Good Journey Development Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201615870
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
3142299079
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$236,159
Expenses
$274,582
Assets
$14,980
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dionne Ferguson (Executive Director)
  • Dr Nikki Smith (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dionne Ferguson (Executive Director): $68,407 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Good journey supports & builds sustainable communities & young leaders who take responsibility for the improvement of our communities, and who promote cultural understanding that contributes to the betterment of society.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our Community Our World (Community Leadership Building, Self-Healing, Resiliency & Social Justice Leadership Development) Our Community Our World is a year-long program to develop youth leaders who actively work to improve their community and individual circumstances through self-awareness, educational, career, community involvement and development workshops, and cultural exchanges. Through weekly sessions, youth manage an urban farm, produce podcasts, create, and enact community improvement projects, volunteer in community, manage social media, and prepare to organize to address racism and social injustices, and develop skills needed for global youth leadership and cultural exchanges. Our Community Our World program youth participate in Bustani Ya Upenda (Garden of Love), Second Look Podcast, Social Media Content Creation & Management, LIVE Black Youth Corps Community Involvement & Cultural Exchange, and History Maker Marker Project.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.8%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.05; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.8% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $207K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 7 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.