The Community Foundation for the CSRA
Legal name: The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 582184345
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Augusta, GA, USA
- Phone
- 706-724-1314
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $35,031,994
- Expenses
- $22,601,110
- Assets
- $202,139,475
- Liabilities
- $50,717,713
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
26 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SHELL KNOX BERRY (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SHELL KNOX BERRY (PRESIDENT/CEO): $247,754 total reported compensation
- ELIZABETH FINCH (CFO): $166,420 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To promote philanthropy, strengthen nonprofits, and enhance the quality of life for all residents of the Central Savannah River Area.
What it reported doing in 2025
We are embedded in our community in ways that help convene, connect, and grow our collective impact on issues that matter to us all. Our expertise and knowledge of the local nonprofit community helps us understand what a good nonprofit looks like and how to measure its success. That expertise is built upon 25-plus years of experience in awarding competitive grants from our unrestricted dollars to a variety of nonprofits in our region. With that knowledge, we strive to invest philanthropic dollars in the smartest, most impactful way.the community foundation's competitive grants programs include community grants, harrisburg literacy initiative and multiple scholarships. Other local grant making funds, such as women in philanthropy, mary warren fund and the st. Joseph foundation, work with our team to award funds through a competitive grant process. All of these programs have a rigorous review process and track the outcomes and impact of their grantmaking each year and each have made a measurable, positive impact on the csra.we partner with many of our local nonprofits by managing their endowment assets.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 98
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 78.2%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 95.6%; rating input score 96
- Fundraising efficiency: $123.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 96%; rating input score 96; 25th 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: 35.5%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.94; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 7 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 78.2% of revenue deployed · 95.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 24 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $21.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $248K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $360K reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 258 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 243 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.
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.