FPTower Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832061229
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Wilmington, NC, USA
Phone
7049070399
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$256,355
Expenses
$223,028
Assets
$110,420
Liabilities
$7,006

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Richard Neal (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Richard Neal (Executive Director): $36,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To restore, maintain, and repurpose the Frying Pan Tower to improve maritime safety, support ocean research and education, and protect marine life. The effort preserves a unique piece of American history while promoting conservation and public awareness.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization is dedicated to restoring, maintaining, and repurposing The Frying Pan Tower, located off the coast of North Carolina. This historic structure serves multiple purposes: enhancing maritime safety in the Atlantic Ocean, supporting environmental research and educational initiatives, and providing shelter to a thriving marine ecosystem. Through ongoing restoration efforts, the organization preserves a unique piece of American history while promoting ocean conservation and public awareness.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 61% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $397.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 13%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.1%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 65.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 40.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $36K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.