Forward Communities
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 800721191
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2012–2016
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2016
- Location
- Raleigh, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9193006917
- Rating
- 64
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Urban, Community Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,305
- Expenses
- $35,649
- Assets
- $4,369
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
People named in this filing
- CHRISTOPHER GERGEN (Chairman)
- HEATHER MCDOUGALL (Director)
- KENNETH LEWIS (Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Forward Communities is a community develoopment organization that strives to educate and engage local citizens as problem solvers in their community. We have a particular focus on young people from disenfranchised communities - providing them with the skills, tools, resources, and support they need to envision positive change in their neighborhoods and put their ideas into action. By unleashing the creative potential of our citizens through "social entrepreneurship", we believe we can improve our local communities by providing relief to the poor, distressed or disadvantaged, lessening the burdens of government and reducing poverty and crime, improving the health and well being of a community's citizens, reducing a community's carbon footprint, lessening community tensions, or improving educational achievement.
What it reported doing in 2016
During the year, Forward Communities organized two Transform Your Life Through Entrepreneurship events to help inspire, equip and connect individuals in the Triangle who were interested in becoming entrepreneurs. The events were open to anyone, but we targeted minorities and partnered with InterFaith Council in Chapel Hill to invite individuals trying to work their way out of unstable housing situations. We also sponsored and coordinated monthly Boss Thursday events which were social networking opportunities for Durham entrepreneurs that included a brief presentation or speech from a local business leader and opportunities for connecting a variety of small businesses and entrepreneurs with each other to share ideas, successes and lessons learned.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- Distribution model
- Transfer-based 990-EZ. The 990-EZ reports grants or member benefits, but it does not separate enough spending to show the nonprofit’s full delivery mix.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 62
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 12
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -215.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -9.4% per year; rating input score 0; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -31.4% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -19.8% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 5 of 5 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2012 to 2016
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
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: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.