North Carolina Business Leaders for Educ

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462988453
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cary, NC, USA
Phone
9197447447
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$936,000
Expenses
$955,429
Assets
$1,580,044
Liabilities
$5,260

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRENDA BERG (CEO & DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRENDA BERG (CEO & DIRECTOR): $296,404 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 mission of North Carolina business leaders for education (dba best nc) is to unite an engaged and informed business perspective to dramatically transform and improve North Carolina's education system. Our goal is for every student to graduate with the knowledge, skills and behaviors to succeed in a competitive global economy.

What it reported doing in 2024

Research/communications: motivated by best practices and solid research, best nc believes that curating and sharing data and information broadly with education stakeholders will lead to better conversations and ideas. Our primary communication resource is the nc education facts & figures guide and accompanying education data sets (www.ncedfacts.org). We also research, prepare, and publish briefs on relevant research, programs, and policies that can elevate education practices in North Carolina. We share this information both directly with education stakeholders and widely through social media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 82.1%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.65; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.4% of revenue deployed · 82.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $785K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $296K · 12 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.