The Key Program Incorporated

Overview

Mission

Key's mission is to assist children and their families in developing positive life skills so they may pursue productive and rewarding lives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Residential treatment program - key provides a full range of residential services to adolescents and young adults from the child welfare, juvenile justice, and mental health systems, with lengths of stay varying from 3 to 18 months. Services include education, individual, group and family counseling, behavior management, recreational activities, advocacy and life skills training, including independent living. During the current year, key provided services to a total of 65 youth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 98% of its reported program work directly.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042539878
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Westborough, MA, USA
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Request a diligence report

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: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.4%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 1.08; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.9%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.1% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $39.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $398K · 21 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links