Sweet Auburn Works

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461784089
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
4702404909
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community, Neighborhood Development

Reported finances

Revenue
$387,198
Expenses
$509,194
Assets
$1,925,848
Liabilities
$2,155,979

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LeJuano Varnell (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • LeJuano Varnell (Executive Director): $97,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Sweet Auburn Works mission is to Preserve Protect and Revitalize the Sweet Auburn historic commercial district.

What it reported doing in 2023

Spark Lab - The SPARK Lab is a retail accelerator that benefits existing and new retail businesses in the Sweet Auburn District. Lab expenses covered lab operations retail consultants renovations for the space and technical assistance for District retailers

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -31.5%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.78; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.12; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 33.6% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 55.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.3% of revenue deployed · 69.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $353K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 36 of 42 current checks pass · 6 findings to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2017 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX AllOtherExpenses column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX CompCurrentOfficersDirectors column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Occupancy column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Royalties column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.