The Cleveland Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
340714588
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Cleveland, OH, United States
Phone
216.861.3810
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Community Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$302,815,178
Expenses
$222,320,279
Assets
$3,285,560,340
Liabilities
$415,731,622

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LILLIAN KURI (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • LETA OBERTACZ (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)
  • LESLIE A DUNFORD (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KATHY PARKER (VICE PRESIDENT (EFF.10/1/24))
  • ANTHONY GATTUSO (VICE PRESIDENT/TREASURER(EFF.10/1/24))
  • VICTOR BARBALATO (VICE PRESIDENT (EFF.4/1/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • LILLIAN KURI (PRESIDENT & CEO): $649,798 total reported compensation
  • ROSANNE POTTER (CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER/CFO): $477,731 total reported compensation
  • LETA OBERTACZ (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT): $328,744 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 Cleveland Foundation exists to make the lives of Greater Clevelanders better—now and for generations to come. “One year into our Impact Agenda, the power of pairing immediate support with long‑term, place‑based investment is clearly taking shape,” said Joyce Pan Huang, Chief Impact Officer. “Our Q1 grants reflect how important it is to do both—meeting urgent needs for residents today while investing in the work shaping our future. This balance, and the connected way we are working alongside partners, guide our grantmaking and move our community toward shared opportunity and prosperity.” A sample of immediate impact grantmaking from Q1 includes support of summer jobs, college prep and scholarship opportunities through organizations including Starting Point, Youth Opportunities Unlimited, College Now.

What it reported doing in 2024

The cleveland foundation is a grantmaking organization. Approximately half of the grants authorized in 2024 were directed by the board toward priorities and opportunities identified by communities and residents in cuyahoga, lake and geauga counties. Through our grantmaking, investments and leadership, the foundation responds to immediate needs in the community while also supporting long-term, collaborative efforts to grow our region, create vibrant neighborhoods and connect people to prosperity. Grantmaking toward long-term and immediate impact includes the areas of arts and culture, economic development, education, environment, health, neighborhoods and youth & human services. In addition, support for leadership development and digital excellence.the other half of the grants authorized in 2024 were designated or advised by donors to the cleveland foundation in various trusts, designated funds, donor advised funds, or supporting organizations. These grants further the charitable purposes of the cleveland foundation and are made to other charitable organizations and programs. These grants align with the foregoing program areas.in total, the largest areas of grantmaking in 2024 were education and scholarships (23%), human services (18%), neighborhoods and housing (17%), philanthropic sector (16%), health (12%), arts and culture (10%), environment (3%), and economic development (1%).

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 90.2%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.6%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.78; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 89% of revenue deployed · 90.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $200.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $650K · 33 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.4M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1034 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1023 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.