Highlands Business Partnership Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223665400
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Highlands, NJ, USA
Phone
7322914713
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$252,063
Expenses
$267,101
Assets
$49,689
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAY COSGROVE (PRESIDENT)
  • DOUG LENTZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CARLA CEFALO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • JAY COSGROVE (PRESIDENT)
  • DOUG LENTZ (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KIM SLATE (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Highlands business partnership is funded annually by a voluntary assessment of business owners in highlands, events, sponsors and tax deductible donations. Highlands business partnership, a nonprofit corporation and commercial alliance, founded in 1999, works on behalf of all those who live, work or invest in highlands to foster highlands' economic development, advocate continued revitalization, preserve our historic past, and strengthen the economic, cultural and commercial contributions in highlands.

What it reported doing in 2024

The program service accomplishments generate in excess of $100,000 in revenue. Driving foot-traffic of approximately 100,000 people to the highlands business district annually. The highland business partnership, inc. Manages and oversee various improvements to the district including shop local, destination marketing, digital media marketing, special events, decorations and landscaping, fundraising, creation and distribution the highland's visitor guide and rack cards as well as economic development.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 75% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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

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: 86
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.19; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $229K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.