Kentucky Chamber Foundation

Legal name: Kentucky Chamber Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611284992
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Frankfort, KY, US
Phone
(502) 695-4700
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,345,732
Expenses
$2,363,331
Assets
$1,260,923
Liabilities
$263,277

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ASHLI WATTS (PRESIDENT / CEO & SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • ASHLI WATTS (PRESIDENT / CEO & SECRETARY): $587,726 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Kentucky Chamber Foundation focuses on solutions that strengthen Kentucky’s workforce, education systems, and long-term economic growth.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Kentucky chamber foundation was created by the Kentucky chamber of commerce to further its mission of creating and supporting a competitive business climate in Kentucky. The chamber foundation has committed to developing programs and services in line with the Kentucky chamber's vision for Kentucky. During fy25, Kentucky chamber foundation's programs include: leadership institute for school principals Kentucky school principals, new in their careers, attend executive level leadership training at no cost to them (valued at $17,700 each). To date, the leadership institute has trained more than 590 principals with donations of more than $3.2 million from Kentucky's business community. The Kentucky chamber workforce center the workforce center convenes employers, educators/providers, and public sector entities to ensure workforce and education efforts are employer driven. Education efforts foundation efforts focus on middle school civics education through the statewide 'civics bee' program which is a partnership with the u.s. Chamber of commerce. In addition, the foundation is working to connect students & businesses to teach about career opportunities through the 'bus-to-business' program. Workforce development initatives the foundation entered into contracts with the state of Kentucky regarding multiple workforce development initiatives including the talent pipeline management program and the workforce center program. The foundation provides various administrative service and support to manage these initiatives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.8%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $588K · 24 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 5 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.