Rochester Area Community Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237250641
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Rochester, NY, US
- Phone
- 585.271.4100
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $64,764,956
- Expenses
- $38,141,014
- Assets
- $510,712,589
- Liabilities
- $2,817,571
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
35 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SIMEON BANISTER (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SIMEON BANISTER (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $328,512 total reported compensation
- AMY VARS CPA (SENIOR VP AND CFO): $260,286 total reported compensation
- ANDREW MULDOON (VP OF PHILANTHROPIC ENGAGEMENT): $219,918 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To inspire philanthropy and strengthen the community by connecting people, ideas, and resources.
What it reported doing in 2024
Grants, scholarships, and program services are distributed primarily in the New York counties of monroe, wayne, ontario, livingston, genesee, orleans, seneca and yates. Rochester area community foundation assists local citizens in meeting community needs and improving the region's quality of life through a voluntary pooling of their financial resources, time, and energy. Principal areas of benefit are education, human services, arts and culture, and civic improvement. Distributions were made to 1,719 agencies and individuals.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 87
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.6%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 87.2%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $18.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 74%; rating input score 74; 15th 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: 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: 41.1%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.39; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 81.6% of revenue deployed · 87.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $33.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $329K · 35 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 561 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 529 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.