The Progress Fund

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311598881
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Greensburg, PA, USA
Phone
7242169160
Rating
57
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Rural Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,067,512
Expenses
$1,592,104
Assets
$65,110,871
Liabilities
$9,032,520

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID KAHLEY (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID KAHLEY (PRESIDENT & CEO): $353,713 total reported compensation
  • KAREN POST (TREASURER & CFO): $335,449 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Raise and lend funds for community development

What it reported doing in 2025

Promote historic preservation and compatible community and economic revitalization by making loans

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% 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

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 16%; rating input score 16
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $97.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 2nd 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: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 73.8%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 40.9; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 43.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 16% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $354K · 9 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.