The Links Foundation Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521170830
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2010, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028420123
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,558,865
Expenses
$11,235,118
Assets
$31,965,155
Liabilities
$1,865,039

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ETHEL ISAACS WILLIAMS (NATIONAL PRESIDENT)
  • SHUANA TUCKER-SIMS (NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT)
  • GWENDOLYN E BOYD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MEHARI R DEBAS (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $183,411 total reported compensation
  • GWENDOLYN E BOYD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $132,616 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Promoting and engaging in educational, civic and intercultural activities in order to enrich the lives of members of the larger community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community services activities - the foundation has established various programs to influence and raise awareness about issues affecting the african-american community, locally and abroad. These programs are designated amongst five major categories - national trends and services, international trends and services, services to youth, health and human service, and the arts. These issues include healthy lifestyles, academic, achievement, economic independence, international literacy, assisting youth realizing their full potential and encourage appreciation of a support for cultural involvement and enrichment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 86% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 63
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.2%; rating input score 91; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.8%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.85; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $10.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $183K · 20 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 133 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 134 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.