The Center for Rural Strategies Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 611379952
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Whitesburg, KY, USA
- Phone
- 6066323244
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,441,661
- Expenses
- $2,843,498
- Assets
- $7,646,960
- Liabilities
- $110,897
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ADAM GIORGI (VICE PRESIDENT)
- TIM MAREMA (VICE PRESIDENT)
- DEE DAVIS (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DEE DAVIS (PRESIDENT): $116,979 total reported compensation
- CHARLES MARTY NEWELL (COO): $107,869 total reported compensation
- TIM MAREMA (VICE PRESIDENT): $107,120 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The center for rural strategies seeks to improve economic and social conditions for communities in the countryside and around the world through the creative and innovative use of media and communications. By presenting accurate and compelling portraits of rural lives and cultures, we hope to deepen public debate and create a national environment in which positive change for rural communities can occur.
What it reported doing in 2024
Program services include helping communities and nonprofit organizations incorporate media and communications into their work in support of strategic goals. In addition, it includes the design and implementation of information campaigns that educate the public about the problems and opportunities that exist in contemporary rural communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
STRONG - 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: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 67
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 72.2%; rating input score 72
- Program expense ratio: 84.1%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $108.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
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: 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: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.69; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 25.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 72.2% of revenue deployed · 84.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- 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: 4 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.