Beyond Benign Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462636213
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Wilmington, MA, USA
Phone
9782295450
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Pollution Abatement and Control Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,553,948
Expenses
$1,451,303
Assets
$1,994,652
Liabilities
$139,670

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Amy S Cannon (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Amy S Cannon (Executive Director): $129,493 total reported compensation
  • Nicole Wiggins (Chief operating officer): $113,332 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Beyond Benign, Inc. is organized for the purpose of promoting awareness of green chemistry and sustainable science through K-12 and university programs that support educators to implement green chemistry in their teaching and practice.

What it reported doing in 2024

The K-12 program at Beyond Benign consists of professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers from elementary through high school level, and also open access curriculum materials for educators. Professional development opportunities include on-line courses for middle and high school level educators, as well as a regular webinar series for teachers. In addition, in-person hands-on workshops are run for educators to train teachers on greener chemistry approaches for implementation in the classroom. All curriculum resources are made available to educators free-of-charge through an on-line curriculum database.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 6.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.7%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.