Project Hope Boston Inc

Overview

Mission

Project hope is a multi service agency that moves families up and out of poverty.project hope works in partnership with women and families in the dorchester and roxbury neighborhoods of boston on their journeys up and out of poverty. We do this by being a catalyst for change in the lives of families, developing and providing programs and family support solutions to alleviate poverty and homelessness.

What it reported doing in 2024

Adult education and employer partners: in 1990, project hope established the adult education services program to meet the educational needs of low-income and homeless women. In 1996, the workforce development department was founded to assist low-income residents, particularly single mothers, gain workforce skills and access career opportunities. After offering these two services as standalone programs, we combined them into the workforce and education department in 2019 to better serve our families. This ensures that no matter their entry point into project hope, all participants will benefits from a career pathway focus that will enable them to develop the education, training, and skill development necessary to obtain, retain, and improve employment. Workforce and education offer low-income women, primarily from roxbury and north dorchester, basic education, and english learning classes, as well as a range of job training programs for employement skills, career exploration, and expertise specific to administrative jobs in healthcare. We leverage employer partnerships to help every program graduate secure a job or internship and we provide continued support throughout their first year of employment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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
042748880
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Roxbury, MA, USA
Phone
6174421880
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Family Services

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.3%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $32.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.4%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.3% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $166K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • VONNESSA GOODE-KNIGHT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (UNTIL 10/2024)): $166,161 total reported compensation
  • JACOB DARVEAU (DEPUTY DIRECTOR & CFO): $100,642 total reported compensation
  • MICHELE BOTUS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 10/2024)): $61,218 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.