Delaware Community Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 222804785
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Wilmington, DE, USA
- Phone
- 3025718004
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $58,240,621
- Expenses
- $28,657,661
- Assets
- $392,486,239
- Liabilities
- $49,818,002
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
27 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN STUART COMSTOCK-GAY (PRESIDENT & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN STUART COMSTOCK-GAY (PRESIDENT & CEO): $393,573 total reported compensation
- JOYCE DARLING (VP FINANCE AND ADMINISTRAT): $191,912 total reported compensation
- SARAH HENCH (EXECUTIVE VP STRATEGIC ENG): $190,177 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to strengthen Delaware by maximizing community-based philanthropy.
What it reported doing in 2024
In the fiscal year ended june 30, 2025, the Delaware community foundation invested in building opportunity throughout the state by awarding over $23 million in grants and program expenses to nonprofit organizations and local students. The majority of that amount was granted from donor advised funds. The dcf also awarded $848,500 in scholarships to 245 students, $3,204,419 in direct grants to dozens of Delaware nonprofit organizations statewide through our community impact grants program, and $2,351,365 in direct grants statewide through healthy communities Delaware's healthy equity grants program and community partner grants.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 90% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 73
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 85
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 66.3%; rating input score 66
- Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $22.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 98.8%; rating input score 99; 37th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 50.8%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.7; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 66.3% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $23.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $394K · 27 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
- Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 328 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 324 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.
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.