Southern Financial Exchange

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
720797058
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New Orleans, LA, USA
Phone
5045256779
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,825,281
Expenses
$1,520,579
Assets
$2,949,471
Liabilities
$927,350

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAMELA T RODRIGUEZ (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • NANCY MOSS (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAMELA T RODRIGUEZ (PRESIDENT & CEO): $259,340 total reported compensation
  • NANCY MOSS (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT): $162,215 total reported compensation
  • DAVID PAYNE (SVP RISK & COMPLIANCE): $161,609 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Southern financial exchange (sfe) provides education, risk and compliance services, advocacy, and consultative expertise to the financial institutions and organizations we serve, through a collaborative partnership with our members and industry leaders.

What it reported doing in 2024

Promotion of electronic payments for member financial institutions which include banks, savings & loans, and credit unions. Education of our members through a conference, in-person seminars, webinars and on-demand courses. Education of our members through phone support, on-site review of member operations and on-site training/ consulting. Representation and advocacy of our members through industry development efforts: nacha rules, rpa forum committees, federal reserve task forces, eccho rules development and other industry events.

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 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.1%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 81.2%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.94; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.1% of revenue deployed · 81.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $259K · 22 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 24/100.