Kurt Warner First Things First Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431921463
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Louis, MO, USA
Phone
6023850840
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$343,174
Expenses
$292,467
Assets
$2,092,745
Liabilities
$248

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KURTIS E WARNER (PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)
  • BRENDA WARNER (VICE PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)
  • JENNIFER ZINK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETA)

Highest reported compensation

  • JENNIFER ZINK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETA): $69,914 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Dedicated to impacting lives in a lasting way by promoting christian values, sharing experiences and providing opportunities to encourage everyone that all things are possible when people seek to put "first things first" with projects such as trips to disney world for ill children and their families, building recreation centers in children's hospitals, rewarding single parents as they achieve the dream of home ownership, encouraging inclusion in school for special education students and more. All projects primarily target children and families in greater phoenix, st. Louis and Iowa and are centered on the warners' life theme of putting faith and family first.

What it reported doing in 2024

Warners' warm-up is a program held annually in the fall to collect winter coats in greater st. Louis in partnership with operation food search, local police departments, fedex office, lookafter hair company, a-mrazek moving systems, bi-state credit unions, lion's choice, and local st. Louis media. St. Louisans are encouraged to donate new or gently-used winter coats at drop off locations throughout the st. Louis region. Operation food search distributes the coats to those who need them via local homeless shelters, schools and social service centers. The foundation also purchases new coats at a reduced rate in bulk. In 2024, more than 7,000 coats and winter apparel items were distributed in the bi-state area.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 64% for direct work, and 36% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 55
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $23.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd 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: 82%; rating input score 82; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 14.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.16; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.3% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $246K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.