Meet The Needs Charleston

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472703106
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Mount Pleasant, SC, USA
Phone
8438105960
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,085,416
Expenses
$1,017,292
Assets
$207,685
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Bakst (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Bakst (President): $65,000 total reported compensation
  • Ellen Gansen (Secretary): $34,583 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To eliminate some of the burden the area soup kitchens and shelters are facing in todays economic environment and to administer an educational program in area high schools that provides job readiness training for individuals who wish to enter the hospitality workforce.

What it reported doing in 2024

The goal of Feed the Need Charleston is to support organizations involved in feeding at-risk residents of the greater Charleston area, including One80Place, Neighbors Together, and Neighborhood House. This initiative is accomplished by fund raising events throughout the year, including, but not limited to Dining For A Cause, and FTN Kiawah Island Golf Outing. These events are made possible through the assistance of many local food and beverage professionals which support Feed the Need Charleston in achieving our fundraising goals. In addition, Feed the Need Charleston supports job training programs aimed at assisting people in finding opportunities to better their lives.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 64% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 43
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.2%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 85.5%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.2% of revenue deployed · 85.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $870K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 24 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.