Abilities First Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
310620685
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Middletown, OH, USA
Phone
5134239496
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Developmentally Disabled Centers

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,496,372
Expenses
$3,331,900
Assets
$1,525,511
Liabilities
$1,279,657

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stephanie Bisselberg (President)
  • Jim Kleingers (Vice President)
  • David Hood (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Hood (Executive Director): $105,103 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Abilities First is committed to providing comprehensive services and quality care to each child and adult with special needs to put their abilities first.

What it reported doing in 2024

Therapy programs provide comprehensive outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy to children from birth to 22 years of age. Therapies are also incorporated into the Autism Learning Center which is an accredited educational program for pre-school through second grade. The Agency served ~ 165 unduplicated clients during the 2024 calendar year. Camp Connect is a summer 1-2 week activity offered by the therapy team for just 5-10 attendees in the teen to adult age group. It involves activities both on-site as well as community-centered designed to help enable attendees with specific needs to experience and work through daily life activities. Yoga was offered as an opportunity for adults to experience yoga.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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

SUPPORTED - 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: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.3%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -33.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.84; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -10.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.3% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 16/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.