The Luzerne Foundation

What it reported doing in 2025

The luzerne foundation is a community foundation serving all of luzerne county, Pennsylvania. We promote philanthropy and serve as stewards of the resources our donors invest through us to support the community programs they fund. We create and manage funds through philanthropic support by area donors that meet emerging community needs and will continue to address those needs through future generations. The luzerne foundation's mission is to enhance the lives of luzerne county residents by evaluating and addressing community needs through strategic grantmaking, promoting responsible philanthropy, and connecting donors to causes that matter to them. To fulfill our mission, we... Encourage donors to make effective charitable decisions through our donor-centric approach to philanthropy.grow the foundation's unrestricted assets to provide for diverse community needs for future generations. Listen to the needs of our donors, nonprofits, and our community as a whole. Collaborate to support creative solutions to build capacity in our nonprofits and work closely with professional advisors, other nonprofits, and community leaders. Supporting key community areasthrough an inclusive strategic initiative, we identified seven specific areas of support that our community foundation is focused on to meet and improve our mission of ensuring a healthy and sustainable community. Those seven critical areas of concentration include social services, education and scholarships, arts and culture, neighborhoods and community development, youth issues, historic preservation and the environment, and health and wellness. We accomplish this mission by assisting donors of all sizes to create and endow various funds. These fund types include unrestricted, donor-advised, field of interest, designated, scholarship, and organizational endowments. By working with individuals, families, companies, nonprofits, professional advisors, and other foundations, we convey information about existing funds and local nonprofits and provide options for donors. We offer a flexible fund model that creates customized options for each donor's charitable intentions.schedule i lists grants awarded during the current year. Education and resourceswe believe education is a key to growing philanthropy in our communities and continued support of our community foundation. We provide educational seminars to assist current and potential donors in understanding and applying the benefits of donations through our organization and in matching their interests to the needs of our community. We convey the latest and most important information about trends and legislation to interested individuals and organizations. Through our collaboration with the nonprofit & community assistance center (ncac) and the northeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the association of fundraising professionals (afp), we have access to and provide dissemination of the recommendations and best practices in the industry. Additionally, we have knowledgeable and professional staff who are able and willing to provide philanthropic assistance and guidance to individuals and organizations in our area. Our staff's training and regional and national resources are available to ensure the most helpful information is at hand. Conversations and collaborationsa key element to accomplishing the mission of the luzerne foundation is collaboration to support creative solutions to build capacity in our nonprofits and work closely with professional advisors, other nonprofits, and community leaders. Our foundation has a proud history of functioning as a catalyst to convene diverse groups in identifying and meeting community needs through directed giving. Our focus on encouraging donors to make effective charitable decisions through our donor-centric approach to philanthropy, combined with our ability to listen to the needs of donors, nonprofits, and community leaders and supporters, leverages those conversations and partnerships for communit

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 60.1%; rating input score 60
• Program expense ratio: 60.4%; rating input score 60
• Fundraising efficiency: $4.81 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 96.2%; rating input score 96; 37th 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 17.2%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.94; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -12% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings