North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmin

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560755213
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wilmington, NC, USA
Phone
9102970614
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Commemorative Events

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,316,299
Expenses
$2,038,445
Assets
$2,576,201
Liabilities
$52,954

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Beck Smith (President)
  • Michael Franklin (President Elect)
  • Amy Dean (Vice President)
  • Alison Baringer (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Alison Baringer (Executive Director): $87,891 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 North Carolina Azalea Festival celebrates our community's art, gardens, history, and culture through educational, recreational, and family-friendly events that promote volunteerism, civic pride, and regional economic growth.

What it reported doing in 2024

The North Carolina Azalea Festival at Wilmington, Inc. produces an annual April festival celebrating the artistry, culture, history, and natural beauty of the Wilmington area. Through a street fair, parade, concerts, garden and historic home tours, art shows, youth sports, a scholarship pageant, and other family activities, the Festival promotes education, community pride, volunteerism, and civic engagement. More than 300,000 people attend these programs each year. Additional year-round events, including multicultural performances, children's art activities, school and community visits, and partnerships with other nonprofits for tours, art exhibitions, theatre, and cultural programming, support the mission to highlight and preserve the region's heritage while engaging the public in community events.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.26; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.6% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 6 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $113K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.