Desert Island Supply Co

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800611256
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2052020055
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$148,049
Expenses
$158,552
Assets
$15,231
Liabilities
$23,999

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH BRANTLEY (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • WILLIAM H BRANTLEY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH BRANTLEY (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $53,667 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The corporation is organized to provide children a writing and arts program dedicated to strengthening their writing skills and intensifying their intellectual habits.

What it reported doing in 2024

DISCOs writing workshops SERVES more than 700 low-income students in Birmingham City Schools. DISCO published students in a variety of mediums, including a poetry anthology, poem of the week posters, and live performances.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 53
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.3%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 64.7%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.1%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.1; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.58; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.8%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.4% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.3% of revenue deployed · 64.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $103K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.