Stepping Stones Ministry Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
571098404
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbia, SC, USA
Phone
8033868077
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Goodwill Industries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$442,295
Expenses
$452,269
Assets
$1,077,857
Liabilities
$306,324

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANTHONY GOULD (PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • TROY DISHAW (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANTHONY GOULD (PRESIDENT/CEO): $40,300 total reported compensation
  • JUDY JONES (THRIFT STORE MANAGER): $35,341 total reported compensation
  • JAMES MIXON (MENS RESIDENT MANAGER): $9,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Stepping stones ministry, inc. Is designed to aid and assist those who are poor, homeless, and/or recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

What it reported doing in 2024

To aid and assist those who are poor, homeless, and/or recovering from drug and alochol addiction by employing recovering addicts; providing clothing and household goods; housing recovering addicts while employed at thrift store, or until they can find employment elsewhere; and feeding families and homeless walk-ins at no cost to individuals. All individuals are either elderly, on a fixed income, homeless, or indigent.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 53
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -2.3%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.38; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $403K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.