The Lotus Campaign

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
824662347
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7043243330
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,196,987
Expenses
$1,144,344
Assets
$565,764
Liabilities
$6,439

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BETH SILVERMAN (Executive Director)
  • PHILIP PAYNE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BETH SILVERMAN (Executive Director): $160,730 total reported compensation
  • Holly Calvasina (DIRECTOR OF Development): $123,930 total reported compensation
  • Julie Paul (Program Director): $107,084 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lotus campaign's mission is to unlock stable housing for people experiencing homelessness. The lotus campaign unites real estate leaders, landlords, service providers and philanthropists to dramatically reduce homelessness. We engage the private sector to solve the supposedly "unsolvable" epidemic of homelessness and deploy philanthropy to open access to market-rate, mixed-income housing without government funds or support. Our unprecedented approach has a 96% success rate that communities everywhere can replicate and scale. For more information please visit lotus campaign at lotuscampaign.org.

What it reported doing in 2024

Funds contributed to sponsoring organizations and participating landlords to assist with housing people experiencing homelessness. Since launching in 2018, Lotus Campaign has facilitated housing for more than 600 individuals and families. Additionally, 94% of Lotus graduates secured housing on their own within two years of entering our program. 358 individuals have moved on to independent housing after support from Lotus Campaign's Landlord Participation Program. Lotus has also sponsored 273 lease renewals supporting individuals and families as they continue to renew their leases as part of Lotus's programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.4%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 39.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 43.9% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 28.7% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.4% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $867K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 11 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.