This Is Noteworthy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
352467643
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Charleston, SC, USA
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$247,381
Expenses
$214,939
Assets
$199,016
Liabilities
$129,477

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

People named in this filing

  • JOHN KENNEY (FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER)
  • ROBERT BERMAN (CFO)
  • PHILLICIA BAUGH (BOARD MEMBER)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Formed in 2011 to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of creative individuals and equip them with resources and access to professional opportunities while creating a community culture ecosystem, also bridging the urban and rural divide in small underserved southern communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grants, classes, gigs for entrepeneurship, creativity & health - this program awarded grants, provided free tuition or hired creatives to support them in 1 of 3 areas of focus.

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 98% 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 36
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.4%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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: Limited
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.1%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.65; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 69.4% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 86% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.4% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $184K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 1 filing year from 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Board meeting minutes documented not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.