Wny Women's Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274154672
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone
7162179056
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$756,360
Expenses
$772,286
Assets
$5,093,624
Liabilities
$101,469

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHERI L SCAVONE (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SHERI L SCAVONE (CEO): $156,028 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Wny women's foundation (wnywf) transforms systems, culture, and policy to create opportunities for each woman to thrive.

What it reported doing in 2025

See schedule o: all in collaborates with our community to invest in purposeful efforts to empower women in the workplace and illuminate pathways to build stronger leaders, supports equity & culture for women to lead leading to business and economic growth. A data-driven, intersectional initiative, all in advances gender equity in western New York through four pathways: employer pathway, which engages employers to move women and gender minorities into leadership and foster inclusive company cultures; aspiring leader pathway (ready, set, lead!), which cultivates aspiring leaders through mentorship, education, and networking in a broad cross-section of the community; entrepreneur pathway, which elevates women-owned businesses through promotion, endorsement, partnership, and collaboration; she-suite (launched in 2024), which supports women ceos and senior women leaders to connect, grow, and lead boldly and leadership allies engaging all genders to support workplace success.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.3%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 59.5%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 23.3%; rating input score 23; 30th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: -2.1%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.6; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.2%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.3% of revenue deployed · 59.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $460K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 28 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 23/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.