Hardin County Community Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311335053
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Kenton, OH, USA
Phone
4196744053
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$945,830
Expenses
$527,387
Assets
$15,298,108
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gina Messner (Vice President)
  • Matthew Jenninngs (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Bryan Marshall (Executive Dir.): $13,190 total reported compensation
  • Mary Dickinson (Secretary): $2,531 total reported compensation
  • Jannette Jacobs (Treasurer): $2,509 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Improving the quality of life in Hardin County, Ohio through charitable giving by 1) Providing a vehicle for donors with varied interests to support charitable and community activities, 2) Assessing and responding to emerging and changing community needs, 3)Developing a permanent endowment for the community and 4) Serving as a catalyst to initiate projects vital to the community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Grants made for the purpose of accomplishing the Foundations' mission.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.5%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 70.2%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 99; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 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: 44.2%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 29.01; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.5% of revenue deployed · 70.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $370K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $13K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.