The National Federation for Just Communities of WNY, Inc.
Legal name: The National Federation for Just Communities of Wny Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 203185568
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Amherst, New York, US
- Phone
- (716)853-9596
- Rating
- 70
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $173,653
- Expenses
- $301,101
- Assets
- $47,764
- Liabilities
- $21,135
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RENE PETTIES-JONES (PRESIDENT/CE)
People named in this filing
- ESSENCE CHISHOLM (TREASURER)
- CHRISTOPHER COBB (MEMBER)
- JAMES SMYTON ESQ (LEGAL COUNSE)
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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To promote understanding and respect among all people, and to eliminate discrimination and prejudice in Western New York.
What it reported doing in 2025
The diversity programs offer a variety of educational events and programs designed to increase the community's awareness of diversity issues ranging from inter religious dialogue, police community relations and intercultural, interracial understanding and respect.
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 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 64
- Sustainability: 13
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 56.5%; rating input score 57
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th 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: -73.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -9.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -12.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 98% of revenue deployed · 56.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $170K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 20 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.