Special Olympics North Carolina Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
561149607
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Morrisville, NC, USA
Phone
9197197662
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,463,638
Expenses
$7,979,631
Assets
$11,724,407
Liabilities
$713,069

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEITH L FISHBURNE (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEITH L FISHBURNE (PRESIDENT/CEO): $234,082 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of special olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other special olympics athletes, and the community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Special olympics North Carolina is organized at the grassroots level with nearly 100 accredited local programs serving almost every county in the state. Most local programs are organized by county. Local programs are managed by local coordinators who oversee all aspects of the program ranging from athlete registration to fundraising to organizing local training and competition. Local programs host spring games taking place march through may.additionally, athletes represented the state in various out-of-state competitions across multiple sports, showcasing their skills and sportsmanship.health and fitness is one of special olympics North Carolina's key components to our strategic plan. Despite our impact via sports, special olympics' research has shown that people with intellectual disabilities (id) are consistently left out of health systems that are ill-equipped to diagnose and treat them. Medical professionals recognize how many people can be reached by partnering with sonc. Not surprisingly, our athlete leadership of special olympics nc has identified "health, fitness, and nutrition" as a top priority for the organization to address.

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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.9%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.47; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.8% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $6.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $234K · 22 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.