YMCA of Greater Boston
Overview
Mission
The YMCA of Greater Boston is dedicated to improving the health of mind, body, and spirit of individuals and families in our communities. We provide welcoming, belonging, and opportunity for all. Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Today the YMCA of Greater Boston ranks as one of the largest urban Y’s in the nation, staying true to its roots as a values-driven, volunteer-led, human service organization strengthening children, families and communities. The Y’s staff, volunteers, and constituents represent the broad spectrum of citizens, by any and all measures, who live in Greater Boston. The Y is the largest provider of after school programs and child care in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, offers the state’s largest summer youth employment program, involves more than 10,000 children in summer camps, and leverages...
What it reported doing in 2024
Youth development - the ymca of greater boston has a long and successful history of providing pre-school, after-school and summer development, educational, recreational and social activities for youth of all ages. In our early education program, children from all backgrounds are brought together to be nurtured, nourished, loved and celebrated. Diversity where strength and creativity and critical thinking flourish. A holistic, play-based curriculum allows our teachers to follow each child's interest, while building essential skills, strength and resilience. In addition, we operate two youth overnight camps and a family camp in New Hampshire. (continued on schedule o)for school age before and afterschool programs in local public schools and at community sites, the ymca of greater boston is the largest provider of state licensed childcare in Massachusetts. Programs are held during afterschool hours, school vacations, on certain holidays and teacher professional development days. Our staff lead activities that promote cooperation and character development. In our summer camp programs, we take a whole-child approach, and round out their summer experience with invigorating sports and swimming instruction that promotes physical well-being, exploration of the community which fosters social and emotional growth, while seamlessly weaving literacy, math, and science lessons into our curriculum. Kids can't help but develop life-long love of learning and friendship at our camps and benefit from reduced summer learning loss.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042103551
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Website reviewed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA, USA
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Human Services
- Affiliation
- Christianity
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 the filing reports few safeguards for setting executive pay.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 93
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 89%; rating input score 89
- Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $19.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
- Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Public financial transparency: 3 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 60
- Impact reporting controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Public relationship transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 97.1%; rating input score 97; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Public governance controls: 2 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.3%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 1.78; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.2%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 89% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 34 of 35 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $92.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $426K · 49 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
- Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link