Wireless Zone Foundation for Giving Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030515666
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Rocky Hill, CT, USA
Phone
8606329494
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$637,418
Expenses
$690,881
Assets
$456,397
Liabilities
$61,643

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Shelly Nemic (Pres. /Director)
  • Dave Staszewski (Secretary/Dir.)
  • Michael Reinhard (Treasurer/Direc)

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 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide grants and to qualified 501(c)(3) charitable organizations in our contributors' communities and the continental U.S.

What it reported doing in 2020

Grants to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations as selected by Board of Directors from Wireless Zone employee and franchisee suggestions. 156 organizations received grants of $2,000. 22 of these organizations received additional grants of at least $4,000 up to $10,000. 10 grants of $5,000 were awarded based on director recommendations. One organization and its chapters received about $57,000.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 54
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,588.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 49.4%; rating input score 49; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 41.7%; rating input score 42; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.66; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $679K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 23 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 24 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.