Greater Gaston Development Corporat

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471726248
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Gastonia, NC, USA
Phone
9802837200
Rating
43
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$565,455
Expenses
$620,495
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICK MUMFORD (EXECUTIVE DI): $162,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The ggdc is a private sector led non-profit corporation, formed in 2014 for the sole purpose of strengthening factors influencing gaston county's economic competitiveness. The organization has served as a leader, catalyst, convener, and facilitator of strategic initiatives designed to unite and align public, private, and non-profit entities behind a pro- growth agenda. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to substantially increase capital investment and sustainable job development in gaston county. Since the ggdc's 2014 inception, gaston county enjoyed moderate incremental economic development success. But in 2019, it found itself at an inflection point in its growth trajectory. With strong development momentum occurring throughout the county, the ggdc in conjunction with partners worked to identify and address the associated opportunities and challenges to ensure long-term community benefit. The ggdc-strategically and uniquely positioned to help create and drive forward gaston-helped

What it reported doing in 2020

The positive economic prospects our gaston county community faced in 2019 did not randomly appear. The ggdc, along with the public and private sectors, worked collaboratively to position gaston county to create and take advantage of growth opportunities. Much of the ggdc's early efforts were guided by the organization's 2014 alliance for growth plan, developed in partnership with over 100 gaston county leaders, which focused on seven strategic growth priorities comprised of 1) countywide image building & marketing, 2) entrepreneurial & small business growth, 3) workforce preparedness, 4) new & expanded business recruitment, 5) growth & regulatory processes, 6) sites, buildings, & infrastructure, and 7) transportation & access. In 2019, the ggdc was engaged in a number of activities in support of its mission. Advocacy for transportation infrastructure investments, like advancing a comprehensive multijurisdictional multimodal transportation vision for the charlotte region, was a major component of ggdc efforts. The gaston outside campaign, launched in june 2016 to build awareness within the real estate, business, and homebuyer audiences of economic opportunities throughout gaston county, enjoyed its most successful year to date in 2019. The ggdc was also instrumental in the creating, leading, and supporting the 2019 gaston economic development strategy committee and resulting report, which led to a third-party economic development assessment of greater gaston. Assessment findings resulted in economic development being identified by the board of county commissioners as a high priority for gaston county in 2020. Since the assessment's delivery in late 2019, the ggdc worked in close partnership with the county manager's office and partners to develop a comprehensive countywide economic development strategy, helping lead gaston county to a prosperous and robust economic future. For the important work of the ggdc, the organization was recognized in two 2019 moments for its years' worth of collaborative efforts: february 2019 - the ggdc received the annual epic award from the montcross chamber of commerce for innovative collaborative strategies and approaches. May 2019 - the ggdc received the annual community leadership award from the gaston together: communities of excellence in recognition of the gaston outside (go) image and marketing campaign. Moving into 2020, the ggdc looks forward to creating an environment of strategic level thinking among partners, aligning the public, private, and nonprofit sectors around a holistic vision of gaston county's future, and working aggressively to achieve this vision.

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

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: 12
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 7
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.3%; rating input score 14
  • Program expense ratio: 13%; rating input score 13
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 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: NotApplicable
    • 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: -9.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -23.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -36.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.3% of revenue deployed · 13% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 17 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2015 to 2020
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 14/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.