Northwestern Housing Enterprises Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561924027
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boone, NC, USA
Phone
8282646683
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,908,809
Expenses
$3,548,297
Assets
$24,632,391
Liabilities
$15,316,083

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • EG NED FOWLER (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • LUKE FOWLER (INCOMING PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • AURELIA LEONARD (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • AURELIA LEONARD (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY): $118,715 total reported compensation
  • MORGAN HESS (TREASURER/CFO): $105,651 total reported compensation
  • EG NED FOWLER (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO): $81,921 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Affordable housing

What it reported doing in 2024

Developing and maintaining affordable housing units: seventeen (17) affordable housing developments have been completed, including four special needs facilities providing housing for 30 physically or mentally disabled low income individuals; 29 homes have been sold at advantaged prices to low income families; 220 affordable rental units are owned, maintained, managed; 207 additional affordable rental units have been developed, with 127 of these being actively managed (the other 80 were developed for unaffiliated companies and are independently managed); certain private grant funds have been used for capacity building purposes.

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 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: 9.2%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.94; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.1%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.5% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $119K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and related organizations
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 10 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: Conflict-of-interest policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.