Light Rail Now Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271612714
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016, Form 990-EZ 2011, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Phone
7574997003
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Women's Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$537,299
Expenses
$525,710
Assets
$13,664
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Don Crigger (Vice President)
  • Cathy Callahan (President)
  • Martha McClees (Executive Director/Secretary)

People named in this filing

  • Chris Aebel (Director)
  • Mike Aschkenas (Director)
  • Marc Bernarducci (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To encourage support for light rail as part of Virginia Beach's transportation solutions. Launched a public information campaign focused on a public voter's referendum held November 2016.

What it reported doing in 2016

Held Board and Executive/officer elections and began building community coalitions to work on the Light Rail voter referendum information campaign.

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

STRONG - 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 assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 93.5%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $480.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 36.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -21% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 93.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 44 of 44 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $492K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 44 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $376K reported
  • Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2010 to 2016
  • 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: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.