Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern ME

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010475146
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Westbrook, ME, USA
Phone
2077735437
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$674,868
Expenses
$770,867
Assets
$1,554,227
Liabilities
$153,182

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brian McHugh (President)
  • Sarah Groom (Vice President)
  • Nicole Avery (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nicole Avery (Executive Director): $115,518 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of young people, focusing on prevention, primarily through professionally supported mentoring relationships between youth and adult volunteers. Mentors guide their mentees in many ways which help improve their self-esteem, resilience, problem-solving, and aspirations for their future. Youth with mentors are shown to have better school attendance, are more likely to graduate on time and pursue higher education, apprenticeship or other skilled trade.

What it reported doing in 2024

BBBSSM creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships between youth age 7-17 with caring adults who assist them in reaching their potential. Mentors help their mentees stay on the path to graduation and develop a plan for their future. Studies show youth with mentors have lower levels of stress, depression, and other mental health incidents. They also have healthier relationships with peers, do better in school, and engage in fewer risky behaviors. Our professional program staff are responsible for screening volunteers, youth and families to ensure they are a good fit for a mentoring relationship, making meaningful and enduring matches, then providing monthly support to the mentor, the mentee and their family to ensure the best in industry standards are being met and the one-to-one relationship is serving the individual needs of each youth.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 62.1%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.92 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th 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: 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: -14.2%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.02; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.3% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72% of revenue deployed · 62.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $479K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.