Lettie Pate Evans Foundation

Legal name: Lettie Pate Evans Foundation Inc Restricted U/w of Lettie Pate Evans

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237282939
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
404-522-6755
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Named Trusts N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$665,581,251
Expenses
$143,993,083
Assets
$4,532,259,056
Liabilities
$31,836,467

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • P RUSSELL HARDIN (PRESIDENT - RETIRED 1/31/2025)
  • ERIK S JOHNSON (PRESIDENT - ELECTED 2/1/2025)

Highest reported compensation

  • P RUSSELL HARDIN (PRESIDENT - RETIRED 1/31/2025): $1,105,693 total reported compensation
  • ERIK S JOHNSON (PRESIDENT - ELECTED 2/1/2025): $585,923 total reported compensation
  • ELI P NIEPOKY (TREASURER): $466,817 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Lettie Pate Evans Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants to nonprofit organizations in Georgia and Virginia.

What it reported doing in 2025

Grants for Education. Grants were awarded to seven schools in Georgia and Virginia according to the terms of the will that created the Restricted Fund, including Berry College, Episcopal High School in Virginia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary, Tallulah Falls School, Washington and Lee University and The William and Mary Foundation. The governing boards of those recipient schools have full discretion to allocate grant funds.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. No material rating questions were generated from the available inputs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 95
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.4%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 97.4%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 78.4%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 31.48; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 97.4% of revenue deployed · 97.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $140.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $3.1M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 27 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 30 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.