Lincoln Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 610449631
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Louisville, KY, USA
- Phone
- 5025854733
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Educational Services and Schools - Other
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,977,219
- Expenses
- $1,951,250
- Assets
- $14,037,969
- Liabilities
- $673,623
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
25 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARSHALL BRADLEY JR (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- MARSHALL BRADLEY JR (PRESIDENT): $257,580 total reported compensation
- PAULA CAMPBELL (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $115,895 total reported compensation
- VENITA BENBOE (DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION): $109,958 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide educational enrichment programs that develop and support youth in overcoming social and economic barriers to achievement. This mission is accomplished through college access and college success programs.
What it reported doing in 2025
As part of whitney m. Young leadership initiative, the whitney m. Young scholars program is a college access program for promising youth from under-resourced communities throughout the louisville area. The program provides scholars an alternative path, raising their sights and fostering the development of a new generation of thought-leaders, change makers and trailblazers. Students commit to participate in saturday morning and summer programs that prepare them academically, socially and emotionally for high school graduation and the rigors of college. Eligible students must have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and qualify for free or reduced lunch. Approximately 250 students are served by this program annually.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 86% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 97
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 82.7%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 71.5%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.12 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- 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; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.19; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 82.7% of revenue deployed · 71.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $258K · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.