The Lighthouse Black Girl Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822064693
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Jackson, MS, USA
Phone
7692570977
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,643,665
Expenses
$1,778,584
Assets
$424,309
Liabilities
$167,030

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NATALIE COLLIER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • NAKESHA WATKINS (CHIEF OPERAT)
  • JOSEPH WORTHY (CHIEF OF STA)
  • NATALIE COLLIER (PRESIDENT)

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

Leadership development for black girls and women through addressing the whole person--physical, emotional, spiritual and social wellbeing, all supported by an affirming sociopolitical structure.

What it reported doing in 2024

Black girl times (editorial). Rooted in a tradition of liberatory storytelling, the black girl times is the meet up space online for southern black girls, women, femmes (and the people who love and respect them) to share, learn, activate, and challenge through news and culture writing. Editorial programming includes writing fellowships to the democratic journalism institute and the unita blackwell historic preservation project.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 33
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 28.9%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 26.7%; rating input score 27
  • Fundraising efficiency: $42.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.2%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.24; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 40.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 35.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 28.9% of revenue deployed · 26.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $475K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.