Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts Inc
Overview
Mission
To promote the healthy development of children through the nurturing of continuing, one-to-one friendships with caring, responsible adults, supported by trained professional staff.
What it reported doing in 2024
Community based mentoring programs: our core program matches a volunteer big brother or sister with a child who could benefit from a one-to-one relationship with a caring adult. Bigs and littles meet a few times per month, for a couple of hours each time, at places and times convenient to both. School based mentoring programs: volunteer big brothers and sisters matched in our school-based program meet their little brothers or sisters at school, a few times a month over the course of the academic year.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 71% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042074462
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Boston, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6175429090
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,620,644
- Expenses
- $9,837,565
- Assets
- $19,448,641
- Liabilities
- $3,133,368
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 98%; rating input score 98; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -14.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.98; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 97% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 22 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $492K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $472K reported
- Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
Leadership & pay
30 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- MARK O'DONNELL (PRESIDENT & CEO): $492,145 total reported compensation
- SARA CONAHAN (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $242,330 total reported compensation
- TERRY MCCARRON (CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER): $190,062 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024.