Charleston Moves
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Charleston Moves is a nonprofit organization that advocates for bicycle, pedestrian and public transit infrastructure and policies across Charleston County. We envision a connected community where safe transportation choice enhances access to essential resources like food, healthcare and employment, fostering equity and well-being for all. We envision strong, diverse neighborhoods where school children, folks in wheelchairs, and people with canes cross streets safely in their own time. We see streets lined with homes, bustling shops and restaurants. We see bridges and waterways where people on bicycles and on foot travel alongside buses and cars on their way to work, to the doctor, to the grocery store freely and safely.
- Income
- $381,152
- Spending
- $204,098
- Spent on programs
- 90%
- Reserves
- 26 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 96%
- Employees
- 2
- Volunteers
- 24
- Highest pay
- $95,872, executive director
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 90% of charities in its peer group (recreation and sports, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 26.0 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 46% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 84% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1590% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 2 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 78% of charities in its peer group (recreation and sports, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2511 of 11 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $183,334 spent. We believe in a connected Charleston. That's why we speak out to councils, committees, agencies, and even the State House, advocating for sound policies. Why we push to flourish, not stagnate. Why we work with urban planners, engineers and citizen groups. Study, audit and document the dangers and issues of our intersections, corridors and bridges and work to make them better, safer and more accessible. This is our determined, continuous commitment to remake systems and power enduring change.Because the streets belong to everyone. Pedestrians and school kids. People on bicycles and people on buses. Citizens in wheelchairs and with canes. (See Schedule O)All of us moving. Safely. Together. For the 2025 year, $.90 cents of every dollar spent went to our charitable programs.What We Are Doing:Bridges Front-and-Center Bridges should serve as connectors instead of barriers. For the new Ashley River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge, we have continued to watchdog the project, the construction of which is moving quickly with the western approach platform in place, and pile work continuing in the river. Collaborating with our coalition and Charleston County, we assisted with the County's fourth federal grant application to USDOT for a Better North Bridge. Our work included many hours of community outreach and engagement, compiling letters of support, and research for the grant application, encouraged the County to vote in favor of applying, and participated in the grant debriefing with federal staff. We coordinated public comment in support of SCDOT's addition of the North Bridge to their State Bridge Program, as well as a resolution from the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments' Charleston Area Transportation Study (CHATS) Policy Committee requesting an upgrade of the North Bridge crossing, preferably with a replacement, to prioritize access for people walking and bicycling over the river.We continued to watchdog bike/ped access in the Main Road Segment A project that includes the Limehouse Bridge. We engaged with SCDOT and City of Charleston on options to retrofit the James Island Connector and Wappoo Cut Bridge. We coordinated letters of support to SCDOT's addition of the Ben Sawyer Bridge to their State Bridge Program. We participated in ribbon-cutting events for: North Charleston's Cosgrove Avenue Extension protected multi-use path, connecting Spruill Avenue and the old Navy Base redevelopment; North Charleston's Palmetto Commerce Interchange protected multi-use path connecting neighborhoods across I-26; Mount Pleasant's Coleman Boulevard bike lanes, with green paint at conflict points, across the Shem Creek Bridge. Complete Streets We mobilized and advocated for robust multi-modal space and design in key projects, and our engagement led to improved designs, additional funding and/or leveraged opportunities.We participated in SCDOT's Road Safety Audit for Ladson Road, and continued engaging the public and SCDOT on their Folly Road Safety Audit. We celebrated SCDOT's groundbreaking for the Ashley Phosphate Road Safety Audit construction. Charleston Moves has formally supported Mount Pleasant Way, a planned town-wide bicycle and pedestrian system. We have engaged in a safety workshop for a redesign of Whipple Road, encouraged public input during comment sessions, and encouraged participation in community meetings, including projects that are part of the Town's Safety Action Plan. We have continued to coordinate with agencies around improved designs for the redevelopment of Union Pier's street network, the Lowline, Meeting Street Road, Hagood Avenue, King Street, Morrison Drive, Rivers Avenue, Spruill Avenue, Riverland Drive, Folly Road, Harborview Road, various pathways in the City of Folly Beach, Long Point Road, River Road, Maybank Highway, Albemarle Road, Sam Rittenberg Boulevard, and Old Towne Road. Policy UpdatesWe successfully encouraged the Town of Mount Pleasant to compromise on their bicycle/e-bike ordinance so that cyclists can still access bike lanes and pathways in a safe and reasonable manner. Working with our partners, we presented a Transportation Sales Tax proposal to Charleston County that reasonably accommodated investment in a countywide bicycle and pedestrian plan, as well as important public transit updates. We coordinated with and supported the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) Safety Action Planning process, the City of North Charleston's Safety Action Planning application, and three Safety Action Plan infrastructure grant applications from the City of Charleston, the City of Folly Beach, and the Town of Mount Pleasant. We submitted a support letter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the region's Lowcountry Rapid Transit (LCRT) project. We submitted comments to SCDOT for their Momentum 2050 statewide transportation plan. LeadershipCharleston Moves provides strong leadership and resources for several proposed projects and plans throughout the county, ensuring people who ride bikes, walk and take public transit are represented throughout the planning, designing and funding processes. In addition to what is listed in specific aforementioned projects, we participate on the following committees and working groups:> Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) Charleston Area Regional Transit Authority (CARTA) Now & Next Technical Advisory Committee> BCDCOG Charleston Area Transportation Study (CHATS) Transportation Enhancement Committee + Safety Action Plan Technical Advisory Committee> BCDCOG Lowcountry Rapid Transit (LCRT) Stakeholder Committee> BCDCOG Regional Climate Action Plan Community Working Group> BCDCOG TriCounty Link Transit Study Technical Advisory Committee> City of Charleston Safety Action Plan Technical Advisory Committee> City of North Charleston Community Engagement Academy Focus Group> Palmetto Air Quality Collaborative transportation workgroup> Rethink Folly Road Steering Committee> SCDO
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since September 2005.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
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