Baltimore Children and Youth Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850665944
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone
4108705082
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,148,270
Expenses
$16,955,842
Assets
$17,902,221
Liabilities
$17,209,255

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALYSIA LEE (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • SHERRONA LAWRENCE (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND CULTURE (EMPLOYEE)
  • BRANDON HANSEN (VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALYSIA LEE (PRESIDENT & CEO): $216,595 total reported compensation
  • SHERRONA LAWRENCE (VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND CULTURE (EMPLOYEE): $151,298 total reported compensation
  • BRANDON HANSEN (VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS): $137,262 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Baltimore children & youth fund stewards public funds to support children and youth in baltimore city. The fund awards grants to community-based, youth-serving organizations and provides capacity-building and technical assistance to strengthen organizational effectiveness and leadership. These activities support the health, safety, and educational and developmental success of baltimore's children and youth.

What it reported doing in 2024

Baltimore children & youth fund is a public charity that operates under a dual-investment strategy, providing both direct grants and professional development to primarily grassroots organizations serving young people in baltimore city, ages 24 and younger. This dual-investment approach both provides direct dollars through four grantmaking funds (the grassroots fund, the community accountable fund, the aligned grantmaking fund, and the president's fund) and professional development through four key professional development initiatives (pre-application technical assistance, the gathering, the learning lab, and #bcreds). Through this dual-investment approach, the organization seeks to strengthen baltimore's youth development ecosystem and help build sustainable youth programs so young people have year-round access to high-quality, sustainable opportunities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 80% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 69% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $66.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: 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: 1.1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.96; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $15.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $217K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 32 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 96 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 89 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.