Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 450560925
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017, Form 990-N 2008
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Phone
- 4123252723
- Rating
- 68
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $827,969
- Expenses
- $446,936
- Assets
- $452,505
- Liabilities
- $3,517
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- BRITTANY MCDONALD (EXECUTIVE DI): $106,583 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Uptown partners is a community-based organization of residents, institutions, and business owners-working together to build a vibrant uptown community.
What it reported doing in 2024
Uptown partners of pittsburgh (up) was founded in 2007 as a nonprofit organization of residents, institutions, business owners and other concerned stakeholders to improve community quality of life - and to collaboratively create a vision and pathway for uptown's much needed revitalization. We achieve our goals by pursuing an action plan that: ensures the development of a clean, safe, green, and equitable neighborhood; rebuilds a mixed income population by reclaiming vacant, blighted properties and encouraging new residential development; attracts new neighborhood retail and commercial business, while supporting existing business owners; fosters green, quality design in all development projects; and creates a healthy environment where the arts flourish and are integrated into the urban landscape. Today uptown partners is working with the city of pittsburgh, our community ande institutions, port authority of allegheny county, the urban redevelopment authority, green building alliance, oakland planning & development corp., and other interested stakeholders in a unique public/private planning initiative, embodied in the uptown/west oakland ecolnnovation distrct plan (also referred to as the uptown ecolnnovation district). This creates a first ever city model, and among only a few nationally, that deploys best practices for a neighborhood to become "resilient, vibrant, resource efficient, and just." programs: uptown partners created the real estate design, and development committee (redd) to ensure that new development and public space uphold high equitable, environmental, contextual, and design standards. The purpose of redd is to foster sustainable development in the neighborhood by balancing community needs and identifying market opportunities, referencing current and past community plans for compatibility. All projects will be vetted for quality, sustainable and contextual design with an emphasis on integrating arts into the neighborhood. Redd works with the dept. Of city planning, specifically, the contextual design advisory panel. Redd welcomes potential developers with a viable project to present to the committee for productive discussion and feedback on their plans. Working in tandem with the committee helps ensure a smooth predevelopment process and a successful development project. To establish art as a visible and accessible part of uptown's identity, the uptownarts was created to celebrate, encourage, and adavocate for public art in a space that is welcoming to all artists. Led by uptown partners staff, the programs committee consists of residents, artists, and those with a passion for art who all share an interest in transforming our urban landscape with rich and ranging public art. The uptownarts committee meets to collaborate on advocacy, public art ideas, opportunities, fundraising efforts, events, and more. The committee also meets with developers to discuss ways that public art can be meaningfully integrated into future and existing developments. The community action team is a subcommittee of the uptown task force, a partnership of uptown stakeholders focused on implementing the uptown ecolnnovation district plan to improve and enhance the uptown neighborhood in the city of pittsburgh. The community action team's aim is to advance projects and recommendations from the community section of ecolnnovation district plan. The tustin street community garden, at 2021 tustin st., provides local residents an opportunity to improve their health (while saving money) by growing a varitety of their own vegetables. Ten raised beds were constructed by uptown partners board members and residents in november, 2010 and planted the following spring. This garden is generously supported with expertise and resources, such as a community build tool shed, by grow pittsburgh and many others. In partnership with pittsburgh community services inc., uptown partners provides monthly food box distributions for uptown residents. Food box delive
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 71% 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
SUPPORTED - 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: 46
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 34%; rating input score 34
- Program expense ratio: 62.9%; rating input score 63
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 46%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 23.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 34% of revenue deployed · 62.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $281K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.