Palmetto Care Connections

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462511868
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Bamberg, SC, USA
Phone
8032452672
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health - General and Rehabilitative N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,329,950
Expenses
$2,940,001
Assets
$5,259,747
Liabilities
$213,295

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kathy Schwarting (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kathy Schwarting (CEO): $320,153 total reported compensation
  • Matt Hiatt (Chief Technology Officer): $253,712 total reported compensation
  • Davia Smith (Chief Community Relations Officer): $110,927 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To assist providers in keeping health care local and connecting rural and underserved South Carolinians to quality services through broadband, technology, and telehealth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 93% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.2%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Limited
  • 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.79; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.2% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $320K · 13 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.