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750 BAY HARBOR DR
Bay Harbor MI 49770-8056
Bay Harbor MI | IRS ruling year: 2004 | EIN: 37-1491024
Mission not available
Great
This charity's score is 96%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 35% Accountability & Finance, 50% Impact & Results, 10% Leadership & Adaptability, 5% Culture & Community. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
Bay Harbor Foundation has earned a 88% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2022, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
Learn more
Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Not ApplicableBoard Composition - 21/21 - 35/35 ptsBoard Composition - 21/21 - 35/35 pts
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review - N/A - 0/0 ptsIndependent Audit or Financial Review - N/A - 0/0 pts
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
| Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 5/5 ptsConflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes - Documented - 5/5 ptsBoard Meeting Minutes - Documented - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction - Listed - 5/5 ptsDocument Retention and Destruction - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy - Listed - 5/5 ptsWhistleblower Policy - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Website - Listed - 5/5 ptsWebsite - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 0.00% - 15/15 ptsLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 0.00% - 15/15 pts
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
| Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Ratio - 60.66% - 13/25 ptsProgram Expense Ratio - 60.66% - 13/25 pts
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
| Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
No Data Available
Revenue and expense data is not available for this organization. This data is only available if this charity has at least one year of electronically-filed Form 990 data filed within the last six years.
No Data Available
Key Persons data is currently unavailable for this organization. This data is only available if this charity has at least one year of electronically-filed Form 990 data filed within the last six years.
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (Bay Harbor Foundation) or EIN (371491024) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Bay Harbor Foundation reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Fundraising Capacity
Revenue
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Prior to the pandemic, one of our major sources of fundraising was through events. We have not been able to have events, and so our Board has decided to focus on one-on-one donor relations. This has allowed us to lower expenses and improve our relationship with our donors and the organizations we serve.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
Because of COVID, we realized there was a great need for scholarships for trade and vocational training programs in our region. To meet this need, we are expanding our scholarship program to include the trades in addition to continuing our already established undergraduate scholarship program.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We have adapted to the conditions caused by COVID by focusing on our relationships with our donors and the changing needs of the nonprofit organizations we serve. We have increased our focus on immediate health and human service needs, as they have continued to grow through the pandemic.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
We are excited to continue our expanded scholar program after the pandemic is over. We see a real need in our community going forward for trade and vocational training, as our undergraduate scholarship program, and immediate needs, such as people compromised by hunger, medical needs, and affordable housing.
Bay Harbor Foundation has earned a 100% for the Impact & Results beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon estimates the actual impact a charity has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot Applicable
Program
Bay Harbor Foundation Scholar Program
Activities
The nonprofit grants scholarships to beneficiaries.
Program Type
Postsecondary Scholarships
Beneficiaries Served
Program Geography
Time Period of Data
1/1/21 to 12/31/21
Outcomes: Changes in the lives of those served by a nonprofit. They can be caused by the nonprofit.
Costs: The money spent by a nonprofit and its partners and beneficiaries.
Impact: Outcome caused by a nonprofit relative to its cost.
Cost-effectiveness: A judgment as to whether the cost was a good use of resources to cause the outcome.
Outcome Metric
Increase in income for a scholarship recipient
Outcome Data Source
Ratings are based on data the nonprofit itself collects on its work. We use the most recent year with sufficient data. Typically, this data allows us to calculate direct changes in participants' lives, such as increased income.
Output data collected during the program. The nonprofit submitted data on the dollar value of all scholarships it grants and the number of scholarship recipients, which we use to calculate the additional income that the nonprofit's scholarship program generates.
Method for Attributing Outcomes
We don't know if the observed changes were caused by the nonprofit's program or something else happening at the same time (e.g., a participant got a raise). To determine causation, we take the outcomes we observe and subtract an estimate of the outcomes that would have happened even without the program (i.e., counterfactual outcomes).
We estimate the increase in income caused by a nonprofit's scholarship program in two steps. First, we compare the estimated postsecondary graduation rate of its scholars to that of comparable students who did not receive a scholarship (the “counterfactual”). Our estimates are drawn from rigorous social science studies of similar scholarship programs. The result is the number of scholars whose graduation was caused by the nonprofit. Second, we compare the earnings of graduates to non-graduates based on publicly available census data, matching on student demographic characteristics. We apply the earnings boost owing to a degree to those scholars whose graduation was caused by the nonprofit. Both steps are necessary to properly net out counterfactual successes from observed successes. Otherwise, we would be attributing changes (increase in graduation rate and increase in earnings) to the nonprofit when they would have happened anyway. Few nonprofits estimate the counterfactual themselves, so we construct our own counterfactual estimate based on research and publicly available data.
Cost Data Source
After estimating the program's outcomes, we need to determine how much it cost to achieve those outcomes. All monetary costs are counted, whether they are borne by a nonprofit service deliverer or by the nonprofit’s public and private partners.
Program cost data reported by the nonprofit. Partner and beneficiary costs reported by the nonprofit or estimated by Charity Navigator.
Cost Calculation
$27,950 program costs + $4,243 partner costs + $4,243 beneficiary costs = $36,436 total costs
We calculate impact, defined as the change in outcomes attributable to a program divided by the cost to achieve those outcomes.
Impact Calculation
$36,436 total costs / $87,088 additional income = roughly $3,100 increases income for a scholarship recipient by $7,400.
Benchmark for Rating
Impact & Results scores of postsecondary scholarship programs are based on income generated relative to cost. Programs receive an Impact & Results score of 100 if they increase income for a recipient by more than $1.50 for every $1 spent and a score of 80 if income increases by more than $0.85 for every $1 spent. If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the benchmark for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 65.
Determination
Highly cost-effective
No 990 Program Data Found
Bay Harbor Foundation has earned a 100% for the Culture & Community beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableConstituent Feedback - Data Available - 100/100 ptsConstituent Feedback - Data Available - 100/100 pts
100% of beacon score
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback from the constituents and/or communities it serves. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
Who are the people you serve with your mission? Describe briefly.
The Bay Harbor Foundation serves the residents of a two-countywide area (Emmet and Charlevoix Counties) in Northern Michigan. We have provided grant awards to 111 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations since 2004. Our main focus has been on organizations serving the immediate health and human service needs of the region. In addition, we award grants to support the environment, education, and cultural needs. We also have an undergraduate scholarship program. Since the establishment of our this program in 2008 we have awarded 321 scholarships.
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Paper surveys, Community meetings or town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners
How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship with them or shifted power - over decisions, resources, rules or in other ways - to them?
Asking for feedback from the people and organizations we serve has improved our communication and provided us with important knowledge on the immediate concerns and needs of the community. Through this improved communication we are able to better respond and understand areas of concern that are not otherwise being addressed. It's been a very positive experience, as we share the results of this with our Board Members and Donors.
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
Over the past two years, we have been listening to our community and hearing a growing need for support for technical certification and vocational training programs. We operate in an area that his heavily reliant on tourist dollars, and many people in our area are part of the service economy. The pandemic has accelerated a growing need for training and certification so that area residents can upskill or reskill and obtain better, more stable work in the trades. As a result, we have begun the process of expanding our scholar program to assist area residents who wish to obtain vocational training and technical certifications so that they can improve their employment prospects and quality of life. This is in addition to continuing our previously established undergraduate scholarship program.
Equity Practices - No Data Available - UnscoredEquity Practices - No Data Available - Unscored
This organization has not provided information regarding the Equity Practices it is presently implementing. As such, the organization has not earned a score on this metric. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective equity policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Bay Harbor Foundation has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableMission - 10/10 ptsMission - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
We are a charitable, nonprofit community organization dedicated to helping our neighbors through donations, grants, programs and professional mentoring. We operate with the highest level of financial integrity and are trusted by both our donors and our recipient organizations.
Vision - 10/10 ptsVision - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
To improve the quality of life in the Little Traverse Bay Region.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Goals - 20/20 ptsGoals - 20/20 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Continue to increase the diversity of our Board of Directors.
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Goal Two: Expand our Scholar Program to cover trades and vocational scholarships.
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
Goal Three: Grow the Scholar Program Endowment.
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Leadership Development - 15/15 ptsLeadership Development - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
We are a member of the Council of Michigan Foundations, and regularly use their varied resources to train staff and Board Members in Leadership and Best Practices. We are also involved in a community consortium of nonprofit organizations so that we keep our finger on the pulse of the needs in our community. As part of this consortium we participate in Board Member and staff workshops to continue to improve and review our strategic goals.
Mobilizing for Mission - 15/15 ptsMobilizing for Mission - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
We continue to reach out to community and educate them on the mission of the Bay Harbor Foundation. We our partnerships with other nonprofits to enhance our ability to meet our mission, and use our quarterly newsletter to keep the community informed about the impact of our efforts in the region.
Adaptability Story - 30/30 ptsAdaptability Story - 30/30 pts
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Prior to 2020, the Foundation raised funds primarily through events, however, due to the pandemic we no longer have events and now are focused on direct donor engagements. The result of this, is that we no longer have the high costs related to our events, and are able to focus more of our time and efforts on our mission. This opportunity has been very positive for our organizations, as we have been able to have more quality time with our donors and provide them with reports on the return on their investment in the Foundation for community.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
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