North Carolina Rice Festival Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
834395857
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Leland, NC, USA
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural History, Natural Science Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$65,731
Expenses
$93,124
Assets
$40,004
Liabilities
$2,500

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Dr Doug Cushing (Chairman)
  • Caroline Lewis (Festival Events Manager)
  • Wanda Sinclair (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the North Carolina Rice Festival Inc. is to attract visitors and residents adults and youth to an annual series of events and related programs to increase awareness of the rice-growing heritage of Brunswick County NC and the cultural connections between the regions Gullah Geechee descendants and the inhabitants of West Africas fabled Rice Coast. Also to showcase the regions unique status as the northernmost area of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.The NCRF motto is Education through Celebration.

What it reported doing in 2025

The fourth North Carolina Rice Festival commemorates the rich history of rice cultivation in the Cape Fear Region and honors the cultural heritage of the Gullah Geechee community. The event showcased a diverse program including six hours of historical and cultural presentations entertainment by Gullah regional and local artists a dedicated Childrens Stage with engaging activities and an exhibit area featuring crafts products and services from forty-eight vendors. This years festival attracted a record-breaking attendance of 5000+ participants marking a 24% increase from the previous year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.5%; rating input score 88

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -41.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.43; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.4% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $81K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.