Women's Business Development Council Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061493737
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Stamford, CT, USA
Phone
2033531750
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,226,373
Expenses
$7,783,951
Assets
$12,912,760
Liabilities
$4,817,042

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • FRAN PASTORE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRAN PASTORE (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $371,850 total reported compensation
  • BRENDA THICKETT (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $257,581 total reported compensation
  • TASHA JACKSON (CHIEF FINANCIAL AND PEOPLE): $240,599 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the women's business development council (wbdc) is to support economic prosperity for women and strengthen communities through entrepreneurial and financial education services that create and grow sustainable jobs and businesses across Connecticut.

What it reported doing in 2025

The mission of the women's business development council (wbdc) is to strengthen and support economic success for women through entrepreneurial services that launch and grow businesses across Connecticut. Wbdc serves clients from Connecticut's 169 cities and towns from its four regional offices across the state: new haven, stamford, waterbury and new london. Since 1997 wbdc has been providing the training necessary to guide aspiring, emerging, and established entrepreneurs along their growth journey. Services offered include the following: educational opportunities: 1:1 business advising, classes (in-person and virtual), on-demand learning, mentoring.in addition to training, wbdc believes in connecting our clients, donors, and other stakeholders, fostering business growth through collaboration and team support.community engagements: wbdc connect membership, courageous conversations podcast, annual gala & fundraising events, virtual marketplace, public speaking & media opportunities.financial resources: wbdc helps its clients identify sources of capital which align with their unique business needs and provides guidance through the application and compliance process. Resources include wbdc's opportunity fund grants, bank and non-bank loans, private investments, federal and state covid-19 relief, other non-traditional loans and grants.business support program for ct child care providers: wbdc offers a comprehensive suite of business development services supporting ct child care providers, home and center-based, to help them launch, sustain, and grow their businesses. The child care business development program caters exclusively to the business needs of the childcare industry: customized entrepreneurial training & technical assistance, personal financial training & coaching, mentoring, fiscal and technology incentives, advocacy, train the trainer.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 77% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 59% for direct work, and 41% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 85.2%; rating input score 85; 29th 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: 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: 5.4%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.66; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23.2% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $372K · 27 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $296K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 34 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 194 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 186 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.