Opportunity Alabama Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832134053
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Birmingham, AL, USA
Phone
3344254166
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,099,434
Expenses
$1,737,886
Assets
$3,198,547
Liabilities
$1,159,270

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEXANDER FLACHSBART (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEXANDER FLACHSBART (PRESIDENT): $190,666 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Founded in 2018, opportunity Alabama (opal) is an economic development organization committed to creating a national model of sustainable economic development through community-led, place-based investments. We help underserved communities leverage diverse funding sources for projects and initiatives that improve quality of place and enhance the built environment. Most of that work involves closing access to capital gaps in low-income communities, in economically distressed communities, and/or within disadvantaged populations (including, but not limited to, minority- and women-owned businesses, residents of low-income areas, etc.). Through that work, we remediate blight, improve general economic and societal conditions, combat community deterioration, and/or preserve the traditions, architecture, and appearance of the communities we serve.

What it reported doing in 2024

Opal has built an infrastructure to raise and invest private funds into the pipeline of investment opportunities we identify. A substantial amount of this work is undertaken by our wholly-owned subsidiary, opal investments (an Alabama benefit corporation). The rest is undertaken by opal community capital, a flexible source of capital critical to ensuring that the deals that come through pdap ultimately have a complete capital stack. Occ's primary mission is to provide loan and other investment products for real estate and businesses in order to promote economic development and close access to capital gaps in low-income communities, in economically distressed communities, and/or within disadvantaged populations (including, but not limited to, minority- and women-owned businesses, residents of low-income areas, etc.). We have applied to have occ recognized as a community development financial institution by the us dept of treasury. During 2024, we deployed over $800k in new investment to four projects across Alabama, all located in low-income communities; borrowers included a community-based nonprofit, a woman-owned business, and a minority-owned development team, working on projects that would create new commercial space, new jobs, new housing units, and more.

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 92% 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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.2%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.84; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 29.5% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 38.2% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 91.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $156K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.