Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800249546
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Pensacola, FL, USA
Phone
8503773176
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Promotion of International Understanding

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$235,200
Expenses
$212,835
Assets
$245,047
Liabilities
$3,292

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jena Melancon (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jena Melancon (Executive Director): $73,105 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Gulf Coast Diplomacy is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization facilitating and strengthening connection, collaboration, and fellowship between the people of the Gulf Coast and the global community through international exchange and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Professional Exchange Facilitation: From October 2024 through September 2025, the organization facilitated professional exchange programs for 139 international visitors in 21 groups, supported by 30 interpreters and liaisons. Participants attended 119 structured professional meetings and engaged with 678 U.S. professional counterparts. In six visits, 36 visitors delivered classroom presentations to local students. The organization arranged 68 cultural activities for professional visitors. All in-person visitors (118) participated in at least one cultural activity outside of regular business hours. The organization also coordinated eight volunteer activities for seven groups (57 participants), totaling 95 volunteer hours donated in Northwest Florida. Program topics included local strategies to promote economic growth, technological innovation, and cooperative efforts to combat transnational crime. The program's immediate objective is to facilitate professional dialogue and promote understanding of American civic values and public policy. Long-term objectives include encouraging continued professional communication, supporting workforce and economic development in Northwest Florida, strengthening community engagement, and contributing to democratic institutions and national security. Donated program support included honorary citizenship certificates valued at $74 and baked goods valued at $86, used in connection with participant recognition and hospitality, and two hotel rooms, valued at $1,568, provided for staff training supporting IVLP program delivery.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 80% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $72.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.5%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.15; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $178K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $73K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.