United Way of the Lakelands

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
576005943
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Greenwood, SC, USA
Phone
8642294103
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$972,774
Expenses
$1,072,791
Assets
$1,381,120
Liabilities
$104,329

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • MARISEL LOSA (EXECUTIVE DI): $85,912 total reported compensation
  • DENISE HOLLAND (EXECUTIVE DI): $12,564 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

United way of the lakelands provides resources to community organizations and families that improve the quality of life for residents of greenwood, abbeville, mccormick, and saluda counties. Our work is guided by four focus areas: community resilience, healthy living, financial stability, and youth opportunities. One of our most significant activities is the greenwood counts community consortium (gc3), which serves as a catalyst for collective impact across the community. Gc3 operates through three strategic allianceslive healthy, mental health, and food and hungerbringing together partners to align efforts, address root causes, and drive measurable outcomes. United way of the lakelands also emphasizes direct service coordination through our hub resource connection center, a centralized access point that connects individuals and families to vital services. Additional key initiatives include vita tax preparation assistance for eligible residents and the uc3 one-stop building, which hous

What it reported doing in 2024

Community impact program united way of the lakelands plays a key role in convening and coordinating community partners through the greenwood counts community consortium (gc3), serving as a catalyst for collective impact across the lakelands. Through gc3s three allianceslive healthy, mental health, and food and hunger united way helps align community initiatives, engage stakeholders, and address critical needs. As part of this work, united way also supports seven community gardens that promote food access, nutrition, and community connection. United way of the lakelands operates the hub resource connection center, where individuals and families can connect with a resource navigator either in person or by phone. Resource navigators listen to each clients needs, assess barriers, and create a case using unite us, a closed-loop referral platform. Through unite us, referrals are securely sent to more than 50 partner nonprofit organizations, ensuring services are accessed and outcomes are tracked. United way also funds and participates in 211 services across all four counties, providing access to resource navigators during evenings, weekends, and holidays. The hub houses several essential services, including vita free tax preparation for eligible residents. In 2024, vita served approximately 1,200 lakelands community members, generating nearly 2 million in tax refunds for the community and saving residents an estimated 400,000 in tax preparation fees. Additional hub-based services include the medical supply closet, which provides access to durable medical equipment and supplies, and guided beginnings, a maternal health navigation program. Through guided beginnings, a dedicated maternal and infant specialty navigator supports pregnant individuals, young mothers, and families by connecting them to healthcare, social services, and community resources to promote healthy starts for both parents and children. Our united way building and hub also serve as a host location for community training, satellite services, and collective impact meetings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.1%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 40.6%; rating input score 41; 28th 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -10.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.29; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.1% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $826K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.