Frances P Bunnelle Foundation Coastal Community Foundation of Sc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571095197
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Pawleys Island, SC, USA
Phone
8437235736
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,329,946
Expenses
$3,212,077
Assets
$48,214,684
Liabilities
$1,010,701

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEALES SANDS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THRU 6/30/25)
  • ASHLEY NELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEGIN 12/1/25)

Highest reported compensation

  • JANE LITZ (CFO THRU 10/30/25): $257,699 total reported compensation
  • CHRIS BALLAD (CFO BEGIN 11/1/25): $163,692 total reported compensation
  • ASHLEY NELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BEGIN 12/1/25): $118,504 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The vision of the frances p. Bunnelle foundation is a diverse community with abundant opportunity for work, recreation and sustainable living. The foundation builds community by listening to, learning from, and serving local nonprofit organizations.

What it reported doing in 2025

The frances p. Bunnelle foundation serves the georgetown county region through a robust grantmaking program and leads other important community-wide initiatives. The bunnelle center: in 2025, the foundation continued to make meeting space available at no charge to nonprofits serving georgetown county. The building includes two meeting rooms, one with state-of-the-art technology that can accommodate 30 people, and another small meeting room that can accommodate 12. Palmetto giving day: the foundation was proud to support palmetto giving day in 2025 with matching funds and administrative support. Over $4.2 million was raised over a 36-hour period through online giving to support 89 organizations that serve georgetown county. Pathways to possibilities: in 2025 the foundation hosted the 7th annual pathways to possibilities career expo which reached over 6,200 8th graders from 10 counties. The event connects students with career education and future opportunities with over 100 regional employers in an interactive workforce development experience.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 52% for direct work, 48% for grants, and 0% for affiliated organizations.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 88.5%; rating input score 89; 31st 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: 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: -37.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.01; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $258K · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $109K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 62 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 63 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.