A Very Special Place, Inc.
Legal name: A Very Special Place Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 133005006
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Staten Island, NY, USA
- Phone
- 718-987-1234
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $50,961,854
- Expenses
- $50,202,790
- Assets
- $24,009,763
- Liabilities
- $13,759,892
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DANIEL WHEELER (PRESIDENT)
- KEVIN HUNT (VICE PRESIDENT)
- BRIAN CENTRONE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- JACQUELINE SCARCELLA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JACQUELINE SCARCELLA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $234,933 total reported compensation
- BRIAN CENTRONE (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $157,543 total reported compensation
- JOSEPH TROMELLO (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $150,151 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
AVSP empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Staten Island and surrounding boroughs to lead fuller lives through comprehensive programs and services offering guidance, support, and opportunities for achieving independence, self-fulfillment and full community inclusion.
What it reported doing in 2024
Day habilitation centers - our day hab centers provide learning and enhancing of skills to live fuller lives within the communities, from basic living skills to attaining employment. Respite programs also located at grasmere, provide recreational and social supports for each person to live a fuller more independent life. The centers are located in new dorp and grasmere, and serve over 520 people 6 days a week.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 99% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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.
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: 84
- Transparency & Controls: 84
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.1%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: 1.5%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.57; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 91.1% of revenue deployed · 92.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $46.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $235K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $352K reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.