National Foundation for Credit Counseling Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530132493
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026774314
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Financial Counseling

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,621,347
Expenses
$8,989,733
Assets
$6,325,266
Liabilities
$2,578,581

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL CROXSON (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL CROXSON (CEO): $662,481 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER LANDIS PIZI (COO): $383,200 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW RIBE (GENERAL COUNSEL): $218,557 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 lead a national movement that better equips americans to manage their financial futures and, in turn, advances the economy and our nation as a whole. Founded in 1951, the national foundation for credit counseling (nfcc) is the oldest nonprofit dedicated to improving people's financial well-being. With 52 member agencies and over 1,200 nfcc certified credit counselors serving 50 states and all u.s. Territories, our nfcc certified credit counselors are financial advocates, empowering millions of consumers to take charge of their finances through one-on-one financial reviews that address credit card debt, student loans, housing decisions, and overall money management.

What it reported doing in 2024

Membership support: foster member communications; hold member meetings and annual conference; provide counselor certification; provide a path to assistance for consumers via the consumer's preferred method (currently phone and online form, while building-out video and digital entry options). Maintain relationships with credit-granting organizations to support clients and member organizations, build awareness for mission through media outreach.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.9%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 72.4%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 98.5%; rating input score 99; 35th 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.3%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.9% of revenue deployed · 72.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $662K · 25 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $675K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 46 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 38 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.