Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
351323831
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3179212201
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,984,875
Expenses
$4,127,626
Assets
$26,353,292
Liabilities
$411,997

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JACK WALKER (PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE BOWEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DARCEY PALMER-SHULTZ (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • DARCEY PALMER-SHULTZ (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $192,480 total reported compensation
  • KATHERINE SHIELDS (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $128,635 total reported compensation
  • CAITLIN BAIN (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $116,235 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The big brothers big sisters mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

What it reported doing in 2024

Deliver programming through 1-to-1 adult to youth mentoring. Adult volunteers (bigs) are matched with youth (littles). Volunteers meet with their littles face-to-face for at least 4 hours per month for a minimum of 12 months. Bbbsci provides participants with continuing professional staff support through regular contacts, workshops, and coaching designed to help the youth achieve academic success, avoidance of risky behaviors, and socio-emotional competency. Our 1-to-1 mentoring program is built upon nationally recognized research and practices that honor the wide range of developmental needs of boys and girls as well as the diversity of their communities. During the 2024-2025 fiscal year bbbsci provided support to 876 matches, impacting the lives of over 5,000 youth, volunteers and family members.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd 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: -3.6%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.38; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.6%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.2% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 31 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.