Freshwater Coast Community Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471174877
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Abbeville, SC, USA
Phone
8644462773
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$620,270
Expenses
$277,309
Assets
$2,638,494
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LENA MILLER (CEO/SECRETAR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LENA MILLER (CEO/SECRETAR): $75,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Freshwater coast community foundation's mission is to support entrepreneurial, educational, and cultural development in the areas of abbeville county, mccormick county, and the starr-iva area of anderson county.

What it reported doing in 2025

The freshwater coast community foundation serves the region of abbeville county, mccormick county, and the starr-iva area of anderson county by providing grants and scholarships to promote continuing education and cultural enrichment. Additionally, we partner with the clemson university extension to help businesses launch their enterprises and help them acheive success.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.6%; rating input score 58
  • Program expense ratio: 99.6%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,520.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 90%; rating input score 90; 42nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 55.3%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.51; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.6% of revenue deployed · 99.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $276K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $75K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 58/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.