The mission of WNC Lighthouse Inc is Changing lives, by being a light for Christ our Lord. Our vision is To be fully devoted to Jesus Christ, by opening our arms and providing Christian services to the underseved children, adults and families of WNC. We addresses food and housing insecurities primarily for our most vulnerable population of WNC.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
95¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 20 volunteers and 4 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2025 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Spent on programs
95%
of spending
Looks good: 95% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$76K
to officers and key staff · 5% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 5% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
2 mo
of spending, in cash
Fine: 1.8 months of spending in cash; 1 to 3.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $10K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$0
0% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
3
of 3 voting members
Looks good: 3 of 3 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$1.9M
×16 vs prior year
Spent
$1.7M
To programs
95%
Net assets
$253K
By yearFY2024–FY2025
Revenue
$1.9M
FY2025▲ ×16
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2024$116K
FY2025$1.9M
Net assets
$253K
FY2025▲ +192%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2024$87K
FY2025$253K

From the FY2025 Form 990 (year ending September 2025) · see the original

990 PDF Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 2022.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

95 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 95% · $1.6M Management & general 5% · $76K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

4 people listed on the 990; $76K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2024); the FY2025 filing did not itemize Part VII
Executive Director
$76,453Pt VII · Sec A
Chairman
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Melinda Shuler’s $76K as Executive Director is at the 15th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3869 $1–10M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024
Melinda Shuler$76,453$11,250

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Provides Christian services to feed and house underserved children, adults, and families.

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Provided by the organization

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2 programs · $1.6M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Housing Assessments and Remediation, in partnership with local construction vendors, to create an environmentally friendly home.

$1.3Mprogram expense
02

Food Securities-In partnership with local farms, provided healthy food boxes.

$304Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$10K

By the numbers

The FY2025 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$1.9M
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$1.7M
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$111K
Money outPt IX
$1.7M
Ln 25
Programscol B$1.6M
Managementcol C$76K
Owns and owesPt X
$253K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$253K
Total assetsLn 16$253K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0
PeoplePt VI, VII
4
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a3
IndependentVI 1b3
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$111K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$1.7M
Total revenueLn 12$1.9M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$253K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$253K
Total assetsLn 16$253K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0
Net assetsLn 32$253K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 54
VolunteersI 620
Fiscal year endsHeaderSeptember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY25End FY25
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$87K$253K
Total assetsLn 16$87K$253K
LiabilitiesLn 26$0$0
Net assetsLn 32$87K$253K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$76K$19K$57K$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$132K$125K$7K$0
Payroll taxesLn 10$18K$12K$5K$0
Accounting feesLn 11c$820$0$820$0
Advertising and promotionLn 12$80$80$0$0
Information technologyLn 14$10K$5K$5K$0
InsuranceLn 23$5K$5K$0$0
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$1.4M$1.4M−$251$0
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.7M$1.6M$76K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest Viewing $1.9M$1.7M$174K$253K 990 PDF
FY2024 $116K$87K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,854,687 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grants$110,950
I-9 Program service revenue$1,743,737
I-10 Investment income$0
I-11 Other revenue$0
I-12 Total revenue$1,854,687
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paid$0
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefits$226,626
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expenses$1,453,784
I-18 Total expenses$1,680,410
I-19 Revenue less expenses$174,277
Part VI · Governance 3 of 3 board members independent, 1 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body3
VI-1b Independent voting members3
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsYes
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,854,687 across 4 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$110,950
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$110,950
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$1,743,737
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $1,743,737 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$1,854,687
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,680,410 across 8 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $19,113 · Management $57,339 · Fundraising $0$76,452
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $125,064 · Management $7,428 · Fundraising $0$132,492
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $12,313 · Management $5,369 · Fundraising $0$17,682
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $0 · Management $820 · Fundraising $0$820
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $80 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$80
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $4,931 · Management $4,931 · Fundraising $0$9,862
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $4,999 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$4,999
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $1,438,274 · Management −$251 · Fundraising $0$1,438,023
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,604,774 · Management $75,636 · Fundraising $0$1,680,410
Part X · Balance sheet $253,433 assets, 7 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $86,819$253,433
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $86,819$253,433
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $0$0
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $86,819$251,147
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictions$2,286
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $86,819$253,433
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $86,819$253,433
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $253,433 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$1,854,687
XI-2 Total expenses$1,680,410
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$174,277
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$86,819
XI-8 Prior period adjustments−$7,663
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$253,433

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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