Women's Fund of Greater Chattanooga

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465020109
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chattanooga, TN, USA
Phone
9043588721
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Reported finances

Revenue
$172,967
Expenses
$107,061
Assets
$724,788
Liabilities
$35,735

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELODY SHEKARI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELODY SHEKARI (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $50,993 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To improve the lives of women and girls in our region by driving social change, providing opportunity and promoting economic self-sufficiency through education and advocacy, empowered philanthropy, collective partnerships, and strategic grantmaking.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocacy: the women's fund researches issues, writes and supports legislation, follows the legislative work of the general assembly, creates a legislative priority list, and issues calls to action on bills. This year, we continued our work to improve the status of women and girls in Tennessee. We followed 20 bills on our priority list and supported the passage of a menstrual hygiene bill. Locally, we gathered thousands of period products for local women and girls and led women to write hundreds of postcards and letters regarding legislation affecting women and girls. We held our 3rd annual bold and brave day on the hill in nashiville, bringing women from our area as well as other areas in the state to nashville to engage in the legislative process, meet legislators, and learn about women's funds in Tennessee as well as other advocacy organizations in the state. We also conducted a survey in our area to help determine our future priority areas for advocacy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 37
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 31.6%; rating input score 32
  • Program expense ratio: 46.2%; rating input score 46
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 3rd 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.1%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.77; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 47.6%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 31.6% of revenue deployed · 46.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $49K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $51K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.