Downtown Churches United
Legal name: Downtown Churches United Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 541931020
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Petersburg, VA, United States
- Phone
- (804) 722-0321
- Rating
- 92
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Interfaith Coalitions
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,301,563
- Expenses
- $1,307,473
- Assets
- $833,628
- Liabilities
- $6,667
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Maxcine Walker (President)
- Dr George WC Lyons (Past President)
- Waverly E Brown Jr (Vice President)
- Scott Fisher (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Scott Fisher (Executive Director): $25,000 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 Hope Center is a union of area faith communities, organizations, and other charitable partners committed to filling the essential needs of Greater Petersburg’s financially distressed citizens.
What it reported doing in 2024
Food Pantry - The Food Pantry provides groceries to residents of Petersburg, Virginia, and is open each Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Food is obtained through purchases from Feed More, Inc. and donations from numerous community partners, including Food Lion, Aldi, Walmart, Pepperidge Farm, Goya Foods, Coca-Cola Consolidated, Bon Secours Southside Medical Center, Virginia State University (Randolph Farm), the National Association of Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, Richard Bland College, and food drives conducted by local churches, civic organizations, and community groups. Volunteer drivers collect and transport donated food directly to the Hope Center.The Food Pantry is managed by a paid Pantry Manager and Pantry Assistant and relies extensively on volunteers from community organizations, local businesses, and individuals completing court-ordered community service. Volunteers assist with sorting, packaging, stocking, and distributing food to clients.Clients may receive food assistance once every 28 days and are interviewed and entered into Feed More's client database to ensure compliance with program guidelines. Homebound seniors receive food deliveries through a partnership with the Petersburg Sheriff's Department.During the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025, Downtown Churches United purchased 290,567 pounds of food from Feed More, Inc. at a cost of $18,190. Combined with donated food, the pantry provided food assistance to 21,583 individuals during the year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 88% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 94
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 95.3%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 94.9%; rating input score 95
- Fundraising efficiency: $69.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: -0.5%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 95.3% of revenue deployed · 94.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $25K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
- 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.