Lee County Jewish Federation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
592668992
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Fort Myers, FL, USA
Phone
2394814449
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Affiliation
Judaism

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$911,130
Expenses
$939,081
Assets
$2,316,434
Liabilities
$89,987

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KARIN FINE (CO-PRESIDENT)
  • DOREEN KOSTEL (CO-PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DEBBIE SANFORD (EXECUTIVE DI): $125,131 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 mission of the jewish federation of lee and charlotte counties is to provide and support philanthropic, educational, and social service programs that promote such jewish values as tzedakah (benevolence), tikkun olan (repairing the world), and k'lal yisrael (taking responsibility for one another) in order to strengthen and enrich the jewish community locally, in israel, and throughout the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Jewish life: the program allows for the exploration of the jewish community through community breakfasts, the j-fed social club, the tribe (events for adults in their 30s and 40s), holocaust remembrance program, lsraelfest, and small ongoing activities such as bbyo, mah jongg, jewish war veterans, israeli dancing.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.2%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 60.5%; rating input score 61
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 77.3%; rating input score 77; 34th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.1%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.47; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.2% of revenue deployed · 60.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $569K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $125K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.