Forward Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391571083
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Janesville, WI, USA
Phone
6087573160
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$356,970
Expenses
$333,588
Assets
$2,342,845
Liabilities
$213,678

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sharlon Hermanson (President)
  • Angela Pakes (President (until 3/1/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • Sharlon Hermanson (President): $71,139 total reported compensation
  • Corinne Webber (Mgr Finance & Ops): $46,612 total reported compensation
  • Angela Pakes (President (until 3/1/24)): $44,252 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 purpose is to encourage economic development by marketing and promoting activities aimed at attracting new industries to Janesville.

What it reported doing in 2024

Rock County 5.0 Project: This is a joint-county effort to improve the economic condition of the area. This effort will consist of 5 economic development strategies - Business Retention & Expansion, Business & Investment Attraction, Real Estate Positioning, Small Business & Entrepreneurship, & Workforce Profiling.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 69% for direct work, and 31% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.5%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 55.8%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 67%; rating input score 67; 45th 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: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.02; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.5% of revenue deployed · 55.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $186K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.