Gulf Coast Community Foundation

What it reported doing in 2024

Together with our donors, gulf coast community foundation, inc. (gulf coast) and its supporting organizations, the venice endowment, inc. And gulf coast strategic investments, inc, transform our region through bold and proactive philanthropy. Gulf coast is a public charity that was created in 1995 with proceeds from the sale of the venice hospital. Since then, the foundation has grown to include more than 850 generous donor partnerships and invested more than $612 million in grants and initiatives in the areas of health and human services, civic and economic development, education, arts and culture, and the environment.(continued on schedule o)inspiring philanthropyat gulf coast, our mission begins together with our donors. Their gifts help power the actions we take every day to transform our region. Our gulf coast family of donors includes individuals, families, corporations, organizations, and other foundations. Gulf coast works in thoughtful coordination with donors and their legal, financial, and tax advisors to create custom philanthropic action plans and steward their gifts to meet their wishes. Whether it's a donor advised fund to support their favorite charities or a planned estate gift that will create a permanent charitable endowment in their name, gulf coast listens to what each donor envisions for their giving and then helps turn their vision into reality. Gulf coast also offers donors intelligence on emerging community issues and assistance from our professional staff in identifying charitable projects most compatible with their interests. By engaging donors in gulf coast's regional initiatives, the foundation can help them have a much greater philanthropic impact in the community than they might have had on their own. Impact in our regionin our role as a regional leader, gulf coast identifies priority issues through quantitative and qualitative research, then creates and funds catalytic community initiatives that target those priorities. These initiatives typically involve cross-sector collaboration and aim to leverage additional philanthropic funding from within and beyond our region.priority issues identified through this research include affordable housing, water quality and access to green spaces, and mental health. Gulf coast also provides support in the areas of arts and culture, civic and economic development, disaster recovery, education, environment, and health and human services. Additionally, gulf coast funds a variety of grants to support the work of nonprofit organizations in the region. Our grant programs include catalytic grants, which fund collaborative projects and programs that target regional priorities in measurable ways; community grants, which fund smaller projects at regional nonprofit organizations that can have significant impact in the community including work designed to raise funds and awareness of their mission; and empowering arts grants, which provide unrestricted funding to cornerstone arts and cultural organizations in the region to help them meet their artistic missions.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 87.4%; rating input score 87
• Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $26.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
  • Requires narrative reports: Fail
  • Conducts field audits: Fail
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Fail
  • Conducts site visits: Fail
  • Requires grant agreements: Fail
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 98.9%; rating input score 99; 37th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • 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: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 18%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.86; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings