AbleLight

Legal name: Ablelight Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
390806446
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Watertown, WI, United States
Phone
9202613050
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Residential Care & Adult Day Programs
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$107,058,616
Expenses
$111,861,804
Assets
$202,957,004
Liabilities
$45,077,408

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEITH JONES (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
  • SONAL SHUKLA (AREA VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KATHY BURKE (AREA VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEITH JONES (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $686,376 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY KACZMARSKI (VP & CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER): $417,403 total reported compensation
  • BRIAN SAVOIE (VP & CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $399,892 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through Christian love, AbleLight whole-heartedly supports and advocates for all people with developmental disabilities to ensure they have security, dignity, and hope. This Impact Report is a celebration of that work. It highlights the milestones of the past year, the lives touched through your generosity, and the ways our teams are embodying our Values—Mission First, One AbleLight, and Christian Love. Throughout these pages, you will read first-hand accounts and personal reflections from those closest to our Mission: the individuals we support, their families, our dedicated team members, and generous donors. Their voices and stories bring our impact to life in the most authentic way, demonstrating what happens when people with developmental disabilities experience security, dignity, and hope. As we look ahead, we are focused on growing to help more people.

What it reported doing in 2024

Ablelight provides services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These services are intended to meet the needs of the whole person and promote their ability to live as independently as possible. Guided by christian love and drawing from over 120 years of experience, ablelight strives to address the social challenges faced by individuals with developmental disabilities. Ablelight programs aim to empower and support this community, using a wholistic approach to overcome the barriers of social challenges and promote independence. Through these programs, ablelight aspires to create lasting positive change, championing a world where everyone, regardless of ability, can thrive and contribute meaningfully to their communities. Ablelight provides safe and loving homes, including group homes, with care provided by direct support professionals. Ablelight also provides shared living services, which match a family with a person who has a developmental disability. With ablelight's guidance, the provider supports their daily living needs by residing together. Supported living is another option offered by ablelight, designed to help individuals with developmental disabilities live more independently while ensuring they receive the necessary support to maintain their sense of security and well-being. Other services offered by ablelight include employment services that help individuals with disabilities develop the skills needed to secure and maintain meaningful employment. These services take many forms. Ablelight operates day programs where people with developmental disabilities can engage with the community, develop meaningful skills and build friendships. For families struggling with a loved one's behavioral challenges, ablelight offers therapists through its behavioral supports program to provide expertise and solutions. Ablelight also provides devotional resources for people of faith and offers disability awareness materials. Ablelight relies on an active corps of volunteers to extend its reach. Ablelight operates thrift shops that employ people with disabilities, setting an example for other employers. The stores, staffed by employees (a significant portion of whom have developmental disabilities) and volunteers, provide affordable shopping options to families and to community members who want to give back.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% 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

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: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • 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: -4.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.81; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90% of revenue deployed · 84.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $94.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $686K · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.9M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 20 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.