Smyth County Community Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
881039448
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Marion, VA, USA
Phone
2767812743
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,029,241
Expenses
$542,881
Assets
$1,379,800
Liabilities
$153,245

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LYNDA HELTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • LYNDA HELTON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $109,002 total reported compensation
  • KEVIN VERNON (CFO): $63,471 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Smyth county community foundation's (sccf) mission is to partner to build pathways for a stronger community by creating opportunities and giving hope for a brighter future. Our shared purpose is to build a community where all people can lead healthy, successful lives and are inspired to help one another. Sccf partners with community members to set up endowed funds to support scholarships and community grants across smyth county and adjacent communities. These funds are managed by sccf to grow in value while donating a portion of the earnings to award scholarships to smyth county students and grants to nonprofit organizations across the county. Through the investing and growth, the funds will give back to the community for years to come. Sccf also partners with our local county and town government agencies and other nonprofits to promote health, wellness, and education throughout our communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Providing scholarships to area students through endowments created by local families and organizations. These include healthcare, education, and music related scholarships. Also, smyth promise scholarship provides "last dollar" scholarships to smyth county graduates attending community college. Smyth promise is provided through a partnership with smyth county board of supervisors and smyth county charitable fund. Sccf engages in outreach to area students and future students to help educate on scholarship opportunities they have when attending college.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 69% for direct work, and 31% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.7%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 47.3%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.54; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 114.1% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 66.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 87.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.7% of revenue deployed · 96.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $525K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $109K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.