Northampton County Area Community College Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232064496
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bethlehem, PA, USA
Phone
6108615401
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community or Junior Colleges

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,428,610
Expenses
$8,034,521
Assets
$113,976,725
Liabilities
$12,229,819

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

Leadership & pay

52 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dr David Ruth (President of Northampton Community College)
  • Denise Smith (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr David Ruth (President of Northampton Community College): $344,870 total reported compensation
  • Denise Smith (Executive Director): $180,145 total reported compensation
  • Jason Laubach (Treasurer): $175,133 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 Northampton Community College Foundation, raises, invests and manages private resources for Northampton Community College, it's students, and it's staff.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Northampton Community College Foundation provides on-campus housing to support student access, engagement, and success. The residence halls offer a safe, affordable, and inclusive living environment for students enrolled in academic and workforce training programs. The residential experience is designed to promote student development, academic persistence, and community engagement. Residence Life staff provide educational programming, mentoring, and support services that foster leadership, cultural awareness, and personal responsibility. Living on campus also enhances collaboration between academic departments and student services, helping students connect classroom learning with real-world experiences. By offering convenient, supportive housing options, the Foundation helps remove barriers to higher education and strengthens its role as a regional resource for workforce development and lifelong learning.

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 52% for direct work, and 48% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.4%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 96.1%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.8%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.19; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.4% of revenue deployed · 96.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 49 of 49 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $345K · 52 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 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: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.