Ascendigo Autism Services Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 200940000
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Carbondale, CO, USA
- Phone
- 9709273143
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Mental Health Treatment F31 Psychiatric, Mental Health Hospital
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $5,233,460
- Expenses
- $5,207,625
- Assets
- $9,194,122
- Liabilities
- $577,010
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LINDA WAISSAR (VICE PRESIDENT)
- DAN RICHARDSON (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- DAN RICHARDSON (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $206,490 total reported compensation
- VICTORIA MACFARLANE (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $115,411 total reported compensation
- LAURIE COLE (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $104,331 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Ascendigo serves local, regional and national populations of youth and adults across the autism spectrum through experiential, community-based learning opportunities to enhance their health, abilities, personal growth and social engagement.
What it reported doing in 2024
The outreach program offered by ascendigo provides in-home behavioral therapy and school consultations to children and teens with autism and related conditions. We specialize in delivering naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions via highly trained clinicians including bcbas, rbts, ots, and other licensed professionals.
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.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 84.6%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.77; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 84.6% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $2.8M reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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 26/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.