Advocacy, Choices & Empowerment (ACE), Inc.
Legal name: Advocacy Choices and Empowerment Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 341805579
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
- Location
- New Philadelphia, OH, US
- Phone
- +1 (330) 308-8604
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Mental Health Association
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $274,674
- Expenses
- $203,821
- Assets
- $269,415
- Liabilities
- $1,199
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Todd Little (Executive Director)
- Nelson Freed (President)
- Shane Johnson (Vice President)
- Matt Wyatt (Past President)
Highest reported compensation
- Todd Little (Executive Director): $53,095 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To reduce the isolation of consumers of mental health agencies, and to improve their quality of life. This goal is met by challenging, encouraging and offering hope to members through peer support, educational services, social and recreational activities, advocacy, and opportunities for community involvement.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide opportunities for individuals with mental disabilities to interact with other individuals on a social basis
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 48
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 59
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 48.7%; rating input score 49
- Program expense ratio: 61.3%; rating input score 61
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th 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: Fail
- 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: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 25.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 48.7% of revenue deployed · 61.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $125K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 49/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.