Greater Horizons

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
200849590
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
866.719.7886
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$754,144,636
Expenses
$239,432,860
Assets
$2,782,672,021
Liabilities
$289,948,454

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEBORAH WILKERSON (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBORAH WILKERSON (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT): $549,913 total reported compensation
  • COREY ZIEGLER (ASSISTANT SECRETARY): $290,990 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Greater Horizons is a leading provider of charitable solutions, working alongside donors and their advisors to develop philanthropic legacies. Our mission is to increase charitable giving and educate and connect donors to needs they care about. Through donor-advised funds and a comprehensive platform of charitable tools, our philanthropic experts help individuals, families, companies and institutions streamline their giving and provide research and guidance on charitable landscapes and giving strategies. Greater Horizons is powered by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. The Community Foundation created Greater Horizons in 2004, to serve those who wish to use the Community Foundation’s products and services under a national entity. Our Mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Greater horizons helps donors give to charity through donor-advised funds and other charitable investment accounts. Donors use their funds to grant to their favorite causes. In 2024, donors granted $227 million to nonprofit organizations across the country. Greater horizons works donor by donor to provide research and resources to assist with their giving, including personal and family discussions about legacy and values, competitive grant programs, and guidance on charitable landscapes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 94
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.7%; rating input score 38
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,497.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Pass
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 28th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 68.3%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.62; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 37.7% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $230.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $550K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3282 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3045 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.