Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061083893
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Norwalk, CT, USA
Phone
2037503200
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$21,278,159
Expenses
$32,959,648
Assets
$291,351,607
Liabilities
$1,902,284

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MENDI BLUE (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MENDI BLUE (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $376,733 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM ANDREWS (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $252,834 total reported compensation
  • JOSEPH COLLIN (VP, PHILANTHROPY): $224,833 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Community leadership - fairfield county's community foundation promotes and supports collaborations, partnerships and initiatives to make an impact for women and girls, older youth (who are not in school or employed), equitable health, especially maternal health, affordable housing as well as income and asset building. The community foundation strengthens fairfield county nonprofits by providing workshops, trainings and technical assistance to agencies and their staff & volunteers through the foundation's center for nonprofit excellence.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89.5%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 100; 34th 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; 66th 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: -54.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.84; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $29.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $377K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $801K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 455 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 442 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.