Georgetown Business Improvement District Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
522023786
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Rating
44
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,347,144
Expenses
$5,682,547
Assets
$8,593,617
Liabilities
$5,788,946

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSEPH STERNLIEB (Chief Executive Officer)
  • JOHN WIEBENSON (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH STERNLIEB (Chief Executive Officer): $301,830 total reported compensation
  • NANCY MIYAHIRA (DIRECTOR OF MARKETING): $204,966 total reported compensation
  • JOHN WIEBENSON (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS): $180,270 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To enhance the business and community conditions throughout Georgetown in the following program areas: Street Services, Streetscape, Public Health, Marketing, Destination Management, Economic Development, Placemaking, and Transportation.

What it reported doing in 2023

Destination, economic development, and placemaking: other program areas include economic development which focuses on collecting and analyzing economic data on the georgetown economy and reporting it to business and government decision makers so they can make better-informed investment decisions in georgetown. The program also seeks creative ways to stimulate greater economic activity indifferent sectors, and sub areas within the neighborhood. The program produces an annual state of georgetown report; convenes brokers and property owners to collaborate on projects; and oversees special economic development projects on behalf of the neighborhood recruiting specific types of retailers to places in the neighborhood where they are both needed and will do well. This program also supports, and is supported by, the marketing and communications staff.destination management is a program designed to enhance the visitor experience to the georgetown commercial district. The program focuses on coordinating organizations that welcome visitors, improved information and interpretation, signage, planning a visitor center, and developing a program to revitalize the c&o canal. The public health program is led by the operations director and his staff. The bid works with the doh and dpw to monitor and abate rodent activity in 20 areas throughout the bid. Public safety activities are organized by the bid in coordinated with the mpd and local merchants, the citizens and business associations to introduce crime abatement strategies. The placemaking program designs, implements, and manages improvements to the public spaces throughout georgetown to provide safe, attractive, and active places for residents, workers, and visitors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - 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: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.51; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 34 of 34 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $4.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $302K · 39 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.4M reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 14 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.