Main Street Alabama

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271847357
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
2059108819
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,102,329
Expenses
$2,232,182
Assets
$2,069,367
Liabilities
$9,079

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

People named in this filing

  • NATALIE ARENDALL (DIRECTOR)
  • JEREMY ARTHUR (BOARD CHAIR)
  • TIM BLAIR (SECRETARY)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate citizens about ways to revitalize and preserve their small town downtowns and urban neighborhood commercial centers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Network: the network is an introductory level for communities who care about their historic downtown or neighborhood commercial district and are interested in learning more about the main street approach. Communities at this level will receive assistance from main street Alabama on organizing a public/private partnership to share their desire for an improved district and begin needed conversaions. Onboarding new designated main street districts: providing strategic plans, market studies, and branding quarterly training and annual main street conference: provide training to all interested webinar - placemaking and public art planning in person training - the economics of historic preservation webinar - marketing tips and tactics from photography to social media in person training - mobile workshop - anniston, heflin and oxford lab - main street Alabama annual conference and awards of excellence on main street main street 2.0 services for main street programs: capital stacking - how to build the funding stack for larger, more complicated projects in main street districts district development planning - conceptual planning process that is holistic in nature, provides copious visuals based on the current and expanding markets district investor building - working in individual districts to identify a pool of resources for private development in the district. Al spark: a main street Alabama initiative to energize emerging and growing businesses in designated main street Alabama districts across the state. Were able to pay out 210,000 worth of marketing grants, and an additional 350,000 worth of small business grants across the state of Alabama.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 86% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 92.7%; rating input score 93
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.2%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 21.8% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.4% of revenue deployed · 92.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 22 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 27 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.