The Garden Club of South Carolina Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237005531
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Columbia, SC, USA
Phone
8436162561
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Garden Club, Horticultural Program

Reported finances

Revenue
$206,880
Expenses
$118,091
Assets
$757,052
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID STOUDENMIRE (PRESIDENT)
  • BETTY JACKSON (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JAN BURCH (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SANDIE DUERKSEN (3RD VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MEG LEE (SECRETARY)
  • DOROTHY RICHARDSON (HISTORIAN)
  • BECKY CROW (PARLIAMENTARIAN)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Gcsc is a force for good that promotes all aspects of gardening, focusing on preservation and restoration of historic gardens, conservation and environmental protection of natural resources, education of members and youth organizations, civic beautification, horticulture and floral design.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gcsc educates adult and youth members through continuing education programs including garden study, horticulture, floral design, landscape design, environmental stewardship, and by sponsoring four schools: garden study school, flower show school, landscape design school, environmental studies school. Gcsc promotes the national garden club objectives of gardening, civic beautification, historic preservation, conservation and environmental stewardship through club and council engagement, statewide education, grant opportunities, awards programs and networking opportunities for clubs and the general public to unite as a force for good. Gcsc maintains an historic memorial garden at 1111 lincoln st, columbia, sc, a historic garden adjacent to the governor's mansion designed by loutrel briggs, that houses a veteran's honor brick walkway. Gcsc sponsors youth involvement through poetry, essay, smoky bear and woodsy owl national awareness campaigns, camp wildwood environmental leadership camp, arbor day and earth day school programs, youth floral design and recycled sculpture contests.

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 80% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 38.7%; rating input score 39
  • Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,805.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings

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: 41.7%; rating input score 42; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 42.9%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.41; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 38.7% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $90K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.