Life Connections of the Carolinas Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
820682551
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
5712966860
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Corporate Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$672,031
Expenses
$738,942
Assets
$24,196
Liabilities
$308,883

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Robert Holbrook (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Glenn Smith (Executive Dir.): $70,175 total reported compensation
  • Robert Daughtridge (Chairman): $16,000 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 create the conditions through carefully designed and implemented programming for youth and their families to find their own solutions within themselves ad within the communities they live.

What it reported doing in 2024

During the 2025 fiscal year, Life Connections provided services to 183 youth in which 161 were under the auspices of the juvenile court. We were able to do this through 6 North Carolina Counties overseeing some 9 funded programs. Counties we serve are Mecklenburg, Anson, Richmond, Stanly, Lee and Union and Guilford. These programs specialized in restorative practices including Mentoring, GED Instruction, Family Skill Building, Vocational Training, and Mental Health Counseling. Also during the 2025 fiscal year we were able to continue our contracts with the Mecklenburg County Unified Workforce Development Federal Grant Initiative, Child Support Services Employing Fatherhood Initiative, the Employment Services of the Department of Community Resources of Mecklenburg County and the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families grant initiative TANF. Through those contracts we served over 100 adults in our newly developed Workforce Development Program. Also based in restorative Practices our Workforce Development Program provided training to assist our clients in returning to the workforce or provide the skills needed to upgrade their position in their existing workplace.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 79.1%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 12.77; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87% of revenue deployed · 79.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $584K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.