Lenny Simpson Tennis and Education Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461952014
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wilmington, NC, USA
Phone
9105209264
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,758
Expenses
$80,458
Assets
$713,255
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lendward Simpson (Former Executive Director)
  • JoAnn Simpson (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lendward Simpson (Former Executive Director): $41,504 total reported compensation
  • JoAnn Simpson (Executive Director): $20,020 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide a year-round program to underserved youth of tennis instruction and academic support that builds self-esteem, character, and life skills, while promoting positive recreation and values like respect, honesty, discipline, and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided a year-round program for underserved youth in the Greater Wilmington, NC area, offering tennis instruction and academic support in a structured environment that promotes self-esteem, character development, and life skills. The program emphasized tennis as a positive alternative to negative recreation and fostered values such as respect, honesty, sportsmanship, discipline, and educational achievement.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

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: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -61.7%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.86; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.8% per year; rating input score 0; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -16.9% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $61K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $42K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.