Aurora of Central New York Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
150543651
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Syracuse, NY, USA
Phone
3154227263
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,845,008
Expenses
$2,489,732
Assets
$9,222,919
Liabilities
$360,094

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHERINE WEIDMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHERINE WEIDMAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $129,216 total reported compensation
  • TRICIA FILIPPI (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $84,322 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To improve the quality of life in cny by serving the blind & visually impaired, and deaf & hard of hearing.

What it reported doing in 2025

Interpreter referral - the majorie clere interpreter referral service (mcirs) is under the direction of a nationally certified interpreter who coordinates the provision of highly skilled and certified sign language interpreters for a 13 county area across central New York. A full range of language preferences are provided by professional interpreters, including american sign language (asl), signed english, grassroots (minimal language system), oral and tactile (deaf/blind) signing. Typical assignment sites include: college (all levels of study), medical, seminars, conferences, artistic performances (concerts/plays), legal, and political forums.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 61% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.6 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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; 64th 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: -34.9%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.7; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.