Marion Downtown Business Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561618807
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Marion, NC, USA
Phone
8286522215
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$223,264
Expenses
$215,307
Assets
$60,451
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Freddie Killough (Executive Director)
  • Tyler Mace (Past President)
  • Crystal Ledbetter (Board President)
  • Becky Poteat (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Freddie Killough (Executive Director): $55,774 total reported compensation
  • Natalie Bell (Events and Outreach Coordinator): $32,300 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Marion Business Association serves to strengthen the economic base of the community while preserving the historic character of the Downtown. To aid in development of business plans, implement business plans, business to business networking, business marketing, and workshops/seminars to build entrepreneurial ecosystem. Organize downtown promotions, festivals and events to give vitality to downtown business district. Provide business basics to new entrepreneurs. Work with property owners to improve buildings for optimal lease rates.

What it reported doing in 2024

First Accomplishment - Advertising and Marketing - Promoted 150 plus Marion Businesses "Open for Business" with billboards, social media, printed materials, website development, advertisements. Facade improvement grants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 73% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 71% for direct work, and 29% for member benefits.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.6%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 40.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $215K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.