2025)): $551,372 total reported compensation
- KIMBERLY S KITCHINGS (SENIOR VP, CONSUMER MARKETING (THRU 07/2025)): $449,679 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To help U.S. cotton producers compete effectively and profitably in the global market.
What it reported doing in 2025
See schedule o.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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: 69
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 60
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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st 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; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.68; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
- Governance: 107 of 107 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $590K · 119 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $28.2M reported
- Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.