Welcome America Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
232721729
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2154850626
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Commemorative Events

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,639,998
Expenses
$5,661,907
Assets
$2,846,997
Liabilities
$2,345,237

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL DELBENE (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL DELBENE (PRESIDENT & CEO): $320,066 total reported compensation
  • NICOLE ALLEN WHITE (COO): $162,010 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Welcome america, inc., a 501c3, non-profit organization in public-private partnership with the city of philadelphia. Welcome america, inc.'s mission is to promote american history, education and philadelphia. Welcome america, inc. Seeks to enhance the resident and visitor experience through citywide events that provide an economic boost to the local economy. Moving forward, welcome america, inc. May produce and assist in the growth of select city events year-round that can increase awareness of philadelphia as an event destination and execute the organizational mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

The largest program of welcome america, inc. Is the wawa welcome america festival. The festival normally attracts hundreds of thousands to free events across the city and reaches millions through events that are broadcast and live streamed. In 2021, welcome america, inc. Expanded the festival to include juneteenth, resulting in a 16-day festival filled with diverse and inclusive programming. All events are free to the public. Serving as the city's official july 4th celebration and one of the largest in the country, the festival garners millions of impressions and engagements across all media platforms: press - wawa welcome america 2024 secured over 8 billion global media impressions.social media - used all social platforms to inform and engage with followers. Social channels also served as customer service outlets for the festival. Wawa welcome america 2024 accumulated over 2 million impressions.website - served as the main information hub of the festival and had over 500,000 page views.email - engaged with fans of the festival, delivering an above industry average open rate of 34%.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 80% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.7%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.82; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.2% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.1% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $320K · 14 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.