Fair Tide

Overview

Mission

Fair Tide's mission is to reduce homelessness by providing Housing and support services to individuals and families in the seacoast. Through Fair Tide's permanent housing program, homeless households benefit from intensive case management services coupled with a safe and stable place to live. Fair Tide also operates a thrift store which provides revenue for the programming and a valuable resource for the local community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Fair Tide moved 11 individuals from homelessness into permanent housing. Additionally, provided ongoing support for 30 households and distributed money in emergency assistance to help folks stay current with their bills and secure in their homes. Fair Tide is also the co-founder of Mainspring, a social service collective that brings multiple nonprofit organizations together under one roof to offer coordinated services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010525140
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Kittery, ME, USA
Phone
2074396376
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Homeless Shelters

Official website

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 26.9%; rating input score 27
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 71.4%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.29; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 31.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 26.9% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $886K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $92K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 annual filings from 2016 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.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Emily Flinkstrom (Executive Director): $91,653 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.