Mariner Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454997770
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7044770547
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parent/Teacher Group

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,035,020
Expenses
$1,950,816
Assets
$23,382,136
Liabilities
$23,070,000

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Bitika Williams (President)
  • Tom Winstead (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Bitika Williams (President)
  • Virginia Staley (Secretary)
  • Stephanie Hill (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To help Mountain Island Day Community Charter School succeed by partnering parents and teachers and providing resources for the school.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Mariner Foundation functions as the parent-teacher organization for Mountain Island Day Community Charter School and also owns the physical facilties of the school and holds the associated debt. In FY 19/20, the Foundation borrowed $24,735,000 through a public finance bond offering in order to purchase the school's formerly leased facilities, construct a new educational facility, purchase land for future use, and make a variety of improvements to the school's grounds.The Foundation leases the property to the school in amount equal to the annual debt service requirements.The Foundation also coordinates extra-curricular and ancillary activities for the school such as bus transportation and student activities and collects fees and pays expenses for activities such as dance, art, and athletics.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 85% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 71
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.1%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th 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: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.99; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.1% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.