Darkness RISING Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
831375588
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone
9292515121
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Mental Health Association

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$527,963
Expenses
$513,573
Assets
$311,736
Liabilities
$2,777

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Carlita V Ector (Executive Director)
  • Demetrius Edwards (President)
  • Cathey Ector-Cox (Vice-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Carlita V Ector (Executive Director): $80,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Darkness RISING Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit which provides direct mental health resources, connects individuals with therapists of color, and helps those in the Black community have conversations about their mental health and emotional well-being.

What it reported doing in 2025

Rebuild - Provided free therapy sessions and facilitated connections to licensed therapists for justice-involved individuals. Served 38 youth ages 5 - 18 and 148 total participants Find Me A Therapist - Matched community member to culturally competent therapists to reduce barriers to mental health care access.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.7%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 64.5%; rating input score 64
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.7%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.7% of revenue deployed · 64.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $331K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $80K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.