Self-Help Credit Union

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561382971
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Durham, NC, USA
Phone
(800) 966-7353
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$102,180,876
Expenses
$77,223,875
Assets
$1,979,006,644
Liabilities
$1,716,112,628

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Randy Chambers (President of SHCU)
  • Kerri J Smith (Regional President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Randy Chambers (President of SHCU): $142,886 total reported compensation
  • Adam Herbage (Application Dev Lead): $137,951 total reported compensation
  • Martin Eakes (CEODirector): $136,788 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Self-Help Credit Union is a community development financial institution that provides financial services and lending to individuals, small businesses, and nonprofits, with a focus on serving underserved communities and promoting economic opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided consumer, mortgage, and business loans to members at reasonable rates, with a goal of improving the social or economic conditions of members, especially low-income persons. A total of 3,481 loans were originated in 2024. Provided services and paid competitives rates of interest to members. Total members served 88,916

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 34th 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: 24.4%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 25.63; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.87; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 23 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 14 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 8 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.